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Here are my notes from yesterday's school board meeting. I was unable to post them because the Internet was down at the Hancock Center. I had intended to post yesterday afternoon, but got tied up working on other stories.

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Tupelo School Board meeting has begun. All five board members are present.

 

The meeting begins with the board singing “Happy Birthday” to Director of Federal Programs Dale Warriner and Board Attorney Otis Tims.

 

Board will hold its afternoon meeting at Tupelo Middle School at 5 p.m. and will take all votes at that time. This meeting will be for information and discussion. There will also be several recognitions tonight.

 

12:15 p.m.

Executive Director of Curriculum Leigh Mobley is making a presentation about Classworks, a new computer program being used by the district this year.

The program gives students different academic activities they can do and individualizes those lessons to the skills that the student needs most help learning. The district is using in grades K-8 this year.

 

Mobley said it helps teachers meet individual needs. “We don’t teach to the middle any more. We teach every single student where they are, and this helps us do that.”

 

She said they are able to use the data from school to school. Because all schools use the program, there is consistency.

 

Thus far, this year, students in grades K-8 have logged 14,679 hours on language assignments and have completed over 49,000 units. A unit is a mini lesson, a practice, a game and sometimes and outside activity.

 

Meanwhile, K-8 students have logged 11,944 hours on math assignments and have completed more than 25,000 units.

 

More than 4,5000 students have used Classworks. That is all K-8 students. The amount of time spent on Classworks is equivalent to 1,000 days spent on additional math and language arts instruction, Mobley said. That is all without having to hire additional personnel, she said.

 

Students can also access Classworks from home.

 

If student doesn’t master given activities, the program gives them  new set of problems to teach them the activities in a new way.

 

Board asks about how much training is being provided for teachers. Mobley said they have provided training and would like to do more. They also ask about how easily each school has been able to meet the goal of students getting 50 minutes of time on Classworks each week. Mobley said it is easy at the sixth- to eighth-grade schools because of the laptops. She said that at the elementary schools, they can use computer lab time.

 

12:30 p.m.

Finance Director Linda Pannell is making a presentation about the  district’s financial audits. They came in mid-July and asked for information from 2010-11. She said it was difficult because it was asking for data that was two-years old as they were preparing to begin a new year.

She said that audit will soon be over. She expects the audit for the 2011-12 school year to be completed by February .

 

12:35 p.m.

Testing Coordinator Lea Johnson will make a presentation about the district’s state report card. The district’s “Children’s First” report card was just completed.  That report card will be published in the Daily Journal soon.

 

She also wants to speak about the MDE’s MAARS website that has information about all of the state’s districts and their test scores. The state has redesigned the website. It includes enrollment and demographic data, as well as test scores. You can see the data for the state as whole, or break it down by district and by state. There are also spreadsheets available with very detailed information.

 

Board president Eddie Prather said that businesses now look at these report cards and use them to guide decisions about moving to a community.

 

 

12:45 p.m.

Federal programs director Dale Warriner will seapk about expansion about the district’s pre-K program.

 

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our community and our children,” she said.

 

When the district recived its final federal allocations, they dicussesd how they would proceed with those funds. She said Superintendent Gearl Loden was really supportive of expanding the rpgoram.

 

The district learned today the plan has been approved by the state.

 

It will bring enrollment in regular education classes to 13 classroom serving 260 children. The district has more than 22 students who have asked to come, so it will be able to fill the classrooms. The goal is to open by Dec. 1.

 

“We do have room for those 20 children. The building by May will be serving 293 children including special education.”

 

Right now have 32 special education students who are 3- and 4-year-olds and six more who will be added when they turn 3.

 

 “I am excited about the opportunity to serve our children. The teachers there are excited.”

 

They will have a licensed teacher and a highly-qualified assistant. They will expand resources for Early Beginnings Resource Center and will add a Parents as Teachers position.

 

The other  Title 1 schools also received additional money, WArriner said.

