Education Committee Meeting Minutes 7/11/05

[gonzalesk]

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County

Billings, Montana

July 11, 2005

 

Board Chair Kathy Kelker called the joint meeting of the Education, Business and School-Community Committees to order at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the report of the 20-Year Facility Planning Committee. The minutes of that portion of the meeting are attached.

 

The Education Committee reconvened in room 219 of Lincoln Center at 7:07 at which time the meeting was called to order by Chair Conrad Stroebe. Attending the meeting were Margaret Aukshun, Ann Barlow, Julie Sykes, Kathy Olson, Kip Farnum, Sandy Mossman and Patty Fain. Guests included Carol Blades and Courtney Hamblin.

 

Minute Approval of June 13, 2005 Education Committee

 

Ann Barlow moved to approve the minutes of the June 13, 2005 Education Committee meeting. Kip Farnum seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

 

Report on Crossroads and Programs at Crossroads

 

Carol Blades, principal at Crossroads Alternative School, presented a brief overview of the programs at the school. She reported that the mission of Crossroads is to “Raise student achievement via the 3 R’s - Relationship, Relevancy and Rigor. She then went on to explain what each means and how it is carried out in the school. Various program interventions that are used in the programs were also explained. Some of these include small school building, small class sizes, home school liaison, quarter credit issued, new student orientation, student mentors, relationship based versus authority based, student government, time out room, supervised lunch, daily or weekly grade checks, and the truancy center. She asked that the school be able to maintain the highly controlled environment that they now enjoy. Being able to control who enters the building provides the students with a safe environment. Next year Crossroads will be a stand- alone high school, and because of that they will be implementing more assessments in line with the curriculum. Courtney Hamblin, English teacher at Crossroads, also presented some information on the Advisory program that they will be starting at Crossroads. The Advisory/Advisee program is an affective educational program designed to focus on the social, emotional, physical, intellectual, psychological, and ethical development of students. The staff will be trained in the advisory program, and each staff member will provide support for a section of about 15 students. The advisor will stay with the same group of students until they graduate. The staff believes that by creating and maintaining relationships with the students, they will be giving them the support they need to become successful in their classes and their lives. Carol was asked what kinds of activities they would be offering now that Crossroads is a stand-alone school. She explained that she’s been told that there is no funding available for activities so she’s trying to develop some programs with community resources. After some discussion of the merits of activities, it was suggested that Carol put together a well-defined proposal for activities at Crossroads and present it to the Board.

 

 

Curriculum Planning – Long Term

 

Kathy Olson, Executive Director of Elementary Education, explained that Malcolm Goodrich requested that this item be placed on the agenda, and because he was absent from the meeting, it was tabled for another time.

 

Beginning Discussion on International Baccalaureate

 

Kathy Olson explained that the superintendent suggested that the Education Committee review the International Baccalaureate program and begin discussion about the possibilities of adding the program to Billings Public Schools. The International Baccalaureate program is a rigorous pre-university course of studies that leads to examinations, for highly motivated secondary school students. There are also programs available for middle and primary years. Students who complete this program are admitted to universities worldwide, including the most selective. Teachers who teach IB classes have to receive specialized training. Discussion ensued whether an IB program would replace the honors classes or should be in addition to honors classes. It was decided that the Committee would look at this topic again in October, and would also look at the number of students who are enrolled in honors classes, as well as in the gifted and talented classes in the elementary schools.

 

Credit for Community Services

 

The Committee discussed giving credit for community service. Ann Barlow reported that in some states it’s mandated for graduation that students must earn two credits in community service as a requirement for graduation. Because Montana does not mandate community service as a graduation requirement, groundwork needs to be completed before any kind of credit could be given in our District. It was decided to do an assessment of the schools to see if any schools were actually giving any credits for community service. The committee decided that Shaun Harrington could poll the schools to find out if they have any community service programs, and what they involve and report back.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

 

 

Kathy Gonzales Conrad Stroebe

Recorder Chair