PARCC testing to start Feb. 23

FORT RECOVERY — The schedule is set for Fort Recovery Local Schools’ first experience with PARCC.
Principals presented Fort Recovery School Board on Tuesday with the testing schedule for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test, which will be administered for the first time this year as part of Common Core.
Board members also discussed plans for the new system that allows high school students to earn college credits and approved the schedule for the 2015-16 school year.
Testing for third through eighth graders will run from Feb. 23 through 27 and March 3 as students take PARCC “performance based assessments” in English/language arts and math as well as Ohio tests in social studies and science. “End of Year” assessments are scheduled for April 20 through 23 and May 6.
Fort Recovery has allotted the first two hours of the school day for testing, and will then have regular classes on a two-hour delay schedule.
For high school freshmen, tests will be given in algebra, American history and English from Feb. 24 through 26. Those tests will be given during regular freshman class times — after lunch — in order to minimize interruptions to the regular school day.
“My goal with this is to make it as headache free as it could possibly be,” said FRHS principal Jeff Hobbs. “School goes on as normal. … To me, it’s no different than if your kid was taking the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) or taking the 12th grade proficiency test as we have in the past. Our goal is that we’ll do well.”
PARCC testing and Common Core in general have been controversial in Fort Recovery, with residents attending several school board meetings over the last two years to voice their opposition.
Since then, school board members and superintendent Shelly Vaughn have been meting with residents to discuss concerns.
As a result, Vaughn and other school leaders have put together a document answering some of the key questions they’ve heard and made it available on the school web site at http://www.fortrecoveryschools.org.
“We owe this. We know there are a lot of people interested in this,” said board president Jose Faller. “So we put something together to get it out and make it public.
“It was the right thing to do. … We probably should have done this before now, but I think it’s good that we’re putting it out there.”
Guidance counselor Amy Kaiser updated the board on the new College Credit Plus program that will take effect for the 2015-16 school year. It is designed to make the opportunity to earn college credits accessible to more high school students.
The new program will continue to offer students the ability to take college courses at an area college or university, and also offers the option for high school teachers to earn accreditation and teach college-level courses in high schools for dual credit. That would require teachers to have at least 18 graduate level credit hours in their subject area.
Kaiser noted that teaching such classes on the high school campus would be the most cost-effective option for Fort Recovery, but that it would be costly for teachers to earn their certification. She suggested offering an incentive to teachers who are interested.
“I see a huge benefit for our kids,” said Kaiser. “If they could be in those classes here in Fort Recovery High School and not have to leave the building and get college credit, how great that would be for them at no cost.”
Board members Dave Hull, Ginny Fortkamp, Aaron Guggenbiller, Amy Bihn and Faller OK’d the calendar for the 2015-16 school year, which includes staff orientation on Aug. 24 with the first day of school on Aug. 26. Winter break will run from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3. The last day for students will be May 26, and graduation is scheduled for May 22.
In other business, the board:
•Heard a financial update from treasurer Lori Koch noting that funding from the state is expected to decrease over the next few years because of a drop in enrollment and an increase in projected local property tax intake. It is projected to receive $5.1 million from the state in fiscal year 2015, which is a 1.8-percent decrease from this year, $5.04 million in 2016 and $4.9 million in 2017.
•Accepted a Jennings Grant of $2,942 for the purchase of Kindles for improving literacy. Also accepted donations totaling more than $6,000, including $2,000 from Fort Recovery Community Foundation for FRHS Adopt-A-Family.
•Heard an update from elementary school principal Tracy Hein-Evers that FRES has surpassed its goal of $2,000 and raised $2,616 for Pennies for Patients, a program that raises money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Since 2002, the school has raised more than $27,000.
Also, kindergarten screening is scheduled for March 2 and 3, and a Laffalot Summer Camp is being planned at Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School for July 20 through 24.
•Agreed to control the volume of music in The Jerome and Maurice Grieshop Athletic Training Facility after hearing a request from a local resident. Peggy Huff, who lives south of the school, told the board she hears the music coming from the facility at all hours of the day.
•Approved the high school marching band’s trip to Florida for March 31 through April 4, 2016.
•Recognized Mercer County Spelling Bee participants Dylan Langenkamp, Clayton Pearson, Elijah Stammen, Ally Kaiser and Caitlyn Weigel. Langenkamp finished as the runner-up, and Pearson finished third.
Also recognized Rachel Pugh, Melissa Knapke and Alexis Hobbs for their participation in the Purdue Summer Leadership Institute at John Jay Center for Learning in Portland.
•Authorized participation in the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council Natural Gas Supply Program for a two-year period.
•Appointed Jerry Stammen to a seven-year term on Fort Recovery Public Library Board.
•Hired Katherine Guggenbiller as a substitute teacher on an as-needed basis, Adam Steinbrunner as assistant high school track coach and Mark Hubbard as fifth and sixth grade girls basketball coach.