 

“Our teachers continue to say they can tell a big diffence in the children who have attended the Early Childhood Education Cetner. They are reading, you can tell, they just take off, they are sponges.”

 

“They have increased the rigor this year. Every time I go, I see them doing something different to encourage responsibility and engaged students more.”

 

Warriner said the buildign’s capacity is about 300. They are taking the music room for this and rearranging some things, but they are about out of classroom space. She said there is room in front of the school that could support and expansion. There is also a little extra cafeteria space, she said.

 

Loden: “In able to compete with Asians and Eupropeans, the districts in Mississippi have to provide pre-K and we can’t wait for the state.”

 

 

 

12:54

The school district will provide a new wellness benefit for teachers that has been developed in cooperation with the NMMC Wellness Center.

 

Personnel director Jim Turner: “There are 152 school districts, and I don’t believe any of them have reached the touch of what we could possibly do with theis program.”

Turner said Tupelo said be a leader in this.

Turner said Hank Boerner of the Wellness Center and TPSD Community Liaison have worked on this plan.

 

It is a corporate membership from NMMC. It covers everyone covered by district’s healthcare plan.

 

IT will cost approximately $60,000 and cover about 1,000 employees.

 

Turner said the district has enjoyed tremendous annual savings in worker’s compensation over the last five years.

“This has come from a culture of being safe being developed in the district.”  The district has saved at least $190,000 over the past five years from the high-water mark of five years ago.

 

The district would propose a start date in December. Turner said that would be a way to allow staff to make their new year’s resolutions and to say “Merry Christmas” to them.

 

“We can blaze a trail for others to follow and be leaders in the state,” Turner said.

 

Turner said projected number of eligible employees is about 960.

 

Prather asks if the district can get a report on how many employees enroll in the program. He would also like to track whether employee attendance at school improves.

 

Turner: “Also, we are all role models for the children at the school. It is good for our students to see our staff become healthier.”

 

 

Wellness Center Director Hank Boerner: ” Our mission is to improve the health of the people in our region. This is an exciting partnership between the school district and North Mississippi Health Services to help improve the health of the people in our region.”

 

 

1:15

Loden is speaking about a workshop he attended with Assistant Superintendent Matthew Dillon in Nashville.

 

They were able to network with some educators in Florida. They spoke things that Florida is doing that Mississippi is considering copying.

 

Last week, he attended a two-day conference in Jackson with representatives from the MDE. One thing they talked about was the MAEPP formula. He said there are concerns the “base student cost” used for the formula will be lowered.

 

Loden said one thing that Mississippi is looking hard at is a policy that third-graders who are not reading on grade level will not be promoted.

 

 

1:20 p.m.

Turner is now giving the personnel report. It includes a job description for the Parents as Teachers educator that will be added to the ECEC.

 

There will also be a new pre-K teacher added at ECEC.

 

1:21 p.m.

The district will change its mid-November meeting date from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15 because of conflict with MSBA Fall Conference. It will include a noon meeting and a night meeting at Milam.

 

Otis Tims will explain a change to the board meeting schedule. The board is considering switching from bi-monthly meetings to monthly meetings. Current board policy requires two meetings per month so to accommodate the switch, that policy needed to be tweaked.

 

1:27 p.m.

Meeting adjourns until tonight’s meeting at Tupelo Middle School. The meeting begins at 5 pm.

 

 

NOTE: During the 5 p.m. meeting, the board approved all of the items on the agenda. Kenneth Wheeler abstained from voting for the NMMC Wellness Center Benefit because he is employed by the hospital.

TPSD School board meeting is about to begin. All board members are present. They had a work session this morning. At it, Superintendent Gearl Loden provided an update on progess that has been made toward the board goals since the summer, the board discussed a possible meeting schedule for next year, Executive Director of Curriculum Leigh Mobley provided an update on comming changes with the Common Core State Standards and Assistant Superintendent Matthew Dillon spoke of the district's marketing efforts. Mobley also showed some video of model lessons using the district's new Reading Street reading program.

