Reports dominate school board meeting
Elementary students talk about successes
By Bobbi Mlynar
Thursday, January 24, 2008
A long-range technology plan, three executive sessions, two curriculum reports, a recap of a conference on bullying, a quarterly budget update and a report on an outside audit of district communications were among the items on the agenda for the Emporia board of education meeting Wednesday evening at Mary Herbert School.
The board’s last vote of the evening came almost three hours after the meeting started. After a 15-minute executive session to discuss personnel, the board voted unanimously to hire Robert A. Scheib to replace Assistant Superintendent of Business Susan Hernandez, who announced her retirement earlier this year.
No action was taken after a second executive session on personnel and another on contract negotiations.
Budget report
The budget report, from Hernandez and Karen Flood, showed that the district was staying within its limits for this point in the school year.
The Capital Outlay fund received unanticipated revenue from a variety of sources: $65,000 E-rate reimbursement from Cable One, $65,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage to the gymnasium floor at Lowther North Intermediate School, and $14,000 in insurance payments for damage done during construction projects.
A $250,000 award also came from a Microsoft Class Action suit, $125,000 from sales of technology equipment and laptops, and a $108,000 refund from ESSDACK for an overbilling.
Interest on idle funds collected to date is approximately $385,000, according to the report; interest collected last year during a comparable period was $433,000.
Long-range technology
Hernandez and the technology department presented a long-range technology plan for the district, beginning this year and running through the 2011-2012 school year. The plan was approved unanimously, with the understand that any major purchase, $20,000 or more, will require independent action from the board.
The plan will be updated annually, Hernandez said.
“I think the biggest shocker in the near future is the replacement of our telephone system,” Hernandez said.
This fiscal year’s technology plan calls for $638,400 for hardware, software, services, and instruction. Estimate totals for the three subsequent fiscal years ranged from $1,051,600 to $1,972,100, and a final estimate of $645,400 in 2012.
During the presentation of the plan, board members heard about new hardware and software that draw students into the learning process. Presenters handed out “clickers” and gave tests to the board members simultaneously; afterwards, correct answers were revealed and results were translated into bar graphs.
The total cost to equip a room with that hardware and software, ranged from $2,500 to about $5,000, depending on the programs selected.
Communicating
Susan Hardy Brooks of Tuttle, Okla., presented a report of a four-step audit of the district’s communications.
Hardy Brooks analyzed materials the district uses to communicate with internal and external audiences, conducted on-site focus groups with a total of about 90 people, asked building principals each to complete a written survey about communications at the building level, and prepared a series of recommendations that could be implemented over a three-year period.
Brooks told the board that the role of the communications department has expanded considerably and the staff is not large enough to handle the demands of communications that have become necessary. The department no longer is responsible simply for generating news or garnering media coverage.
“The function has changed,” Brooks said.
More communications are needed with diverse populations in the district, and more translations of materials also are needed.
She recommended a 10-point plan that could be considered by the board for implementation, and she elaborated on each point with multiple suggestions.
The key recommendations were:
-- Improve communications with diverse populations
-- Create a “Key Communicators Network”
-- Develop a process for communicating and updating the community on key issues facing the public schools here.
-- Engage the public in dialogue about meeting the needs of all students.
-- Become more strategic and systematic with communications efforts.
-- Improve internal communications systems and processes.
-- Continue efforts to revamp, expand and update Web sites.
-- Provide professional development opportunities in customer service and effective communication.
-- Identify new formats and distribution channels for current publications.
-- Eliminate or modify the district’s cable television programming.
Brooks said that a focus session with Hispanic parents had been especially successful.
“They absolutely loved having the opportunity to express their opinion … to talk in an open way about the future of the school district and their kids,” she said. “I think that one would probably be a very good fit for this district.”
Social and emotional needs
Jared Giffin, Logan Avenue Principal, introduced two student support specialists – Carla Fessler and Michelle Sheldon – who explained how counselors, psychologists and social workers had become cross-trained to make their services more easily available and effective for the students.
Prior to the change, each staff member served only his or her specialty area and was assigned to work at multiple schools throughout the week.
Together, the support specialists have made a coordinated effort to help fulfill the students’ social and emotional needs. The specialists said that they work with Socia and Rehabilitation Services, mental health professionals, police, doctors, DCCCA child welfare agency, and a multidisciplinary team in an effort to reach the goals set.
Fessler and Sheldon brought in students to explain a variety of programs that have been developed to modify behaviors, create leaders, help students should school responsibility, and work on community service projects in several special clubs and groups.
Some of the groups meet monthly with community leaders, who come in to speak to the students about an assortment of topics.
Certificates also are given for “Caught Being Respectful” and “Academic Excellence” awards, which can be redeemed for prizes at the school offices.
Literacy
Principals Wendy Moore of Village School, James Baker of William Allen White, and Brian Jordan presented a PowerPoint presentation and video clips to illustrate the strategies and interventions being used to develop literacy.
Board member Angie Schreiber presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation on an eight-hour conference she attended to learn more about bullying, and the new requirements and policies that took effect on Jan. 1 this year.
The district already had adopted a bullying policy last fall.
Schreiber said that a conference speaker spent about an hour on the topic of cyberbullying, and that it was recommended that sschool boards include cyberbullying in their bullying policies.
The board also recognized teacher Shane Heiman as a Kansas Horizon Award recipient. The award is given to outstanding first-year teachers.