Members Absent: Dr. Mary Ann Hardebeck, Gloria Faley

Board Liaison Present: Lisa Stuckey

Others Present: Quinn Silcox (recorder), Pat Harris (for Dr. Hardebeck), K. Couild, P. Garret, MB Carter, D. Williams, David Miller (teacher), Alice Joyce (Service Learning Coordinator)

A meeting of the School Governance Committee of Chapel Hill High School was held on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at the Media Center of Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mary Zimmerman acted as Chair, and called the meeting to order at 6:05.

I. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Meeting (Action)
There was a motion to approve April, May and June minutes. It was seconded and consensus was achieved.
II. Public Presentations
David Miller addressed the SGC on behalf of the baseball team. A lot of time, work and money have gone into repairing the baseball fields. They would like to replace the outdated score board. They plan to raise that money by allowing a sponsor to advertise on a new score board. David Miller is asking for the support of the SGC as he submits his proposal to Lincoln Center. The baseball team has a couple of parents working to secure a sponsor. If it is financially feasible he would like to donate the current score board to Smith.

Cathy Giles came to speak on behalf of the Bouncing Bulldogs. She passed along the school board policy for service learning. In April Bouncing Bulldogs was not on the approved list of service learning. It is non-profit and tax exempt. Participants volunteer their time and perform. They are open to the community and provide scholarships. There have been performances to raise money for the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina but it does not count for service learning.

Alice Joyce said that Bouncing Bulldogs service performances will count as Service Learning. Hours that don’t count are things that are in direct benefit to the group. Every other form she has received she has approved everything except practices and summer camp. There has been a lot of confusion about what has counted and what does not. Alice regrets that there has been so much misunderstanding. Alice will write a letter to the Bull Dogs coach and to the parents to clear up any misunderstanding.

Mary Beth Carter came to represent the booster club. They have almost completed installing lockers in the locker room. They are now trying to renovate the weight room. They booster club is looking to provide all of the equipment, but there are issues about the facility that they would like Lincoln Center to address. It would benefit athletes and also every student because they all are required to take PE.

III. Election of SGC chairpersons
Steve was nominated to be the parent co-chair. He felt that with having a new principal it would be helpful to have someone with a bit more knowledge and experience than what he has. He felt that Gloria Faley, with a school board term, might fill the position better. Steve nominated Gloria, but in her absence the parent chairperson election will be postponed until the next meeting. Steve is willing to be nominated but would also like to nominate Gloria.

Paul Marshall said that he felt Steve would be a great chairperson because he has only altruistic intentions and felt like he would make a great parent rep.

All of the faculty SGC members told about themselves so that a nomination could be made.

Mary Zimmerman has been nominated to be the faculty co-chair. The motion was seconded and consensus was achieved. Mary will get in touch with Gloria and let her know of her nomination.

IV. Updates
1. Student Update:
The students hosted a Katrina relief at Cat’s Cradle. They raised $4,000. Student Government also raised over $800 selling Mardi Gras beads. Club day was held last week. The first Student Government meeting was this week. This year Student Government is trying to make spirit week really big. They are going to have dress up themes for each day. On Friday there will be a pep rally which has not occurred for the last few years. After school there will be a parade on High School Rd. followed by a school fair. That night students can attend the Homecoming game and there will be a dance immediately following. Any help from teachers and parents would be greatly appreciated.

The senior class meeting and senior photo is coming up.

Freshman Seminar went really well and the student body was very involved. The Junior and Senior Links did a wonderful job.

2. Parent Update:
Firoza is on the High School Reform committee and Dr. Pederson made a presentation about the minority Gap. He gave the direction for Lincoln Center Staff as well as teachers to focus on closing the gap this year instead of block scheduling. He proposed that block scheduling be delayed one year.

This year the board only passed 2 initiatives—closing the gap and raising all student achievement.

The SGC orientation was very helpful.

Jack wanted to know if the faculty felt the delayed opening was effective. Rebecca thought it was very helpful. The only concern was that the delayed opening was not very publicized. All faculty expressed how positive and effective they felt the time was.

The PTA met in September and all committees are staffed.

3. Faculty Update:
The biology team has been working harder than ever to reach all students. Sherlock Graham-Haynes and an NC Central science professor came to talk to some biology classes. The biology team has instituted a bio-buddies program. If students are failing they must come in and get tutoring from their peers. Biology teachers were concerned that the board singled them out and expressed disappointment in them. Lisa assured the SGC that no department was singled out.

