Notes from Board of Education Work Session, 4/27/15

The Board of Education Meeting on Monday, April 27 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs .

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session – 5:30 p.m.

Call to Order – 6 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum - None

Work session

FY2015 Intercategory budget change request - Report

• Kelly - Asked about duration of use for big ticket items on list such as roofs and carpets. Questioned need for carpet if we will be renovating.  McDonough carpet alone is $150,000

GWWO Study - Report

McGraw - Brought up new business regarding the EACC and the GCEI funds

Motion to support the board joining forces with the EACC to the GCEI by Palko; Second by Kelly

Amendment to the motion by Kelly; second by Abell
Yes= Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas; No=Marshall; McGraw; Palko;

Vote on the original motion
Yes= Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas; No=Marshall; McGraw; Palko;

Adjournment

Board of Education Work Session Agenda for 4/27/15

**Note please review the agenda and any corresponding documents on BoardDocs PRIOR to the meeting and send me the questions you would like asked.  The ONLY way I can perform my elected position effectively for you is with your help!**

The Board of Education of Charles County is holding a public work session at 6 p.m., Monday, April 27, in the boardroom at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building. The agenda is as follows and is subject to change:

Executive session – 5:30 p.m.

Call to Order – 6 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum

Work session

• FY2015 Intercategory budget change request - Report
• GWWO Study - Report

Adjournment

Attendance During the Week of Spring Break

A request was made for attendance data during the week of Spring Break.

Student attendance data is below:

SPRING BREAK 2014				SPRING BREAK 2015
MONDAY	APRIL 7	93.5		MONDAY	MARCH 23	94.8
TUESDAY	APRIL 8	95.2		TUESDAY	MARCH 24	95.4
WEDNESDAY	APRIL 9	95.7		WEDNESDAY	MARCH 25	95.6
THURSDAY	APRIL 10	95.5		THURSDAY	MARCH 26	95.0
FRIDAY	APRIL 11	93.9		FRIDAY	MARCH 27	93.3
MONDAY	APRIL 14	86.8		MONDAY	MARCH 30	87.5
TUESDAY	APRIL 15	80.3		TUESDAY	MARCH 31	87.4
WEDNESDAY	APRIL 16	CLOSED		WEDNESDAY	APRIL 1	78.0
THURSDAY	APRIL 17	CLOSED		THURSDAY	APRIL 2	CLOSED
FRIDAY	APRIL 18	CLOSED		FRIDAY	APRIL 3	CLOSED
MONDAY	APRIL 21	CLOSED		MONDAY	APRIL 6	CLOSED
TUESDAY	APRIL 22	95.3		TUESDAY	APRIL 7	93.7
WEDNESDAY	APRIL 23	95.8		WEDNESDAY	APRIL 8	94.5
THURSDAY	APRIL 24	93.5		THURSDAY	APRIL 9	95.3
FRIDAY	APRIL 25	93.3		FRIDAY	APRIL 10	93.9

Staff attendance for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to this year’s spring break is described below. 

Monday, (3/30):  The average number of teacher absences on a Monday is 242.  On 3/30 there were 441 teacher absences.

Tuesday (3/31):  The average number of teacher absences on a Tuesday is 244.  On 3/31 there were 472 teacher absences.

Wednesday (4/1):  The average number of teacher absences on a Wednesday is 263.  On 4/1 there were 517 teacher absences.

PARCC Working to Shorten Its Tests

Education Week
By Catherine Gewertz
April 16, 2015 8:49 AM


PARCC officials say they are working on ways to shorten their assessment and administer it during one window, instead of the two periods currently required.

That news came in testimony Wednesday night before a committee of the Ohio legislature, which is considering whether to keep PARCC—the exam the state gave for the first time this year—or dump it. The tests can take nine to 11 hours, though many students finish earlier.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, PARCC's chief of assessment, Jeff Nellhaus, told the House's test review committee that the consortium is working with Pearson, which was a key player in designing the test, to combine the performance tasks with the end-of-year portion of the test.

This year, students in the District of Columbia and 10 states are taking the longer, more complex performance tasks between Feb. 6 and May 8. They are taking the end-of-year portion, which consists of multiple choice and short-answer items, between April 13 and June 5.

States choose four-week windows within those periods, and districts have some flexibility in scheduling the test over those weeks. As we reported a few months ago, Ohio chose one of the earliest testing windows, beginning Feb. 16, which caused some concern and stress in its teacher corps.

Nellhaus told the committee that PARCC officials recognize that parents and schools are unhappy about the length of the test. He said the consortium wants to "streamline" the tests into one window and make them "somewhat shorter," according to the Plain Dealer. Nellhaus didn't say how long the streamlined version might be.

Read more HERE

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 4/15/15

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, April 14 will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs .

