Nov. 19, 2007 BOE Meting

The Nov. 19th BOE meeting opened with an announcement about Closed Session that 2 North HS students were expelled.

There is also a WASB convention in January and School Board election paperwork will be available after December 1st.

Dept. Sup. Butler announced that there is no school on the Wed., Thurs., and Friday of Thanksgiving week. Also some announcement about WAHPERD (some statewide group about Physical Education and Health?) gave a teaching award to a Delong teacher. Dr. Leary recently attended the Real Life Academy and was VERY IMPRESSED with the process and the support from the community. Pres. O'Brien and Comm. Faanes and P. Iverson also attended.

Interesting note on the approval of the budget: Pres. O'Brien and Comm. Faanes abstained from voting (because their spouses are ECASD district employees but Comm. Kneer approved the expenditures even though she, herself, is a district employee. Go figure.

There was a very comprehensive report to the BOE froom the Montessori Charter School (Todd Johnson, Principal, Johanna W., staff and Maureen McGraith, parent). There was an Annual Report for audience members to review. I am NOT a Montessori expert but the group did a good job in laying out the Goals for the program, the Student Assessment, Program Assessment Measures and Accomplishments. I am unable to know if these are reasonable Goals and Measures for a Montessori Charter School or not. It was clear that retaining students for the upper grades is a concern as there seemed to be only a couple of 4th and 5th graders who have stayed with the Charter School. BOE members had several questions concerning teacher attrition, the expense of teacher training, transitioning Montessori students to middle school, Special Education services and the screening process used for students.

Following the Montessori presentation was an update to the Board from the Head Start Program by Paula Wainscott. Again, a very comprehensive handout was included for audience members. Again, I am not an expert but I found the report to be very informative and staffed by very dedicated professionals who care deeply about the children and families they work with. Of course, inadequate funding is an issue. There was a brief digression to the EC4 Tomorrow (4 year old kindergarten) program which is limited to 4 year olds who are already in a daycare setting and have adequate transportation which can be a barrier to participation. Pres. O'Brien thanked the presenters and board members expressed their appreciation as well.



Other updates: No update for the Clear Vision process. Comm. Craig expressed her concern that the district realistically assesses when a discussion about referendum could be held. Dr, Leary indicated that at the Dec. 3rd meeting he will report on the Internal Needs Assessment process. Also Budget discussions are beginning for Operations, Facilities, etc... Comm. Craig indicated that the district is looking at an additional $5 to $6 million in cuts over the next 3 years and there is NO PROCESS in place to involve the community.

Pres. O'Brien indicated that there will be a Charter meeting on Dec. 17th and G. Butler indicated that Board Policy revisions will be discussed Jan. 21st. Other meetings on Dec. 18th from 6:30 to 8:30 and Dec. 17th from 5:30 to 7 before the regular BOE meeting. I think people should check the ECASD website for topics and times of these meetings as it was pretty confusing with so many times and dates flying around.

Comm. Craig indicated that the Parent Advisory Council has a new brochure and that the Montessori Charter School is now a member of PAC.

Adjourn!