Board has evaluation questions

Jay County’s still enjoying its report card from the Indiana Department of Education, but the recent election has school officials wondering what sort of school accountability rating system lies ahead.
The A-F report card may be on its way out when Democrat Glenda Ritz takes office Jan. 1 as superintendent of public instruction following her upset victory over incumbent Republican Tony Bennett.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with that,” Jay County High School dean of students Chad Dodd told the Jay School Board Monday night.
Jay Schools received an A overall from the state, with 9 out of 10 schools receiving A’s and the tenth missing an A by half a point in the 2011-2012 school year. It was the second consecutive A report card for Jay Schools.
“I’m really proud of the staff and the students,” said superintendent Tim Long.
School board president Greg Wellman asked administrators if there’s now too much emphasis on “teaching to the test.”
“I don’t feel we’re teaching to the test,” responded Dodd.
Teachers, he said, “are still delivering the curriculum.”
What the state’s standards have done is focus on how well the curriculum is reaching students, Dodd said.
“We do teach the Indiana standards,” said Long, adding later, “We do care about test scores.”
Administrators also noted that school curriculum is controlled more and more by the Indiana Department of Education.
“Our courses and curriculum must match up with what the state says,” JCHS principal Phil Ford told the board.
Board members unanimously adopted a JCHS curriculum guide as presented by Ford and guidance counselor Vickie Reitz and also adopted a change in policy on curriculum development that brings it in line with the state’s standards.
Long also noted that delivery of the curriculum, particularly at the high school level, is likely to change with new developments in technology. Long has appointed high school RISE coordinator Jeremy Gulley to coordinate an initiative that could put tablets such as iPads in the hands of all JCHS students.
A tentative 2013-14 school calendar was presented for board review and will be acted upon at a future meeting.
As spelled out now, the first day of school for students would be Aug. 13, Christmas vacation would be from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1, spring break would be March 24 through 28, the last day for students would be May 21, and graduation would be June 1.
Long is working to coordinate the calendar with South Adams Schools so that it will work for Jay County students who take a vocational course at South Adams.
In other business, the board:
•Scheduled a RISE seminar for board members and interested members of the public for Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at the administrative offices.
•Approved leaves of absence for Bloomfield Elementary School fifth grade teacher Lona Shuey and General Shanks Elementary School special education teacher Holly Johnson.
•Heard a complaint from parent Brian DeVoss about student dismissal policies at Judge Haynes Elementary School that led him to transfer his sons to General Shanks. “I will agree that childen’s safety is a priority,” Wellman told DeVoss. “It is something we have to look into.”
•Authorized field trips by the JCHS robotics team to Cincinnati and Anaheim, Calif.
•Approved extra-curricular assignments for Corey Comer as seventh grade boys’ basketball coach at East Jay Middle School, Chris Comer as volunteer seventh grade boys’ basketball coach at East Jay, Josh Selvey as eighth grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay Middle School, Kelly Bricker as seventh grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay, Rhea Walradth as sixth grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay, Nicholas Ehrhart as assistant boys’ swim coach at JCHS, and Rod Ashman as volunteer assistant boys’ basketball coach at JCHS.
•Noted that Long had appointed John Moore to the board of The Portland Foundation and Barbara Downing to the board of the Kids’ Hope mentoring program.
•Approved borrowing up to $900,000 from the Indiana Bond Bank for cash flow in the capital projects fund in 2013. That’s in line with the past several years.
•Approved 17 copier leases with Office Concepts.
•Adopted a textbook for Chinese language classes on a 6-1 vote with Jim Sanders dissenting. Sanders, who goes off the board Dec. 31, has been a persistent critic of the school corporation’s international initiatives.
•Agreed to move the start time for its Dec. 10 meeting to 7 p.m. to accommodate board member Ron Laux.[[In-content Ad]]