The math dept feels that as soon as they reach one milestone the bar raises 2 notches. They also feel that having 8th graders take Algebra is a major mistake. He feels that the trouble is going to come in a few years. As 9th graders they are all on the college prep course and some are going to really struggle in that course of study..

Starting with the current senior class the requirements are more rigorous. The faculty feels that it singles out students that want to enter the working field after high school.

The push for all the requirements came from the State not from the school board. Counselors try to encourage students to choose a course of study that will be best for them.

Counselors have been busy in the evening with many different open houses. 9th grade parent night was better attended than in the past.

At Freshman Seminar students met with counselors to fill out interest surveys. Counselors will make 4 year plans with the freshmen.

4. School Board Update
Lisa is meeting with City officials to find the needs of labor workers in the area in hopes that it can help high school students know of potential jobs.

The state has been increasing graduation requirements. They did that because many NC students were not able to get into college or get a job after graduation from high school. The State felt that every high school graduate should be able to get a job, go to a community college or a state college. The State felt that if they raised the requirements it would enable all students to do something productive when they graduated. Last year the state board mandated that students must pass 5 EOC’s to graduate. The News & Observer did a survey to determine how many students would pass all 5 EOC’s and the findings were remarkable dismal. This would mean that many students would not be able to graduate. This has been what has fueled an even greater emphasis on closing the gap and raising student achievement. The stakes have been raised for EOC testing. Teachers and students have to take these tests very seriously. Students can be retested and turn in a portfolio if they fail. Algebra, Biology and English I are EOC’s that freshmen are required to take. The district received a grant to fund tutoring high school students.

The school board has seen almost a 40 point gain in Latino and African American scores in 3rd -8th grade. Raising scores is possible.

When the State made it mandatory for 8th graders to pass their EOG’s test scores were raised. The state is hoping that this will also be the case for EOC’s. Passing and proficiency are two different things. Students can receive a passing grade but not pass the EOC because they did not get a level 3 or 4 proficiency level. Alignment is a vital component in raising test scores. Retaking the test will cause test scores to rise.

The math department would like to see that summer school math classes are only remediation and not for advancement.

Block scheduling helps students who fail. The school is also doing second chance academy and it has been revised in a way that will be really wonderful.

The 21st Century tutoring grant has two components. The first one is Nova Net which is online remediation. The second component will be after school tutorials that will pinpoint struggling students. How the students will be identified has still to be decided. They would like teachers to tutor and they will be compensated for their time. Students have responded positively to the help. It is a big challenge but one that the district can meet.

The board will also look at service learning.

Delayed opening went very well.

Last year students requested that there be a student representative to be on the school board. Lisa is going to forward information to student representative and be their school board liaison.

5. Principal’s update:
The school enrollment is 1849. Progress reports will come out Friday

V. New Course Proposals

These proposals if approved would be implemented next year.

· Bilingual biology designed for ESL students.
· AP Japanese.
· Introduction to dark room photography. This class is a vocational class and is a full year. Department chairs were going to look into seeing if this class could also count for Cultural Arts.
· Independent Research for 11-12 graders. This would be a class where students conduct their own investigations. The school will not be able to fund this course. The vertical teams committee would need to fund it if it were made available.
· AP Human Geography. In this class students would study culture, race, and geography. This could possibly satisfy the earth science requirement. It is available for student’s grades 10-12.
· Portuguese 1 offered for students 9-12. If this class was passed it would need to have more levels to satisfy college requirements.
· AP US history for grades 11and 12 only. They are looking to drop 20th century topics. The school would like to open AP European History for 10-12 graders, and make Civics Econ a prerequisite of AP US History.

Once these courses are approved by the SGC it goes to the district vertical teams committee. They study the courses and give recommendations to the school board.

Bilingual biology would help the Hispanic population get a better grasp of the course. It would help students learn the technical language better. There has been success in an ESL math class. The end of the year testing is going to be different than it has been in the past.

A motion was made to approve the courses. The motion was seconded and consensus was achieved.

Dr. Hardebeck said one of the main goals of the SGC would be to oversee the implementation of the SIP. Beth Sweeney and Mary are going to get together to decide how to measure that progress. Beth will come to the SGC three times during the year to give an update on the school’s progress.

An interim principal will be appointed by Dr. Pedersen which will then need to be approved by the board. A national search will be made to fill the principal position. Dr. Hardebeck will be leaving sometime in October or November.