Minutes of Meeting
January 24, 2007
Members Present: Jack Haggerty, Karla Eanes, Sara Grey, Allison Worthy, Kathleen Weeks, Ray Thomas, Mary Passannante, Susan Oliver, Sean Barrett, Matt Sellers, Susan Lindholm
Members Absent: Mike Kelly, Tara Lassiter, Kathryn Eriksen, Alice Joyce, Phyllis Daniels, Armeen Mistry
Also Present: Jennifer Neff, Justin Bartholomew
I. November minutes approved and seconded.
II. SIP/Department Reports – Exceptional Children (Jennifer Neff), pending – Cultural Arts (Pam Pate, and Physical Education (Ben Reed)
Jennifer Neff: general overview on EOC classes. We have 9 teachers and 32 classes where we are working collaboratively. We are looking closely at training of teachers for this year and next. As for communication between teachers and parents, we send out progress reports so that we have more information to share with teachers and parents. Mary: Is there a big issue with NCLB? Jennifer: Yes, this is a scheduling issue where we use teachers to focus on particular students at lunch and before school. We also use extra websites, workbooks. We go to a portfolio after two chances are given to pass the EOC. Some of the students are on a different graduation requirement. This is an issue still being discussed by the state board of education and superintendents. More discussion and resolution on math courses is required at the present time.
III. Welcome New Student Members!
Sean Barrett and Matt Sellers
IV. Principal Update – Duty Free Lunch, Capitol Budget
Karla: the state law says that we are to provide a duty free lunch and planning. This year we are discussing this. The law does not mandate a duty-free lunch period for teachers. The majority of our teachers have two planning periods, except the teachers that take on a sixth period and are paid, or the EC teachers. The special services dept. has found a way to give their teachers one free planning period. The lunch period here at CHHS is only one period of time for everyone. Teachers have to do a lunch duty six times during a semester for 20 minutes during the lunch period. This mandate has to go as a recommendation in our SIP for the 07-08 school year.
The law does not say that this has to happen, but that it is an expectation, the law also does not say that the two do not coincide, i.e., the lunch and planning period could be at the same time. This has to be a SIP amendment. SGC voted to add this mandate to the SIP - passed unanimously.
Karla: Capitol Budget Requests– 07-08 – ……land line telephones for trailers, four of them. Justin: we have provided walkie talkies for all trailer teachers for safety first. The original plan was to put everyone on IP phones, but this hasn't happened, it is cheaper, though. We're also looking at a cell phone plan. Jack: It looks like security has trumped the budget. The card swipe and entry doors are for next year, but what about pulling wire for the cameras. Do we have money for the cameras, where are the cameras? Justin: courtyard, cafeteria, and the areas where we think they will be most beneficial. Karla: we met yesterday with Bill Mullin to discuss the possible implementation of swipe cards. Jack: How do we go thru this list of requests as to priority? Karla: many things have been on the request list for several years, at least two. Jack: where do these requests come from? Yes this comes from the faculty. Mary: are there rules or channels that you have to go thru to get these requests financed? i.e., baseball. Jack: so this is a budget request and you hope you get a large fraction of it? Yes. Steve Scroggs is a person to lobby to!
Karla: we are going thru the accreditation process in April, Parents will be hearing from Mrs. McLaughlin about SACs – April 18 SACs committee will have dinner with SGC for Q & A.
V. Family Specialists/Minority Advocacy Position Follow-Up
Karla: we have started interviewing, once we have decided on a candidate, it will go to HR. We don't know how long this will take. We still have a 21 st Century position open and it has been open since August, we've just made the fifth recommendation and it is still not filled. Sara: since it is being advertised as interim, will they have the possibility of staying on? Karla: yes.