Under the proposed meeting schedule, the board would only meet one day each month, instead of two, but it would have two meetings on most of those days: one at noon and one at 5 p.m.

The board also said it hopes to have work sessions twice a year to allow more in-depth discussion and monitor progress toward goals. Works sessions are less formal and allow board members to more easily ask questions.

 

12:05 p.m.

Meeting has begun. Board President Eddie Prather said that because there is no evening meeting today, the board will do a recognition at this meeting. It recognizes all of the district's principals.

The board and Loden all came to the podium.

Prather: "Research tells us behind every great school you have outstanding principals. We have outstanding men and women to lead every school site. As an entire board, we wanted to let you know we recognize you and appreicate you for your hard work."

The board is calling each principal's name and presenting him or her with a certificate. It is also noting each school's ranking from the MDE: Milam and Tupelo High School are Successful, while Lawhon, Lawndale, Pierce Street, Rankin and Tupelo Middle School are High Performing.

Prather: "We can take pride in saying we have outstanding principals in the Tupelo Public School District."

Loden: "When you are doing your jobs like you do every day, people don't know know they are having a bad day, they know you are doing your job and everything is clean and orderly."

12:15 p.m.

Prather: "We did have a work session this morning and were able to have some great discussion. Dr. Loden and staff, we thank you for that."

Finance Director Linda Pannell will provide an update on the procurement cards that will be provided by the Mississippi Department of Education.

Pannell: The state this year installed the procurement card, which we are told is the first in the nation. I hope they give us credit for that.

We have transferred those to the schools. There were some guidlines that were clear to the state.

Cards were not embossed with the teacher's name. There is a number and the district assigns a name to it.

Teachers must sign the card prior to use. The card number is unique to the teacher. The teacher is to never allow a person to use the card. They are to notify vendors that purchases are tax exempt.

Purchases are for classroom materials only and not for personal use. Card holders agree to not charge any travel-related expenses. Cardholder also agrees to card agreement.

Cardholder also agrees to abide by educator's code of conduct. It is cardholder's responsibility to maintain receipts for at least five years. They are subject to an audit. Monthly statements on their accounts can be reviewed online. If card is lost or stolen, teacher must call and notify bank immediately. Cardholder must notify district of any items that must be listed as a fixed assett.

Pannell said Loden approved secretary training, principal training and teacher training. Secretary training was held on Tuesday morning, principal training on Wednesday morning, teacher training on Wednesday afternoon and cards were given to teachers on Wednesday afternoon at staff meeting.

March 1 is the cutoff date for purchases. Previously, anything left on the cards went back to the school. Now that money will go back to the school's account to be redistributed next year.

The finance department made an audio recording for teachers about the cards. It was placed on the district's professional development website, PD360.

Pannell said the district had seven days to distribute its 534 cards.

 

12:25 p.m.

Director of Federal Programs Dale Warriner will provide an update about the Early Beginnings Resource Center.

It will provide resources and workshops for parents of young kids.

A Read and Rise is going on right now at ECEC through Scholastic Initiative. There will be another one on Oct. 23. Two each day. And there will be one for ELL parents on Oct. 30.

The center will have an open house on Oct. 16 between 2 and 6 p.m.

They are still in the organizational stages, but they have come a long way. They've adjusted the media center to include resources for children and parents.

ELL parents also come in to use computers to help them to learn English.

Schedule varies throughout the week, Warriner said, and they also hope to have it open one weekend each month.

12:30 p.m.

Janet Stratton, school nurse at Parkway and Lawndale, and Kathy Tucker of HealthWorks! will provide an update on the school health council at Parkway and Lawndale.

Last December, Tucker got a $250,000 grant through Blue Cross Blue Shield for the health council.

Stratton said they got the council together. They had a module with each of the components of school health and came back with information.

For health services, it asked about school nurse and that person's responsibilies. There was a rubric to grade the school. They council could then look at strenghts and weakneses and address those.

