Notes from Board of Education Work Session, 5/23/11

The Board Meeting on Monday, May 23rd 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.

Call to order - 6 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum- None

Discussion on FY 2012 budget

• Pedersen - Maryland Council of Education Effectiveness; new education evaluation
• Lukas - CIP approval & discussion
• Cook - Thanks you to Balides
• WEdnesday at 7:30 County budget meeting and forum

Report Handwriting - see report

FY 2011 intercategory budget change - see report

• Lukas - dollar threshold for approval?

Action items

• FY 2012 budget

Motion to accept 2012 Budget by Pedersen; Second by Cook

Yes = Unanimous (Bowie absent)

• Out-of-county tuition fees

Motion to accept out-of-county tuition fees by Cook; Second by Pedersen

Yes = Unanimous (Bowie absent)

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Work Session, 5/23/11

The Board of Education of Charles County is holding a work session at 6 p.m., Monday, May 23, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The meeting will be aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and streamed on the school system Web site at http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/. The agenda is as follows:

Call to order - 6 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum


Work session

• Discussion on FY 2012 budget

Report items

• Handwriting
• FY 2011 intercategory budget change

Action items

• FY 2012 budget
• Out-of-county tuition fees

Adjournment

Notes from Board of Education Meeting 5/10/11

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 10th 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 12 p.m.

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

Recognition of student liaisons

Superintendent's update  - See report

Correspondence/Board Member updates

• Pedersen - Employee Breakfast
• Wise - Ethics Panel Letter stating they found no violations or concerns

Education Association of Charles County update  - Read report

Student Board Member update - read report

Discipline update  - read report

• Suspension to the Superintendent happens within 7-10 days and is recorded.
• Abell - students possibly staying in school until appeal process plays through and then serving the suspension
• Wise - do we move students to another school like Fairfax county does.  No.
• Pedersen - bullying, student victims are still in the same school with the suspect.  Victims are offered counseling and in extreme cases could ask for a school transfer.
• Abell - Can the suspect be moved to another school or is it always the victim?
• Dr. Vaira - Yes as of 2010 Safe School Act
• Abell - Zero tolerance or gray areas?
• Cunningham - Everything goes through a hearring officer.  Disciplines are based on individual infractions.
• Bowie - Parents resource; website and principal
• Pedersen - Zero tolerance does come up on our web-site as being in the middle school handbooks.  Suggestions for possibly changing the terminology from "Zero Tolerance"
• Cunningham - Will be reviewing all of them prior to next year.
• Abell - Serious offenders, ankle bracelets; how to alleviate fear of students and parents
• Dr. Vaira - offenses that occur in the community, we can not discipline in the school and therefore they cannot be moved
• Abell - Report available for parents of infractions by school similar to Montgomery County
• Cunningham - haven't currently but suspension report by school is available on web-site
• Lukas - can we have 'ankle bracelets' sent to another school
• Dr. Vaira - on a case by case basis dependent on infraction
• Pedersen - visible presence of ankle bracelets used as bullying
• Benson - Electronic monitoring students can only go back and forth to school & will go to Cheltenham immediately for any infractions; they get better grades & attendance & have better attitudes

CIP update - see report

Educational facilities master plan - see report

Handwriting - see report

• suggests replacing D'Nealian method with Handwriting Without Tears (yay! no more monkey tails)
• Cook - parents question why students need to know cursive; correlation to academic achievement
• Bowie - website on handwriting techniques and materials for parents - Yes
• Lukas - 10 - 30% of students struggle with handwriting.  Script? Cursive? in general?; General: why did we use D'Nealian to start with?  Best program at the time.  Disparity on how cursive is taught from one school to another.
• Abell - Questions have already been answered; thankful to see monkey tails gone

