Jan Mitchell, LWV observer
Absent- Anne Maple
The Board heard a report on on-line instruction from Leah Sand, high school physical education instructor. She has piloted a course for students to take phy-ed on line, and feels it has both positive and negative aspects. She is confident that the students learn the content, but is not as sure of the physical benefits of this approach. It provides an opportunity for students to take choir, art, or language courses that might not otherwise fit in their schedules. It does involve quite a bit of work on the part of the instructor, but will get easier as she becomes more experienced with it. She also showed the way her colleague Rebecca Messner uses the technology to help her physics students recapture the class presentations on the “smart board”. It is clear that the technology potential is large and getting larger.
The Board also heard about the marketing efforts that the District is launching to encourage families to enroll in the Northfield Schools. A survey will be conducted to find out why some household choose home schools, charter schools or other districts, and another will try to determine what brings students in from other districts.
The budget for the next year was approved unanimously. When the regular business concluded, the Board met in closed session for negotiation strategies.
