Operations Committee-March 10, 2010 Minutes

The Operations Committee Reviewed the Charter application questions related to the operations and organization of the school system. DecaturCity, GainesvilleCity, and WarrenCounty applications were reviewed.

Current organizational innovations in DawsonCounty:

  • Non-Traditional School/Alternative School-The current Crossroads program is operating an instructional program that incorporates a one day work release program. The program also has a Credit Recovery program, Attendance Recovery program, and many alternative routes to assist students in their quest to graduate. (Seat time waiver, duel enrollment waiver)
  • The high school has created a Focus Period (intervention time, clubs, advisement)-NEEDS STRUCTURE
  • High School Credit Recovery lab
  • High School Work Release, Apprenticeship Program-NEEDS TO EXPAND
  • Middle Schools have specific intervention times in the morning and during the school day (Tiger Time at DCMS)
  • Middle School waiver for gifted programs (Middle Schools programs no longer need waivers and now contract with state)
  • Elementary Schools have specific intervention times scheduled each day. They also utilize early morning periods and after school time
  • RES presently has the 21st Century After School Grant which extends the students school day by 3 hours and offers many opportunities to expand learning experiences for children. DESIRE TO EXPAND THE PROGRAM TO THE OTHER ELEMENARY SCHOOLS AND TO CHECK IF GRANT IS AVAILABLE TO MIDDLE SCHOOLS

The following organizational/operational innovations were presented as “food for thought”. Feedback from stakeholders will be sought concerning the following suggestions and decisions about their inclusion in the Charter application will be made later.

  • Can we expand the Attendance Recovery program at Crossroads to the other schools and does it make sense to do so?
  • Do we expand work release/apprenticeship opportunities (how and to what students)?
  • Do we offer advanced classes to high achieving students at the middle school? What type of classes (academic, vocational, elective, etc.)? Do we give high school credit at the middle school? Do we utilize Nova Net for any of these classes?
  • How do we expand Foreign Language opportunities for all of our students? Scheduling, financial concerns, and curriculum are issues that would need to be addressed. Can we begin expansion efforts by expanding our Spanish Connections efforts in Middle School?
  • Do we allow students to graduate early if all graduation requirements have been met?
  • We need consistent and comparable programs between the middle schools and high school. Family Consumer Science, Spanish, and full time teaching staff at schools were mentioned as concerns.
  • Will the high school operate on a modified block schedule and the high school and Crossroads continue to require 28 units to graduate? The consensus from the committee was that they preferred the modified block and 28 unit graduation requirements.
  • Efforts need to continue to fund 21st Century Technology and to work with the county, state, and regional officials to improve the band width needed to make full use of the technology
  • Can Elementary Schools find a way to schedule academics in a way that isn’t disruptive to large groups of students, is flexible, and meets the needs of all students?
  • Do we need to look at different organizational patterns for our schools (K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 or K-4, 5-8, 9-12, etc.)?

NEXT MEETING- APRIL 14TH, AT 8:00, AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE

Follow-up activities:

  1. Rick Brown will work with staff to create SMART Goals for the system. This work will be done in June, 2010.
  2. Nicky Gilleland will send the committee copies of the Governance Committee’s work/recommendations and a copy of his response about evidence of community interest for the charter.
  3. Tony Guisasola will send us a definition of what is meant by a Non-Traditional school setting.
  4. Julia Mashburn will research the 21st Century Grant and how it can be utilized to improve educational opportunities for our students.
  5. Jolene Posey will share our thoughts with her parent group and get feedback.
  6. We all will seek input from colleagues, students, and other stakeholders about the committees work.

Focus for next meeting:

Policies;

  1. JBCC/HB 251-Attendance Zones and School Choice
  2. JCEB-Student Hearing Procedure
  3. GAEB-Harassment
  4. IDCH-Joint Enrollment Programs
  5. BBFA-LocalSchool Councils
  6. GAAA/JAA-Equal Opportunity Employment (discrimination)
  7. GAE-Complaints and Grievances
  8. JCDA-Student Behavior Code and Code of Conduct

Getting a direction and focus for innovations now being used and those being proposed for use in the future. Establishing an operational/organizational system focus.