November Meeting Reports- District and School Board News
Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by admin in District and School Board News, Minutes
The Board of Education Report was presented by Karen Penlar.
• We have two new BOE members: Mary Kay O’Toole and Anne Thomas. We are still waiting for a final vote tally to determine the third.
• All day kindergarten will start in 2011. There will be no charge to parents for all day. Half Day kindergarten will still be available.
• House Bill 264 will help us to make our school system more green, which will help save us money.
• The H1N1 virus seems to ebb and flow. Thanks to Geauga County, the vaccine will be available to students at Gurney on Tues. Nov 24th.
• As to the lawn in front of the school: The landscaping cost $21,000 to repair and replant the lawn and trees. This was covered by the operating budget. We are a large part of this community and are in a neighborhood and need to respect that and keep our property in good repair.
The District Administrative Report was presented by Christine Jackson.
RtI (Response to Intervention)
• We are in the process of moving forward with development of a comprehensive “Response to Intervention” approach that addresses reading, mathematics, writing and behavior across all grade levels. This process is a regular education initiative led by curriculum and special education that looks at screening data to determine who is in need of additional support in order to prevent the development of serious learning problems. We have been utilizing universal screening within reading in grades K-8 for several years and, like most districts, have focused our initial efforts in the area of reading. We are being aggressive in moving forward to develop RtI programming across all areas over the course of this school year so that we can better facilitate data-based instructional decision-making to meet the needs of our students. Part of the process involves progress-monitoring for those students who are identified to be in need of additional support to insure programming is impacting the targeted area of need. This process allows schools to identify those students who are struggling and provide intervention before the difficulty becomes severe.
• Chagrin Falls Schools Requests Exceptional Children Advisory Team
The Chagrin Falls School District is in the process of forming an Exceptional Children Advisory Committee which will assist us in enhancing programming provided for students with disabilities, those having academic or behavioral difficulties and those who are gifted or achieving at high levels. This committee will consist of school and community members who will work together to provide insight into programming for students demonstrating exceptionalities at both ends of the spectrum. The committee will consist of approximately 15-20 individuals who will meet for three sessions this school year. Ideal advisory team members are those individuals who have children with exceptionalities or those who have a special interest in education for children with exceptionalities. If you are interested in being considered to become a member of the advisory team and are able to make the time commitment, you may take this survey to apply. If you prefer you may also request a nomination form from the Pupil Services Office at 440.247.4564. Forms must be completed on line or received by the Pupil Services Office by November 24,2009 to be considered. Participants will be selected from those nominated to establish a representative sample of the local and school community. Please respond by Tues. Nov. 24th.
• Potential Strategic Plan Update Areas
Some of the items we will be exploring as part of the Exceptional Children Advisory Team may surface as update items for the strategic plan. There are some internal operation protocols we are refining along with discussions regarding the feasibility of looking at a possible learning center for before and after school, integration of the RtI process, autism programming possibilities, and gifted programming options.
