Centennial High School Governance Council Board Meeting
September 17, 2015 @ 7:30 am
Members present: Caroline Truax, Karen LeCates, Bob Kuhn, Courtney Allen, Diane Jacobi, Shellie Marino, Hannah Kitzmiller, Adrian Hoefer, David Smith, Marcelle Male
Meeting was called to order at 7:33 am.
Shellie Marino motioned to approve the agenda; Bob Kuhn seconded. The agenda was unanimously approved.
Shellie Marino motioned to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Karen LeCates seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Council began the discussion of the RFF for General Health. Feedback from district indicates that we do not need an RFF and both middle schools have been positively engaged.
Council discussed ELL population needs. How are these students placed in high school (based strictly on age?). Some have skills at 3rd grade level and already they are included at a high school level with graduation expectation in 4 years. The council questioned whether we create an 8th grade in high school for these students to at least give them one extra year.
Marcelle Male informed the council about WEPT testing for Spanish speaking students to determine their entry into ESOL program and asked the question of how other area schools are coping with these same issues, including Roswell, North Springs, and Norcross. Marcelle is going to reach out to Norcross through a connection she has.
If needed, Diane Jacobi mentioned using seed fund for Saturday school to tutor.
The council discussed 1:1 technology and the options being discussed by the school’s PLIP team: Surface 3, iPad Air 2, Latitude 2, Dell Chrome. The recommended device will be presented to the council for approval at a later date.
Shellie Marino shared data regarding the elimination of class rank, except Valedictorian and Salutatorian. The two students on the council agreed that class rank can be misleading and that we should eliminate it, like other area schools. The council then decided to reach out to parents and the community for feedback.
Caroline Truax met with our cluster and mentioned other RFF’s that are being discussed such as additional days for teacher planning. Centennial is not considering this because teachers have not expressed interest and due to concern over missed academic time.
Caroline Truax reminded the council that the initial seed fund proposal is due on October 21st, so our next meeting will cover ample discussion regarding seed fund.
Diane Jacobi proposed looking at the strategic plan as a council at the first meeting and mentioned revisiting it.
Meeting adjourned at 8:39.