School board OKs improvement plan
Bids will be taken on Logan Avenue project
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
A District Improvement Plan, a renovation project at Logan Avenue School, and a student suspension were approved unanimously Wednesday night at a meeting of the Emporia board of education.
Superintendent John Heim showed school board members the positives and negatives of students’ annual test scores and presented a plan intended to build on the districts strengths and improve on its weaknesses. The District Improvement Plan was required as a result of the district not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress goals mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.
“I didn’t want to do this when we found out we were going to have to,” Heim said. “We had questions about our test scores and we still have questions about our test scores. We challenged the state ... and we still haven’t heard from them.”
Heim said, however, as work progressed in creating the improvement plan, he saw value in delineating the issues and concentrating on ways to bring needed improvements.
“I think this may be one of the most beneficial things we’ve done as a district for a long time,” he said.
The plan presented Wednesday evening included graphic illustrations that showed overall successes in reading, especially in the K-5 grade levels.
Heim pointed to a steadily improving history of reading scores in the all-students group.
“Next year, if we just maintain our scores, we will maintain AYP again, so that’s something we’re really proud of,” he said.
Similar improvements were shown within most of the subgroups, although not all of those groups achieved AYP and may not next year, he said.
Heim mentioned facets of the plan that the district already was doing right: Most buildings have professional learning communities, or study groups of teachers, that get together to examine data and find ways to improve their instruction so the students will show improvements in their work. The district has reading coaches and reading strategists at every elementary building. Carolyn Koch is in charge of the reading program district-wide.
Scores on statewide mathematics tests were not as good, Heim said, and work has intensified on improving education in that area.
"On the good news side, we adopted a core program three or four years ago," he said. The K-5 math scores reflected the attention that was being paid at those grade levels, including through the Trailblazer math program. Lead math teachers are in placed at each of those buildings.
At the secondary level, there is not as much emphasis on reading or math "and we're beginning to see the results of that," he said.
The district has tried to organize the successful strategies and other approaches into an orderly District Improvement Plan that makes sense for educators and for students.
The plan also includes provisions for monitoring and evaluating its success.
The plan will:
• Implement professional learning communities to compare data and make changes to instruction. Training will be provided to administrators and teachers this summer.
• Implement a three-tiered Response to Intervention that will provide additional time for students struggling to learn the subjects in standard classes.
• Utilize coaches and individual school improvement plans that have been incorporated into the District Improvement Plan.
• Align curriculum and instruction; make sure there are no gaps and no overlaps.
“And in reading we’ve done a really good job of that,” Heim said. “As we get into sixth, seventh, eighth grade, we’re not sure we have that good alignment as we should, so we want to address that.
The state will review the plan and notify the district whether it will be accepted. George Abel, Patricia Smiley and Carolyn Koch have been responsible for gathering information and creating the plan.
The board voted to ask for bids on an two-phase improvement project at Logan Avenue School. Steve Bowling of Anderson MacAdam Architects Inc. presented information on the project, which is part of the district's continuing Capital Improvements program.
Phase I would upgrade interior finishes — flooring, walls and ceilings — and mechanical systems, which includes ductwork, heating and cooling units, thermostats and light fixtures, among other recommendations. The work would take place this summer, but could extend into the fall, depending upon delivery of replacement equipment.
Phase II would involve the two-story addition that was built onto the original school in 1981. Improvements similar to Phase I would be completed, and would result in increased efficiency of heating and cooling systems. Because those systems are newer, they would not be replaced, but would be connected together for better control of both heating and cooling.
"The system that you have there now fights itself," Bowling said, adding that sometimes conditions inside and outside cause sensors to inappropriately trip both systems into action.
The combined cost of both projects was estimated at approximately $796,000.
In other action, the board:
• Approved verbiage for changes to district policies, including: allowing younger Emporia High School students who have been identified as gifted to be eligible to attend college classes, with approval, while attending EHS; barring concealed and unconcealed weapons on school property or at school events; and eliminating baptismal certificates for use as identification of children entering the district for the first time.
• Approved teacher Sherry Renfro's request to accept $1,000 from the Kansas State Nurses Association to help with a project of the Students Against Destructive Decisions organization. The money will be used to help promote and present a concert starring Heather Shelley, a performer who is taking part in advertisements against underage drinking.
• Approved offering contracts to district administrators. Britton Hart was hired as EHS assistant principal to replace Jerry Cook, who recently resigned. No replacement has been found for Kristen Kuhlmann, who also has resigned.
• Accepted rresignations from Dawn Tysinger, school psychologist; Ginger Lewman, enrichment services; Leslie Ramos, paraeducator; and Marisol Arciga, teacher aide.
• Hired Amanda Applegate for a one-year appointment to Interrelated Services and Jeanette Colllins as paraeducator.
• Accepted the resignation of Mary Harris, teacher aide for Head Start.
After a brief executive session, the board returned to vote on an appeal to overturn the suspension of an Emporia High School student. The board voted 7-0 to uphold the suspension. The appeal was made after a hearing before an attorney from the Kansas Association of School Boards.
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