They sent all of the information to Tucker, and her staff compiled it and provided a list of things they could do to improve the health of schools. For instance, they began to train more in asthma education. A person from lung institute came to train teachers. Stratton said chronic asthma illnesses cause large number of absences each year.

It was a process so it took a while to put it all together, Stratton said. They developed a new wellness policy.

Stratton said they will continue with these plans this year.

Healthworks! borught an on-site fieldtrip where students were able to do a lot of things they are able to do at the Healthworks! facility. Also, parents came in and there were meetings to help them incorporate health into their homes.

Tucker: "The underlying message is health is important to your school and your staff...Ultimately this is for the students. There is data in Mississippi that shows healthy students perform better on tests, are absent less and get in trouble less...Although we were there for meeting mandates...I was able to come up with incentive for each school to get $500 to implement their action plan to improve school health...I wanted to remind, it is something every school is required to have. Blue Cross Blue Shield funded this project because many schools are not taking the bull by the horns on this. I want to offer myself as a local resource to help them with that."

Stratton said they are not fully running yet with school health councils but they are working to get them done for next school year.

12:40 p.m.

Lea Johnson will now make a presentation about the federal accounability model.

There are two models: the state accountability model and the federal one. State model was QDI, student growth and participation rate.

On federal level, it is annual measurable objectives, participation rate and graduation rate or attendance.

"It is a completely different set of standards we go by."

No Child Left Behind was created in 2001 and said every child would be at grade level by 2014. AYP is set of goals set by the state for all schools to reach annually.

Performance is based by results on state tests, test participation and graduation rate or attendance rate.

Johnson said a lot of schools saw opportunity with Race To Top grants to waive different parts of that. The waiver is to help ease requirement of 100 percent of students being on grade level.

Johnson said they still want to get there but this will ease that requirement and make it more realistic to reach.

Mississippi was given a waiver. Schools are not required to meet 100 proficiency by 2014. Title I schools will not receive improvement labels (schools that didnt reach certain goals recevied certain penalties).

In 2012, the district met its AYP goals form mathmatics but not for language arts. It only met it for white subgroup for ELA. It met AYP for all subgroups in math.

Johnson said for K-2 schools, there is a differentiated accountabilty model with five levels. Priority and Focus have penalties. All but one district school was on target (second highest level; reward is the highest). The district had no schools priority or focus (two lowest levels).

Johnson said this whole model is put into place by the president, so if the president changes it could change.

K-2 ranking is based on how their feeder school goes.

Carver was approaching target (third highest of five levels). Joyner, Parkway and Thomas Street were on target.

Carner was not On Target because they did not meet Language arts goals for the last two years.

The model penalizes districts in the bottom 15 percent for achievement or for gaps.

Schools at the top would receive rewards and incentives, but it has been vague about what those would be.

1:05 p.m.

Board approves consent agenda, claims docket and financial statements.

 

1:13 p.m.

Board meeting adjourns. I lost Internet for a few minutes, but I will update a few things when I get back to the office.

 

Tupelo School Board meeting has begun. All board members are present except Amy Heyer. Board President Eddie Prather said that Heyer will not be able to attend today.

The board will also meet at 5 p.m. today at Tupelo High School. It will vote on agenda items at that time. During this afternoon's meeting, the board will get information about and discuss the agenda.

Prather said he wants to thank students, teachers and administrators for their great performance on last year's state tests. The board applauds.

Testing coordinator Lea Johnson is now making a presentation about the district's state ranking.

Ranking is based on three things. QDI is based on how students score. Percent of basic 2 times percent proficient 2 times percent advanced.

Growth is the second factor. On the MCT, third grade is benchmark year. Based on third grade score, they look at math and language arts to predict your math score the next year and they look at math and language arts to predict your language score. It is a complicated formula that looks at what you did the year before.

In high school, they take your math and langauge arts eighth grade scores to predict each of the four Subject Area Tests.

For a high school or a district, they also add the graduation rate. The federal model uses a four-year cohort. The state uses a five-year cohort. It must be greater than 75 percent to be High Performing and better than 80 percent to be Star.

