Cranston Educational Advisory Board

Cranston Educational Advisory Board

December 4, 2006

7:00 PM Cranston East Room 301

REPRESENTED:

Arlington, Cranston West, Dutemple, Eden Park, Edgewood Highland, Garden City, Glen Hills, Rhodes, Stone Hill, Orchard Farms, Woodridge, NEL/CPS, Park View, Peters, SEPAB, Central Administration, School Committee

AGENDA:

The CEAB was called to order by Laura Gabiger at 7:05 PM.

Minutes:

Several changes were recommended to November’s minutes. For the Treasurer’s report….minutes should reflect the names of schools that have given money (Barrows for November). For Old Business, the discussion of the PTO University should reflect interest in having one in the spring; however that is not locked in at this point.

The minutes were approved as amended.

Treasurer’s Report:

Ken McDaniel gave the Treasurer’s report (attached).

Beginning Balance (Nov): $77.87

No expenses since last report

Income: $100 school assessments from Edgewood, Highlands, Dutemple, Hope Highlands, Park View.

Closing Balance: $177.87

Old Business:

Discussion focused on the models delegates will be bringing to the January meeting to show best practices for encouraging parent participation. It was encouraged that delegates include information to the extent available on publicity, level of participation, returns and how much is profit, level of parent participation. National model for parent involvement was discussed; delegate from Administration will collaborate with the delegate from Edgewood Highland to prepare a presentation on this model for the January meeting. From the schools, each delegate will have up to 3 minutes to present best practices.

Guest: Dr. Richard Scherza, Superintendent

Literacy: Primary concern (includes numeracy)
Problems: We are slipping backwards. Received notice that Cranston West has slipped to “In Need of Improvement” and Cranston East to “Not Improving.” Positions are being cut while expectations are increasing. Literacy in math statewide is not what it should be. Cranston is not making the investment that it needs in math. We know which areas we are weak in but practices are not changing. Need to put more resources into math and maintain literacy investment. Concerned that we are at the beginning of a slide. There has been concern about math Investigations program. We haven’t given it time to work (in 3^rd year). Very seldom has this district stayed with anything long enough to really see those results. Massachusetts has made the greatest gains in math nationally, using largely math Investigations.

Math & Science important focus.
Vision for District: Address some of the emerging issues regarding student performance/achievement. Feels strongly that we should serve Cranston students in Cranston. We have the resources to serve special needs students. Starting this year to serve some of the special needs students that are currently being bussed out of the community. Believes strongly in full inclusion of special needs students. Edgewood Highlands piloted ESL full inclusion program last year. As a result ESL students out-performed non-ESL students. Purpose of ESL & Special Education program is to make students as independent as possible. Would like to focus on early intervention. Have embarked on public pre-school for special needs students. Supports all-day kindergarten, possibly starting with pilot at schools with a high number of ESL or special needs students. Have seen results from this approach in other schools.

Best case scenario is level funding this year. May be a year away from legislature establishing a funding formula for the state for school funding. Last session the legislature also placed a declining cap on the omnibus tax which supports school funding.

Questions:

Honors Classes, why do we have such a low representation of boys and ESL students?

One reason, emphasis has not been placed on it on the academic end. We are moving toward de-tracking. Under No Child Left Behind cannot have multiple levels…rigor should be there for all students.

Cranston graduates in college are reporting back that they feel very prepared for college but don’t have as many of the AP classes as other college students have. How can we encourage students to take AP classes?

There has not been demand for AP courses. Disagrees that colleges use number of AP courses to gauge high schools. Look at what is sacred…may need to cut out some electives to focus on academic courses.

Could you offer your views on proposals to encourage parent participation?

What do we mean by parent involvement? Need to get parents meaningfully involved. Need to create culture that values education across the board. Children need to be well fed and well dressed. Have more training programs for parents so they can understand what their children are learning. Let elected officials know what your priorities are so they will be reflected in the budget.

$1.2 million deficit….what kind of shape are we in?

Open session workshop, this week agenda item is looking at current budget gap. Looks like we’ve gotten that deficit down. Math coaches have been put on hold, reducing substitute costs. Health care costs through the first 4 months of the year have been down over what was budgeted. Made changes in all health care plans to realize cost savings. Utility costs for heat and snow removal costs have been down due to weather.

Math Investigations. A tool should be sent home to parents about how kids are being taught math.
There have been workshops on math Investigations for parents in the schools. Family newsletter should be going out at the beginning of each math Investigations unit explaining how it works.

How much longer before we do an assessment of math Investigations to determine if we should keep it?
At Western Hills, kids who entered 8^th grade had highest grades ever—first group of kids that got math Investigations. Early results only are beginning to come in.

How does our per student funding compare to other schools?

Cranston Dept of Education website, go to Insight link. Warwick spends $1,400 more per student per year. Generally we stack up well to schools that invest more in students.

What is Cranston going to do about the large class sizes?

Ten more teachers cost roughly $1 million. Students do better in smaller classes, but particularly in younger grades. Students that are not in lower socio-economic groups, class size is less important. Dilemma at East this year…doesn’t have the space to house additional classrooms. Only about 9 elementary classes are operating above recommended cap, don’t believe that any are more than 2 students over the cap. Most important for K, 1, 2 level.

What is happening with regard to security?

Meeting regularly with state and federal emergency and security organizations. Don’t publicize protocol for things like bomb scares – don’t want to educate those who would perpetrate these crimes how to get around safeguards. The school district opens the school on weekends to test run protocols. When we have an incident, debrief immediately with security and emergency response agencies. People focus on what is least likely to happen. Biggest problem is actually students bringing in weapons.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:40 PM