VI. EOC Honors Grading Policy Update
This did not come up at the last school board meeting. After the faculty meeting in January, we will have an update on this. Justin: all HS lead teachers got together when the state mandated that the EOC would be 25% of a student's grade. Honors and non-honors students will be getting the exact same test but not the exact same weight. There was talk both ways about this issue, the lead teachers were unanimous on their vote. At the PTSA, there was information that this affected 50 students where their grades were B's not A's. Justin: I was told 3 or 4 students were affected. There was a perception that there were a huge number of students affected. This is a very difficult situation for the students and parents to be in…..when the state unilaterally decides something like this. Jack: do we want to make a statement on this? Allison: not without the data, not without the faculty input. More discussion with Justin. Jack: We will wait to hear what the CHHS faculty has to say, and discuss this again at the Feb. meeting.
VII. Input for the 2007-2010 Plan for Education of Gifted Students
Sara: I've never seen a DEP (?) plan . Sam Greene meets with a Gifted Specialists, and I've asked him to investigate this. Kathleen: there used to be pre-requisites to get into the “honors” classes, now there are no requirements? Yes, pre-requisites, but not requirements. Susan: LC no longer allows any artificial barriers for these courses. Justin: we are running into situations where students are placed into AP courses and failing. Susan: the requirement that a student cannot drop an AP course is good; it's the only reality check. Jack: so you're saying that the teacher has to let the student in the course even if they are not “qualified”….yes. Susan: the article in the newspaper by Neil Pedersen was offensive to many of us. When are we going to stop being a college, and start being a high school, why do we have to rate ourselves based on how many AP classes we take?
Allison: we should make a statement on this gifted plan that pre-requisites should be in place for the AP classes.
VIII. Upcoming School Board Retreat – Mary Passannante will attend.
IX. Upcoming SGC Elections – Parent, Students, Staff
Allison: we have contacted two middle schools, Smith and McDougle – saying we have two parent positions on SGC, also sending this information home in report cards next week. Kathleen: there is a subcommittee of SIT working on Standard Operating Procedures in lieu of bylaws. We will wait to have an election. We need two parents, we have one.
X. Student Update
Sean, right now students are a little worried because the semester just ended. The formal made money, and was a success. Over 200 people attended. Made $2000.00. The Valentines Dance is Feb. 9 at East, cheaper tickets and more semi-formal, hopefully the same DJ. Kathleen: What do you do with the money? The culture fest, hopefully, and leave something for next year.
XI. Parent Update
Kathleen: homework assigned over the holidays….I don't understand it, why? My daughter spent 15 hours on her project over the holidays, then when they get back to school, their exams are not graded. We don't travel over the holidays. I am very resentful. Susan: if exams were at the end of the semester, it would be better. Jack: so there's no general policy on this, and you're asking for a policy? Kathleen: yes, I'm asking for that. Susan: I think this will be a battle. With the loss of 5 minutes of class, we've lost three weeks of time, it's an adjustment. Mary: the biggest recommendation from an organization in Asheville is to have exams before the winter break. Kathleen: I have a second point, about Honors science classes……is that something we could talk about. Is there a reason why we can't have general chemistry, and honors chemistry? Justin: the problem is once we offer honors chem., we'll have honors everything else. If we had physical science, general chemistry, honors chemistry, AP chemistry, we would have a color line. Isn't Chemistry proposed to be just “honors”? Mike Kelly is proposing that. Justin: Sherri Martin told the board that we are not meeting the honors criteria, and that we have students struggling in the regular chemistry class.
XII. PTSA Update
Allison: met on Jan. 3, have received a few calls on the tip line, hospitality – PTSA is going to provide dinner on parent conference night and faculty meeting days. Feb. 5, there is a parent forum on communicating w/ teens – a panel of experts talk about these matters. PTSA also discussed East's use of connect ed, and that CHHS should also do this. (Dave Thaden calls the parents each Sunday and night and gives an overview of the coming week.) Dr. Pedersen has had many complaints about this, he is discouraging connect ed. Allison: maybe judicious use of connect ed. should be investigated. The PTSA is not meeting in February. At the March meeting the SACs information will be solicited from parents.
XIII. Faculty Update none
XIV. School Board Update none
Adjourned: 7:50 PM