For this year, graduation rate did not factor in. It will be back next year in some form.

Over the last three years, district's QDI has risen from 159 to 162 to 169. It has been above the state average each time. This year was the first year the district made growth.

Now Johnson is going through individual schools. TMS made small gains but kind of leveled off. The high school's score declined,but Johnson said the district believes is has things in place to correct that.

Johnson said Rankin made really big gains this year. All elementaries were High Performing. Lawndale, Pierce Street and Lawhon also showed growth.

Milam had growth last year, Johnson said, going from Academic Watch to Successful and they met growth.

 

Loden said you want to be above 180 threshold on QDI because it gives you leeway if they change the model. Only five districts have been star since the model was created four years ago. Loden said if you are in the 180s, you are in the top 15 or 25 distircts in the state.

Tupelo is 43rd in the state with its QDI. With a 176, it would be in top 30. A 180 would be top 25 and 188 would be top 20.

 

Johnson: "What is the district doing now?"

Loden has brought in P.E.T. model. Principals of Effective Teacing. It includes Bell-to-bell instruction, set, closure, questioning skills.

The district has more data tools: ELS (Computer database), common assessments, accountability analyzer (gives the big picture and senior snapshot information that helps with dropout prevention).

Other programs include Classworks, Reading Street, PD360. Those are designed to help teachers more effectively use their time, Johnson said.

The distcit is looking at the role of pre-AP in its transition to Common Core.

Areas of Concern.

U.S. history, Tupelo had 157. State average was 141. Cut score was dropped four points because so many students in the state couldn't make original cut score. It will be raised back this year.

Also, Johnson said, U.S. history test will count toward QDI next year. So will fifth- and eigth-grade science. SCores on those test are traditionally low.

Tupelo is projected to be at 74.6% for next year. That is the five-year cohort. Johnson said the state may switch to the four-year cohort next year.

Loden said that adding U.S. history would have brought the high school down to Academic Watch this year. He said the 3rd to 5th grade schools had higher QDIs, but adding the science scores could bring them down.

He said it looks like they will change how the state looks at graduation rate. He said there has been some discussion to track graduation the way Florida does. He said that changing to the Florida model so close to the switch to Common Core is concerning.

Loden: "We will focus on what we can control. Address the areas where we see issues and try to be proactive in the way we managa change."

 

Loden said the district is applying for a Race to the Top district grant. It could bring as much as $20 million over four years. The minimum is $10 million.

If Tupelo receives the grant, Loden said, it would use that for early-childhood education, dual enrollment and taking the current technology that the district has and enhancing it.

"An infusion of $10 to $20 million over four years would be wonderful," Loden said.

 

Diana Ezell is speaking about IE Day. On Oct. 30, Bill Daggett will be speaking at a community forum about education in Mississippi

The next day, Oct. 31, is IE day. That afternoon, all of Tupelo and Lee County teachers will attend Industry-Education Day. Dr. Sue Gendron (spell ?) will be the speaker. Her expertise is common core assessments.

"It should be a great two days, not just for our school district, but for the entire area that CREATE serves," Ezell said.

 

Loden said that the district has been approved for $4.4 million of Quaility School Construction Bonds. It is working behind the scences to look at its facilities plan to look at how best to use them. It will make a presentation soon. Loden said they are looking at enhancing pre-K, among other things.

The board will have a work session on Oct. 9. It will include an update on the Classworks and Reading Street Programs and an update on the budget process. It will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Lea Johnson is presenting about the district's test security plan, which needs to be updated every year.

Director of Facilities Julie Hinds is presenting about the TPSD school safety plan and crisis management plan.

Updates include: mass communication to parents is now accomplished through ALERT Now. There is also a flow chart for schools or whom to contact, and a chain of command for contacting different departments.

All communication to media is handled by superintendent or his designee.

Board member Kenneth Wheeler, who oversees security at the hospital, said the plan looks good.

Board meeting adjourns at 12:45 p.m. It will reconvene at Tupelo High at 5 tonight.