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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008_10_28 Board Minutes IDAHO FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT 91 BOARD OF TRUSTEES BOARD MEETING DISTRICT OFFICE BOARD ROOM October 28, 2008 12:00 Noon Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Mary Ann Smith, Board Chair Gail Rochelle, Director of Secondary Education David Lent, Vice Chair Guy Wangsgard, Director of Business Jerry Wixom Karla, LaOrange, Director of Elementary Deidre Warden Caroline Meagher, Recording Secretary Board Chair Mary Ann Smith called the meeting to order. Pledge of Allegiance was led by Trina Caudle, Principal of Skyline High School. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: David Lent motioned to adopt the agenda with the following changes. Change item a) High School Revision Report to item b) and add item a) Report by David Lent with recommendations from the Safety Committee Report. Jerry Wixom seconded the motion. Motion passed. WORK SESSION a.Safety Committee Report and recommendations: David Lent reported that he has met with Heidi Crouch and the Safety Committee. They have been discussing what a safe elementary school would look like? And how would it be different? From these discussions, they have formulated a list of essential items to security and safety at the school level. The items identified are: 1.Substantial doors 2.Re-key all entries 3.Classroom doors that lock from the inside 4.Playgrounds should have fences 5.Maintain entries with visibility from the office Page 1 of 4 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN 10-28-2008 6.Safe bus and parent drop off zone 7.Parking for staff in well lit areas 8.Develop building level safety plans that will correspond with the district plan This is the summary of what they have been working on. They are trying to get the most value for the dollar. b.High School Revision: Dr. Gail Rochelle, Director of Secondary Education presented a report to the Board of Trustees of the findings of the High School Revision Steering Committee. Gail took a moment to thank the Steering Committee members. She recognized the members in the audience; Ann Howell, Basil and Susan Barna, Suzy Hersch, Wendy Cavan, Trina Caudle, & Guy Wangsgard. There have been a lot of parents (Dave Petti), teachers (Levi Owen), and administrators (Randy Hurley) who have been active members and they have attended the meetings faithfully, who are not present today. This is an opportunity for us to comply with new state board policy and to increase rigor of our current courses of study. Our goal is to prepare students to enter college or the work force and be competitive in the local market. Our best chance for our students to be successful is to prepare them in high school with a rigorous course of study. Currently, only 18% of students who start the ninth grade achieve a degree beyond high school. The Office of the State Board of Education (OSBE) has changed our graduation requirements in the Idaho Code Rules Governing Thoroughness. The sections that are changing are: 105 – All students are now required to acquire 46 credits to graduate (used to be 42). Board Policy 603.0 will have some changes associated with this change in state board rule. This policy will be read by the Board of Trustees on November 11, December 9 and voted on January 13. 106 – all districts must offer advanced learning opportunities 107 – College entrance exams will be required for graduation. (106) In the packet of information handed out, there is information relating to the advanced opportunities that are offered to our students. We already offer over 20 AP (Advanced Placement) classes and DC (Dual Credit) classes. The legislature has also appropriated money for students to take AP and DC courses through IDLA (Idaho Digital Learning Academy) for no cost. (107) Requirement of a college entrance exam (ACT, SAT or COMPASS) to graduate. We have been in contact with the OSBE to get more information. There is a commitment that they will pay for these tests, but we have not received any information about how this will be implemented. (107) the senior project is another new requirement. This consists of a research paper, an oral presentation and it needs to be completed by the end of the senior year. Page 2 of 4 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN 10-28-2008 The two items for the Board of Trustees to act on are 1) changes to Board Policy 603.0 and 2) New Course adoption. Both of these items will go through three readings with the Board of Trustees and will be available in the district office and on the district website for comments from the community. The graduation requirements closely mirror the requirements from the OSBE. We are also asking for one credit in any PE class and one in any Technology class also. We are asking to require all students to take no less than three classes per day. The social studies requirements have been th decreased to 5 credits required. The Western Civilization classes in the 9 grade can still be taken as an elective under the Humanities requirement. It was asked why we are decreasing the Social Studies requirements? It was once believed that this was very important for our student’s education to have 8 social studies required. The response was that with higher math requirements, we had to decrease requirements elsewhere. The classes that have been taken off of the requirements can still be taken as an elective. We are also waiting to hear from the OSBE as to whether or not the requirements for alternative high schools will be different as they have been in the past. How can we figure out how to meet the needs of all kids? As we know, NCLB (No Child Left Behind) has built its program around the lower achievers (lowering our standards for all kids.) Most of our students achieve those standards and they still do not finish college at the rates we would like. We can still increase the rigor though. It is the job of the Education Directors to ensure engaging instruction for all students. This is something that we have in our power to improve. We can change the structure as much as we want, but the critical piece is the instructor and it is about practice in the classroom. This piece is not a policy piece, this is about implementation. We are fortunate that the teachers of district 91 all perform at high levels. How will we measure our success? How can we tell if we are making progress? Is the assumption that if we raise them academically that we have moved forward and achieved our goal? We can track who moves on to college. The longer they are out of school, the harder it is to track them. Many of our students take Professional Technical classes in high school to prepare – or jumpstart – their college career. These classes are very popular. They are not required, and they will count towards the three credits per day. In the eight grade, the counselors are inviting parents in to help develop their student’s four year plan. During this visit they are introduced to the professional technical options available to our students. Other items that we are discussing include the common calendar. Many parents express an interest in having all kids on the same calendar. It this is just about having the same days off, then it will be dealt with in the calendar committee. Our focus is on instructional delivery models and what is best for our students. Page 3 of 4 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN 10-28-2008 The Instructional Delivery Model team will spend more time researching the feasibility of the models. We would like to get the junior high schools and the high schools on the same calendar, whether it is trimesters or semesters. There is no definitive research to prove that one is better than the other. There are so many variables that cannot be controlled. Some classes would be better in the trimester model with longer, 72 minute, class periods (science lab) and some do not (math class.) The only research that we do have is on regression. Over the summer students regress when they are not in class. We can generalize out that argument to state that in the trimester system when they do not have a math class, they will regress. Class time length should also be looked at. There is a reason that tv shows are no longer than 60 minutes. We have to be sure that we are using our instruction time effectively. The Instructional Delivery Model committee will research all the different models like blocks, alternating A/B, semester, trimester, etc… and present the Board of Trustees with a thorough analysis of the pros and cons of all the systems. Another interesting point is that the higher achievers take classes for AP courses that are already offered for a full year – because they know that is what it takes to teach a student in-depth. On the other end of the spectrum – the courses for the students who struggle (the essentials courses or the fundamentals courses) are also full year courses…. The “C” students in the middle are not required to take math all year, and they will not take more than required. This group does not have the same advocates or federal rule to help them. So perhaps we need to look at a lot more credits for ALL kids. If we go with trimesters, we need to make our core courses year long courses. I bet our ISATs will show growth. We need to make this education system support scholarship for our students; but on the flip side of that conversation, we represent our patrons. We have to make parents and students happy. We get complaints from unhappy parents. A lot of those complaints are from the parents who are involved in their child’s education. As a public education system, I feel a lot of responsibility for those who do not have the ability or the knowledge to advocate for their children. Another piece we are looking into is offering an advisory or mentor class for students 9-12. This would be a credit class that will help kids work on their senior project. The board discussed offering a senior project class. They also discussed the option to take a study hall class and earn credits. We are also looking into increasing awareness of our offerings for IDLA classes and perhaps have labs in all secondary schools to accommodate these classes. We will have three board meetings to discuss the policy pieces that will require the Board of Trustees to vote. We are considering a blog on the district webpage with strict guidelines to receive comments from the community. Jerry Wixom motioned to adjourn. Deidre Warden seconded the motion. Motion passed. Page 4 of 4 SUP 08-09 BRD MIN 10-28-2008