Board of Education Goals, Past and Current (Part 2)
At the October Board of Education Meeting, the USD 417 BOE approved new goals for the 2016-17 school year. Below is a list of these new goals along with an explanation of what the district hopes to accomplish through these goals.
Goal #1: Add an additional counseling position – While this is undefined as of this time, whether this is to be a full-time or part-time position, the need is evident based on our student population and requirements of the state’s new accreditation system. Let me elaborate. In my four years in this district, we have seen our at-risk population (as measured solely by economic status) rise from the low 40% to almost 60% of our student population. If we were to add in students who are impacted by factors other than economics, this total is above the 60% level. For many of these students, there are issues that come to school which we have an obligation to help. For many others, it is the right thing for us to offer help. In addition, the state’s emphasis on career planning, career counseling, and use of assessment results to assist in career planning all tend to fall on our counseling department. At one time this district had four counselors working with students. Due to budget cuts by the state and to some extent our declining population, we now have two counselors. This current load is likely unsustainable for our two counselors. Thus, our task is to figure out how we can afford additional counseling services and the division of these services among our counseling staff and schools.
Goal #2: Study the use of virtual and on-line education to increase course offerings and reduce student dropouts – Another of the state accreditation requirements involves student graduation rates which includes the reduction of student dropout numbers. Choosing to drop out of high school tends to be an action all too often associated with at-risk students. Our current response to this is to try to address this issue at the high school level even though the “process” of dropping out typically starts before students actually reach the high school level. In fact, the most successful dropout prevention programs come from early childhood and elementary school intervention efforts (see the need for additional counselors above) on both an academic and emotional level. The symptoms for potential dropouts tend to include a lack of academic success sometimes coupled with behavioral/emotional issues. For girls, include the risk of pregnancy as an important factor. Couple these factors with a very poor support system and/or emotional/physical neglect at home and we see the very real potential for a student dropping out of school. Having additional counseling help will help with the identification of and perhaps intervention for such students.
When these students get to the high school level, we have ways to help with credit recovery and/or teachers willing to give additional time to academically help but for a few of our students, this is not sufficient. For a few we come face to face with one of two situations. One involves a student’s wanting to drop out because they no longer want to be in the school and a parent all too willing to give in to their child’s desire. Or, behavior has become such that we have to make a decision in regards to the continued educational participation in our school. In either case, we have no alternative setting to provide an option between staying in or dropping out. The use of a virtual school option might provide us an option, which is what we want to explore through this goal.
The other purpose for studying the usefulness or power of virtual education is to provide an opportunity for an expanded learning program for our students. Due to our size, we can only afford so many teachers. However, there is a plethora of courses on-line that are offered. These can be simply high school courses or dual credit courses. One of the ways to energize and motivate students at the secondary level is to provide them with learning opportunities in areas that interest them. Having an affordable list of additional courses to offer students might provide a new level of interest/motivation for our students. And perhaps provide a more individualized educational experience.
Goal 3: Complete facility work at the sports complex – One of the items last listed on the work at the sports complex, and actually discussed four years ago by the BOE, is to upgrade the concession stand and restrooms at the sports complex. The current concession stand is very small, lacks security, effective storage, and running water. The current restrooms are small, do not meet ADA requirements, and have too few of toilet and sink fixtures. This description is applicable to both the men’s and women’s restrooms. Last, the officials dressing room is also way too small and lacks adequate toilet and shower accommodations. We will study options to replace the current set up and also take a look at the costs of improvements to our locker rooms and repair work for our home bleachers. In the end we hope to come out with a thorough look at the stadium and what may need to be addressed in the coming years.
Goal #4: State accreditation plan – More will be written on this topic in the months to come so I will not spend time addressing it here.
Goal #5: Continue to work on employee wages and benefits – As I stated in Part 1 of my message, we have continued work to do regarding wages for both our teachers and our classified staff. This school year will likely not provide the opportunity as we will likely not know what school funding will look like until the summer. By then it will be too late to do much in this area. However, if by chance our legislative leaders can figure out both the solution to the problem that plagues our state finances and develop a new finance system early in the process then this topic will be taken up. One thing that I hope we will be able to ascertain and share with the BOE is what this year’s work on wages did in relation to other school employers in our area of the state.