On Saturday morning, the Emporia USD 253 Board of Education heard enrollment numbers on the first day of classes and also discussed several goals they want Interim Superintendent Theresa Davidson to work on during the next year.
The board also suggested that drivers’ education should be added back into the curriculum.
Saturday’s meeting was a work session, and no action was taken by the board.
Davidson said preliminary enrollment figures taken on the first day of school indicate that the district has 1,642 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, 585 students in the intermediate schools, 566 students at Emporia Middle School and 1,243 students at Emporia High School.
Those numbers are headcount numbers, or the number of students who were in class on the first day. The number will be different from the Sept. 20 count, Davidson said, because when that count is taken, the district will use a different method of counting students, called full-time equivalency.
A district’s FTE count is what state aid is based on. And, for example, kindergarten students are counted as half-students because the state only provides aid for half-day kindergarten.
Davidson told the board that the high school gained about 50 new students that were not in the district last year.
Two of the biggest obstacles the district will face this year are the grade configuration study and the school district’s budget, members of the board said.
Davidson told the board that the kindergarten through eighth grade configuration group will give a report to the board at its meeting on Wednesday. Davidson said the group will give the board several different scenarios by October, then it will talk to the public and by December, make a recommendation to the board of education.
At the meeting, the board identified several goals they wanted Davidson to work on this year, including anti-bullying measures, administrator availability in the district, making faculty handbooks consistent throughout the district, eliminating processes and activities that are no longer of value, continuing to use data in decision making, maintaining budgets in spite of a difficult financial year and maintaining progress on AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress.
And although they didn’t identify it as a goal, members of the board discussed their desire to bring back a driver’s education program to the school district.
“We need it for the safety of the community,” said board member Michael Helbert.
He said it is the school district’s job to give students the tools they need to be successful in life, and knowing how to drive falls within that category.
He asked other board members, however, how they were going to fund the program.
Board member Amy Scheller said families should contribute some of the cost of a driver’s education program.
The board made no decision whether to bring the program back, but told Davidson that it was an item of interest they are interested in discussing in the future.
The board also told Davidson that it wants updates about how the goals are progressing. Davidson told them she would provide quarterly updates on the board’s goals.
doubt_it (anonymous) says...
Why are the teachers handing out pre-tests of some courses and telling the students to make sure they fail the pre-test, so their improvement numbers will look better at the end of the course? The teachers admitted that this was to obtain more goverment funding. Seems to me, if the teachers were doing an adequate job in the first place, they wouldn't need the false data to prove they are teaching the kids something. What other false data are you presenting?
August 25, 2010 at 8:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
"He said it is the school district’s job to give students the tools they need to be successful in life, and knowing how to drive falls within that category."
I elected you to make sure the kids can read and write well. They can't, so let's not worry about the driving....that's not even in the secondary category. Let's work on their academics in school, shall we?
I do have a good memory that does last until election time.
August 25, 2010 at 8:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
"He said it is the school district’s job to give students the tools they need to be successful in life, and knowing how to drive falls within that category."
I was not taught by the school district to drive. I must not be successful in life. This is news to me. I "own" my own home. I have a great family. I have a good job. I haven't gotten a driving ticket in 2 decades in this country. It is news to me that I am not a success in life. Is there some sort of government program I can get properly educated on how to be a success in life? Please government, save me from myself.
August 25, 2010 at 9:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
One tool that people will need to be successful in life is the ability to communicate yet many school districts prohibit or restrict the students use of mobile phones. They teach students that dinosaurs went extinct but I believe that they just evolved into school administrators. If our society welcomed new technology, our students would be connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the teachers could provide assignments digitally which could be performed by the students remotely and eliminate the cost of facilities and transportation. That would require intelligence of a higher scale that exists in today's school administration so it is safe to say that public education will continue to day care activities for years to come. jmo
August 25, 2010 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reality (anonymous) says...
Rewba,
Mobile phones are restricted because they are not used by students as a tool. They are used to text, twitter, facebook, etc. Not to mention it is a great way to text each other the answers to tests.
Just because technology is available doesn't mean using it for certain applications is the right decision. How do the students benefit educationally from having access to phone during the school day?
August 25, 2010 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
"Not to mention it is a great way to text each other the answers to tests."
What difference does it make how the kids get the answer to the question? The ability to get the right answer to the question at hand is more important than the methodology of research. In the real world people use google or other search engines.
We spend more money building, maintaining, heating and cooling school buildings than we spend on teaching students. Additionally, we spend huge sums for buses to get the students to those buildings and back to their homes each day. Eliminate the school building and the transportation expense and hire the best teachers from around the globe. Students would participate in the virtual classroom from the comfort of their own home.
I know that factory workers have to learn to commute to the factory and get there on time but I don't believe it is society's duty to teach that. Today, the private and government sector have moved closer to telecommuting as it is a much more efficient way to do business. As technology advances, businesspeople adapt to take advantage yet we continue to teach our children using obsolete methods.
August 25, 2010 at 6:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but our district is still on probation, right? The State of Kansas set a *minimum* standard and we failed to meet it. In turn, the state gave us a lowered *minimum* and we're having trouble meeting that.
From the looks of things, our district is striving to set the academic bar lower and lower and we're worried about driving? I think what we really owe the kids is an apology and a better example of success. So far, the example set has been how to fail which, for those who don't know, is the antithesis of "the tools they need to be successful in life."
August 25, 2010 at 7:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
It does seem to be usless, banging our heads on the wall. Maybe it is time to move on out of town and county and see what hapeens when the only people left are those working for the government, (all entities of government). Then they can just keep spending and taxing and when their paychecks don't keep up with taxes, the can give themselves raises and raise the tax to pay for it.
August 25, 2010 at 8:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
I bet if students were given an option of attending the traditional classroom or a virtual classroom, the majority would go virtual.
Eliminate the expense of transportation, facilities, utilities, textbooks, breakfast/lunch programs and 95% of all administrative staff while still offering the required course curriculum and a variety of elective programs all taught by the most talented professors on the planet.
Never have another weather related school outage or another student killed in an accident traveling to and from the schoolhouse.
Imagine how enrollment rates would increase if the population of the United States were eligible for enrollment.
A program of this magnitude would probably qualify for a number of federal research grants.
You would think that the teachers college at ESU would have already had a prototype up and running. Maybe someone at the teachers college at Columbia University reads this forum and will pick up the ball and run with it. Who knows? It could happen. :-)
August 25, 2010 at 9:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Ah, but REWBA, such a thing DOES exsist. However, as we well know around here, school is for the parents, not the kids, nor the education. Therefore, it does not matter in the least what the kids might choose. Also, I read somewhere that such a thing could contribute to the nation's obesity epidemic. Of course, the source on that tidbit was a bit..............ahem.............uhm............questionable?
August 25, 2010 at 10:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
I know that these virtual classrooms are currently providing a first world education to students living in third world countries courtesy of the American taxpayers. We're paying first world prices for a third world product for own children. I'm talking about using the same technology to replace America's public education system and use the savings to provide college for any American that wants it. It would still cost less than the day care center/social clubs we call public schools.
August 25, 2010 at 11:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )