NORTH ATLANTA HIGH SCHOOL
NAHS GO Team

January 18, 2017– ApprovedMinutes

I. Board Members Present:

Curtis Douglass, Mike Everly, Lisa Jern,LaKeicia Bonner,Sheena Varghese, Rod Reynolds, Kari Kirkley

(Quorum Present)

Board Members Not Present: Chip Fife, Gwen Benson,Robin Oliver,Nicolas Prada-Rey

Community Members: Laura Denning (Co-President, PTSA), Aquaria Smith (PTSA Leg. Liaison), Lisa Dwyer (NAHS Foundation Chair), Michelle Nelson (NAHS Foundation Treasurer), Jill Stewart (Assistant Principal), Angela Mitchell (Assistant Principal), Felicia Stewart (Media Specialist), Lisa Reynolds (PTSA-VP Community), Jen Rosenfeld (parent)

Called to Order

4:40 PM by Mike Everly, Chairperson

II. PUBLIC COMMENT
Laura Denning announced that the next PTSA meeting is 2/23/17 at 6:30 PM. She requested that a Go Team member be present.

III. ACTION ITEMS

1. Everly motioned to add approval of 11/10/16 meeting minutes to the agenda.

Motion by Everly. Seconded by Sheena Varghese.

Final Resolution: Motion Passed unanimously

2. Approval of 11/10/2016 Meeting Minutes.

Motion by LisaJern to approve 11/10/2016 meeting minutes. Seconded by Lakeicia Bonner.

Final Resolution: Motion Passed unanimously

IV. DISCUSSION ITEMS

  1. FY ’18 Budget Development Presentation:

Everly explained that the Go Team would set up a finance committee with a NAHS Foundation representative to review the budget and give feedback. Everly turned it over to Mr. Douglass to present the budget.
Douglass gave background that the timeline is tight. He announced that our school has the largest staff in the district. He also explained the limited flexibility available with allocating budget. Douglass began by reviewing the approved strategic plan and the NAHS signature program (IB). Douglass reviewed how the FY ’18 funded school priorities align to the budget. Douglass reviewed the impact of losing Title I funding for FY ’18. He said the budget will keep two instructional coach and two IB specialists and a bi-lingual parent liaison. Douglass also reviewed the strategy categories and strategic plan break-out. In addition to instructional coaches, IB specialists, and bi-lingual parent-liaison, also reviewed that the SST/504 coordinator has been eliminated and he is looking for fiscally responsible options to keep this student support servicer. Everly asked for clarification regarding SST and 504. Douglass explained the process of student support for struggling students who may in future receive IEP services or 504 accommodations. Douglass reviewed the number of students with 504s and in tiers 2 and 3 of SST at the school. Bonner clarified what 504 and SST look like in the classroom. Also, identified what the tiers of the SST process looks like. Douglass reviewed the balancing of the budget and staffing needs, as well.

Douglass invited Assistant Principal Stewart to explain the budget changes with regards to IB. She explained the cuts to IB funding from district funding. The costs would need to be absorbed by the signature funding (cluster funds). These include the IB specialists, teacher training, CP program, and IB exam fees.

Everly concluded the discussion of the budget by explaining that he will coordinate with Douglass to establish the Finance Committee, which will include at least one member of the NAHS Foundation. The Finance Committee will meet in the next week. That meeting will also be noticed and will be open to the public.

  1. School Strategy for Tutoring:

On Tuesday, December 12th, Reynolds met with Douglass and several teachers to discuss the current tutoring programs at NAHS and ways to enhance and supplement these programs. As a summary, the current tutoring programs at NAHS include:

- Title I Tutoring - Targeted assistance in Math and Reading on Wednesdays after school - 3:55-4:55 PM

- Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors Society Tutorial - Thursdays after school - 3:55-4:55 PM. This is essentially a peer tutoring program and could be something the school can build on to expand peer tutoring.

- Graduation Generation Academic Lab - A program developed with Emory University where Emory students volunteer their time to help with tutoring in Math, Writing and ACT Prep - Various times throughout the school day

- Agape - A non-profit organization that serves under-privileged students. Tutoring is provided two days a week after school in the media center.

- Teachers - All teachers provide tutoring at least one day after school.

While various issues and options were discussed, the main points of consensus were:

1. Expanding the number of after-school tutoring hours so students have more options in getting needed support. This could be additional hours on days when teachers are unable to provide tutoring or tutors working with teachers during their scheduled tutoring hours.

2. Expanding the tutoring program to other classes beyond the core curriculum (e.g. Foreign Language).

3. The best way to achieve #1 and #2 would be to use peer tutoring (NAHS students) and college students from local universities.

Reynolds identified the first step in this process as identifying a Tutoring Program Coordinator who would be charged with developing the peer tutoring program and contacting local universities to find qualified, willing volunteers. Fortunately, because of the Mu Alpha Theta program and the Graduation Generation program, NAHS does not have to start from scratch, but can build upon these existing programs. Douglass has spoken to Cassandra Michelle Jones, who is willing to fill the tutoring coordinator position. There was general consensus among the members that Jones would be an excellent choice for coordinator. The group then discussed briefly whether the Foundation could provide a stipend for that person for this additional work.

Kirkley has approached Oglethorpe University, which is also interested in having its students assist with tutoring. The members agreed that Jones can work to coordinate these outside students. Reynolds also will follow up with Laura Denning (PTSA Co-President) about having volunteers assist to support the coordinator

  1. Testing

Everly updated the group briefly on our efforts to modify/respond to the testing schedule so that less classroom time is impacted. Roughly 5 weeks of instruction are currently lost to testing. Everly and Jern met with Dr. Angela Mitchell (Assistant Principal and Testing Coordinator) preliminarily to better understand the scheduling issues. We will follow up and look for ways to address policy and logistics changes without a significant cost impact. Bonner noted that recent purchase of Chrome Books should help the testing issue some. She also explained that one of the biggest problem is that these tests have mandates on when the testing has to occur. Douglass is aware of some schools that use half days on exam days to address scheduling concerns. The team discussed that the school has asked Mount Paran to serve as a possible testing location for the first time this year. Bonner currently sits on a testing team, which addresses these kinds of issues. She offered to assist the GO Team in looking into testing further.

  1. Miscellaneous/Announcements:
    None

V. MEETING ADJOURNED: 5:45 PM
Motion by Jern; Seconded by Reynolds; approved unanimously.

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