FY 2012 budget - read report

Out-of-county tuition fees - read report

New policy 5118 Elementary and Secondary: gang activity - see report

Unfinished business  - none

New business - none

Future agenda items - none

Presentation of Alan Shepard Award to Superintendent Richmond

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students - Ashley Eastburn, T. C. Martin Elementary; Katelyn Kluh, Walter J. Mitchell Elementary; Leilani Mason, Mary B. Neal Elementary; Teghan Simonton, Matthew Henson Middle School; Crystal Simmons,Mattawoman Middle School; Aaron Kauffman,North Point High School
• Employees - Shirley Foster, language arts teacher, Matthew Henson Middle School; Jaime Wright, physical education teacher, Indian Head Elementary School; Christine Krebeck, science teacher, Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School; Jennifer DeAtley, reading resource teacher, Mary B. Neal Elementary School; Timothy Cerutti, mathematics teacher, North Point High School; Margaret Woodley, media specialist, Mattawoman Middle School; Earl Harrod, building service assistant manager, T.C. Martin Elementary School; Kathryn Stapelson, gifted education teacher, William A. Diggs Elementary School; Maryann Bourassa, gifted education resource teacher, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• Amber Schauf - Parent.  Children have been victims of bullying both verbally and physically by students and staff.  Incidents have been reported to teachers, principals, youth officers, central office, superintendent, etc.  For ten years now they have suffered verbal, physical, sexual abuse/harassment, threats of violence including explosives and guns.  Someone do something.
• Robin Tyler - Program on Bullying and the impact to the community.  Next one is May 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Israel Total Life Ministry in Waldorf.  (Live Taping) robintylerfoundation.org

Action items

• Minutes
Motion to accept Minutes by Cook; Second by Pedersen
Yes = Unanimous

• Personnel
Motion to accept Personnel by Pedersen; Second by Wade
Yes = Unanimous

• 2012-2013 calendar
Motion to accept 2012-2013 Calendar by Abell; Second by Cook
Yes = Unanimous

Public hearing on FY 2012 budget  - no one signed up

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting; 5/10/11

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 10, 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. The meeting is also streamed live on the Charles County Public Schools Web site. Visit http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/ to watch the meeting.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m. - Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School's JROTC unit
Recognition of student liaisons

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board Member updates

Education Association of Charles County update

Student Board Member update

Discipline update

CIP update

Educational facilities master plan

Handwriting

FY 2012 budget

Out-of-county tuition fees

New policy 5118 Elementary and Secondary: gang activity

Unfinished business
New business

Future agenda items

Presentation of Alan Shepard Award to Superintendent Richmond

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• 2012-2013 calendar

Public hearing on FY 2012 budget

Adjournment

Impact of recession: New schools too costly for some counties

Charles and Wicomico counties turn down state construction money

By Julie Bykowicz, The Baltimore Sun

11:40 p.m. EDT, May 4, 2011

As the state Board of Public Works approved $264 million for school construction Wednesday, two counties asked to delay new buildings because they aren't certain they can come up with the money to finish or operate them — an unprecedented sign, officials said, of the continuing financial challenges confronting local governments.

"We've never dealt with anything like this before, where we've come to this sort of crisis point," David G. Lever, director of the state's Public School Construction Program, said of the requests by Charles and Wicomico counties. "It's a real bellwether of the economy."

State Comptroller Peter Franchot said such "uncharted waters" should be a "blinking red light" for state officials. Franchot sits on the three-member Board of Public Works with Gov. Martin O'Malley and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.

"This could just be the tip of the iceberg," he said, questioning whether other counties also might struggle to support new or enlarged schools given the toll the economy has taken on local property and income tax revenues. "In these tough times, perhaps we should reassess these shiny new schools that we're building."

READ MORE HERE

School braces for failure

If Barnhart misses AYP again, sanctions follow

Maryland Independent
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
By Gretchen Phillips, Staff Writer

School staff began warning parents Monday at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School of choices parents have in the event it does not meet state and federal goals on this year's Maryland School Assessments.

Parents may be able to opt to send their child to another school in the district, though Barnhart staff did their best to convince parents that Barnhart is "awesome."

The MSA is a test given to students in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading to satisfy requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Students and school systems strive to achieve set standards on the state tests in order to test proficient or better; the percentages of students in each grade who must test at the proficient level to meet the standards for each school rise each year.

Read more HERE.

Penalties for drug offenses weigh heavily on students

Washington Post

April 30, 2011

Donna St. George

As many high school seniors thrill over their college admission offers, Nick Hanna wonders about the effect of his mistakes in Fairfax County. Four Virginia colleges have turned him down, and two have placed him on wait lists.

What exactly will follow his June graduation, Nick doesn’t know. “Everything has changed,” he said.

It has been nearly a year since Nick, then 17, was disciplined after a search of his backpack at Langley High School produced a small device used to smoke marijuana. That alone would have meant a suspension, but when the device tested positive for residue, school officials imposed a second offense that was more serious: drug possession.

Marijuana use is common among high-schoolers across the country, and in Fairfax more than 38 percent of 12th-graders admit to having tried it, according to a county survey.

Read more HERE.