CHS Site Council Minutes

February 27, 2007

 

 

Members Attending:  Don Gwyther, Dianna McMahon, Ryan Kounovsky, Will Coltrin, Paul Goldspink, and Sue Bowers

 

Guests Attending:  Kris Hisey, Debra Weber, Wendy Zacharias

 

Mrs. McMahon called the meeting to order at about 3:30.  She shared that the agenda would include review of proposed new courses for inclusion in the curriculum guide, further updates from Mr. Goldspink on athletic policy and more discussion on budget issues, with Mr. Ophus hopefully arriving from jury duty to be part of that.

 

New Course Proposals

 

Mr. Coltrin shared a proposal for a yearlong Advanced Agriculture course, which he described as a “next step” after the Intro. to Ag. series and ideally taken before a student chooses the more specialized courses such as horticulture, natural resources or animal science.   It would have rotating curriculum for the two semesters, so could be taken either or both.   It would include a project that should accomplish students’ extended application graduation requirement.  Mr. Coltrin indicated that the material he now uses for the first year Ag. course along with participation in the FFA program would accomplish the CRLS requirements for most students.  As the new graduation requirements are firmed up, Mr. Coltrin feels this class could meet either a science or math requirement.

 

Mrs. McMahon wondered whether more staff input might be more valuable than that of the Site Council on new course offerings.  She was reminded that formal Site Council approval is required by policy for new courses to be offered.  Teachers also assured her that parent input was helpful as new classes are designed.

 

After suggesting that the course title be changed to “Intermediate Agriculture” and that the description include reference to helping with CRLS, the Site Council voted to approve this class for the 2007-08 Curriculum Guide.

 

Next, Mrs. Weber described the Writing 121, 122 and 123 courses she has proposed, working through LCC in their High School Connections (formerly College Now) program.  She has been approved by LCC and offered these same classes previously at Mohawk High School.  121 and 122 are composition classes and 123 focuses on formal research.  All are challenging, but would provide 3 college credits each for students at no cost to them.  The group discussed whether these would be offered as separate electives and/or as an option in lieu of our current English 12 courses.  Depending on interest, one, two or all three of the LCC courses could be included in a yearlong class here.  Mrs. Zacharias felt that would meet one of the English graduation requirements.  Mrs. Weber clarified that the LCC placement tests would be used to screen candidates for this course to help insure their success.  The Site Council voted to approve offering the classes.

Mrs. McMahon directed the group’s attention to the other written proposals that had been prepared by staff.  After brief discussion, the members of the Site Council approved all of these proposed classes.  They include:

 

  • Survey of Social Studies, as proposed by Mr. Martin
  • Comic Books, Illustration and changing Stagecraft to Woods 3, as proposed by Mr. Stepp
  • Video Production and Digital Photography, as proposed by Mr. Moran
  • Spanish Language Arts 1 Independent Study, as proposed by Mrs. Alloway

 

Other Discussion

 

Before continuing with the next agenda item, Mrs. McMahon asked about the process for selecting class Valedictorian, saying she had heard from students there was concern about how weighted courses affect the process.  Mrs. Zacharias clarified that the timing of students taking the three weighted classes we offer (Calculus, Physics and AP Chemistry) can affect the determination, but that several other variables also come into play.  These include number of attempted credits, number of earned credits and number of P/F grades received.  The determination is based on grades of all students in the graduating class after completion of seven semesters, as the eighth semester grades are not available until after graduation. 

 

Athletic Policy

 

Site Council is being asked again to make a recommendation about a minimum number of athletes for continued funding of a sport.  Mr. Goldspink shared the current athletic handbook language about dropping sports from school funding, which indicates that the Site Council may set a minimum number.  He continues to be concerned that nothing in the current policy calls for intervention to assist a struggling program prior to it being dropped.  He described his ideas for a formal review committee which would meet every two years and a draft rubric for sports funding, which includes points for items such as whether it is a part of OSAA, the number of teams in our league that compete in that sport, its level of tradition at CHS and so forth.  His new policy ideas will be presented to the School Board later this spring, but in the meantime he reiterated that a minimum number has been requested of Site Council.

 

Mrs. McMahon asked whether it would make sense to discuss a different number for each sport.  Mr. Goldspink felt it best to have consistent standards for all athletic programs.  The group discussed various possibilities, while still expressing reluctance to have the funding decision be based on just a number.  In thinking about any related guidelines elsewhere in our system, Mr. Goldspink shared that he was aware that teaching assignments had been maintained for classes numbering down to seven.  After further discussion and while still expressing reluctance to use a number for this decision, the Site Council voted unanimously to recommend seven as the minimum number of participants to maintain district funding.

 

Budget Questions

 

As some background for continuing discussion on budget matters, Mrs. McMahon shared some data from Mrs. Burrus about the incoming 8th grade class.  CMS has a total of 79 8th graders, with 12 of those in Special Education.  49 of the 67 not in Special Ed. (73%) earned 3.0 or higher for their first semester this year.  Mrs. Burrus feels that many of these students will not need a Study Hall next year.

 

Mrs. Hisey was asked for her input on Study Hall.  She has been frustrated with trying to use the Commons as the location for Study Hall and is working on a proposal to move one of the unused modulars from Creslane over to CHS to be a resource room for studying as well as for the ELL and Transitions programs.  She agreed that some students don’t need Study Hall time and have been bored with it this year, but others, including upper classmen as well as freshmen, can really benefit from having the time.

 

Mrs. Zacharias noted that, if they did not have Study Hall or Freshman Academy, freshmen would have time for three electives each semester.  Mrs. McMahon asked about freshmen schedules at other schools in the area.  Mrs. Zacharias said that the PE, Health and the first year of Social Studies (our “Global” courses) all vary between being required for freshmen or sophomores at different schools.

 

Mr. Coltrin suggested that Freshman Academy is the appropriate time to begin work on the CRLS.  He and Mr. Kramer have discussed incorporating those into the curriculum for that class.  There were questions about whether it could be taught by a classified employee, with Mr. Ophus being teacher of record.  Mr. Coltrin is concerned that we still do not have a system in place to encourage and track CRLS progress throughout a student’s four years here.  Many of the teachers and the majority of students don’t really understand what is needed in their files over the years.  He is concerned that our current juniors are not making any real progress with their record keeping or collection of evidence and does not relish the thought of teaching Senior Seminar again next year.  He has six seniors who still have not completed what they need to this year, even with the guidance provided in his class first semester.

 

Mrs. McMahon wondered if some students, with the school providing information about what must be done, could accomplish their CRLS on their own.  Staff members expressed doubt that would work for the majority, as many students need more structure and guidance.  Ryan confirmed that he and other sophomores do not know what is expected.  Mr. Coltrin does not want to be the one person who decides on the requirements and feels that the district needs to spend time designing its system, hopefully making the experience more meaningful for students.  Mrs. McMahon plans to discuss with Mrs. Burrus and Mr. Ophus the idea of including this topic in an 8th grade parent orientation later this spring.

 

Mr. Coltrin indicated the largest amount of work is required for the extended application.  This can’t be started until the student has at least a general idea of their career goal.  He suggests trying to assign staff advisors based on these goals.  For example, he would advise those interested in agriculture, Ms. Clark those looking at health occupations, etc.

Without Mr. Ophus present to provide his input and more information to the group about the budget process, Mrs. McMahon noted that formal Site Council input to the CHS budget would be carried over to the next meeting.  That was tentatively set for Tuesday, March 13 at 3:20 in the Commons.

 

The meeting was adjourned at about 5:30.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Sue Bowers, Secretary