Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
All members were present.
Announcements –
55 Northfield students participated in the History Day regional competition, and 4 groups will advance to the state.
Two Northfield students have attained the final level of competition in a national writing contest.
Rochester IBM engineers visited the Middle School to promote engineering, and students are engaged in a robotic sport project.
8th grade students visited the High School for an orientation.
Girls basketball did well in state competition.
Science Olympiad students took 4th in state competition.
Weight lifters won the state championship.
Knowledge Bowl competition- 3 teams have advanced.
Dr. Richardson has been in contact with legislators about funding issues.
Dr. Richardson urges parents to take the online survey about PLC logistics before the end of the week.
The Area learning Center PLC report was given. They have been working to improve student attendance and MCA performances. The goal of 85% attendance was not attained (they averaged 74%), but they have strategies to keep students aware of their attendance record and provide incentives to promote attendance. The concerted effort by teachers to increase students’ on-task behavior has shown improvement. This should help students reach the goal of 40% passing the MCA tests in reading, math and writing.
The 9th grade Academy program is intended to provide special support for about 66 entering high school students by improving their attendance, reading fluency, and study skills. Course rigor is the same as for other 9th grade classes, but parent involvement and the special program students follow is meant to improve the prospect of getting course credits and eventually completing high school. National studies indicate that 9th graders are more likely to fail than students in any other year, and last year, Northfield 9th graders showed some dismaying signs – 25% of them failed a class; 27% of them missed 10 or more days of school, and 30% had discipline referrals. This year’s new program shows significant improvement already.
Elementary principals presented a case for full-time specialists in Physical Education, Media, and Music at each school. This would permit scheduling to maximize collaboration among teachers. The present system of sharing these specialists involves complex scheduling, so that they can travel among the buildings. The specialists would assume some supervisory duties now handled by Educational Assistants. The principals expect that such an arrangement will meet the needs of students of all abilities, and help to harmonize the students from Contemporary and Companeros programs. The Board will consider this proposal in April.
Fund balance projections for the Community Services Division were revised downward. In June, the anticipated balance will be $19,230, and had originally been expected to be $28,700. Substantial cuts in staff hours have been implemented.
The meeting adjourned at about 9 p.m.