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session – 10:30 a.m. Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School JROTC

Recognition of winter athletes - See Report

Superintendent’s update - See Report

Correspondence/Board Member updates

• Palko - Request for Math Tutorials on web site
• Kelly - attended several ceremonies and events and impressed by both students and coaches.  Volunteer and Teacher Appreciation Week coming up.  Many of us attended the National School Board Association in Nashville at the end of March and learned a lot. Spoke of presentations she visited.  One in particular on anti-bullying.
• Palko - Parent Connection session at NSBA conference
• Lukas - DI ceremony, Senior Citizens Prom was great, Minority Achievement showcase
• McGraw - NSBA Conference; kudos to Dr. Mudd history club

Education Association of Charles County update - See Report

Student Board Member update - See Report

Winter sports update - See Report

St. Charles High School pool update - Oral report - no date yet on opening

Testing overview - See Report (Please see this for the complete testing timeline)

• Palko - questions concerning the number of times the teachers get to see their students (specials)
• Palko - why do parents receive a scale score and teachers receive a percent score
• Kelly - Kindergarten assessments - late in year
• Kelly - teachers must be certified to give test
• Marshall - raising the bar?
• McGraw - Portfolios

2016-17 school calendar - See Report

• proposed changes to 15-16 Calendar based on survey
• Abell - Requested posting on BoardDocs ASAP for Public consumption
• Crawford - Thank you for going back to the drawing board
• Spring Breaks will no longer be one week, now only Thursday - Monday
• 6 snow days built into calendar and extended through June
• 15 - 16 Proposed Changes Report

Legislative update

• Basically, the house and state passed a budget the governor does not like and he doesn't have to allocate any funds to it. :)
• HB135 - Charles County School Construction Excise Tax Rates - PASSED
• SB595 - Charter School Bill - PASSED with amendments
• SB497 - Commission to Review Testing Statewide - PASSED
• HB278/SB??? - Dyslexia education - PASSED
• HB535/SB538 - IEP changes for visually impaired - PASSED
• HB642/SB508 - Contractors/subcontractors prohibition on criminals - PASSED
• HB1032 - Public Safety weapons transport by retired - PASSED
• HB755/SB695 - PIA Compliance Board - PASSED
• HB396/SB204 - Election Law - PASSED

Unfinished business

• Abell - number of items requested at the last meeting including committee on testing

 New business

Motion to accept the 15-16 School Calendar Changes by Abell; Second by Palko

Yes = Abell, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko; No = None

Future agenda items

• Palko - Program Quality Indexes; Matthew Henson Bullying Program
• Kelly - Survey to post graduates on college/work readiness
• Abell - Board and CSM meeting on programs available

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students - Danielle Monopoli, 5th grade, Academic Achievement, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School, Principal: Kristin Shields; Jacob Gallagher, 5th grade, Career Readiness, Indian Head Elementary School, Principal: Timothy Rosin; John Canonizado, 8th grade, Academic Achievement, Theodore G. Davis Middle School, Principal: Stephanie Wesolowski; Ricardo Cardoza, 12th grade, Personal Responsibility, Westlake High School, Principal: Chrystal Benson
• Staff - Megan E. Barrows, pre-kindergarten teacher, Indian Head; Kathleen C. Parry, music teacher-vocal, Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy; Joanne S. Shelak, science teacher, Davis; Bradley Grey, science teacher, Westlake
• Resolutions: Teacher Appreciation Week, Administrative Professionals Week, Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week and National Physical Education and Sport Week.

 Public Forum – 6 p.m.

• Mary Gyrus - student LaPlata HS, graduating senior, wants graduations moved back to Show Place Arena. Does not want to graduate at a rival high school.  Has a petition.  Wants results of our survey. Focus on ceremony not location.
• Amir Quadry?(sp) - Pres. of LPHS Thespian Society.  Club invited to attended in Nebreska.  Wants BOE support to help.

Action items

• Minutes

Motion to accept the Minutes by Abell; Second by Marshall

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko; No = None

• Personnel

Motion to accept the Personnel A by Abell; Second by Lukas

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Kelly, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko; No = None

 

Motion to accept the Personnel B by Abell; Second by Lukas

Yes = Abell, Crawford, Lukas, Marshall, McGraw, Palko; No = None; Abstain = Kelly

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 4/14/15

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, April 14, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and student and staff recognition starts at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12 and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system website at www.ccboe.com. Select CCPS TV and then choose the Live Broadcast tab. The following is a tentative meeting agenda.

Executive session – 10:30 a.m.

Call to order – 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School JROTC

• Recognition of winter athletes

Superintendent’s update

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/Board Member updates
•  Education Association of Charles County update
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees update
• Student Board Member update
• Winter sports update
• St. Charles High School pool update
• Testing overview
• 2016-17 school calendar
• Legislative update

Unfinished business

New business

Future agenda items

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Staff
• Resolutions: Teacher Appreciation Week, Administrative Professionals Week, Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week and National Physical Education and Sport Week.

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Adjournment