Minutes - January 27, 2016
Certified Staff Meeting
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Those in attendance included: Autumn McNeill, CES; Sharon Harkins, TES; Colin Peters, EMS; Anita DeBerry, WMHS; Ruby Parsons, MLA; Sarah Talbert, EMHS; Janet Sechrest, PSES; Jennah King, GRES; Danielle Hurley, SES. Absent: Christy McIntyre, MGES.
Budget Update
Dr. Ellis gave a brief update about the budget. He stated that there had been very little indication from the state on what the budget is going to look like. He is confident there will be a salary increase – no idea how much especially since this an election year. The state will provide funds for the increase for all state employees. However, there are local and federal employees who would not be covered by these funds. MCS is projected to spend $200,000 to $400,000 of fund balance this year. If reductions have to be made then hopefully it could be done through attrition. We are not looking to cut any people. The boards and Dr. Ellis’ goal is to always protect people.
Facilities Update
Administration is commissioning a study on the feasibility of the Early College concept. The study should be completed in mid-February. Recommendations on the high schools, one versus two, will be made in the next 3 to 4 months. While a recommendation has not been officially made, it appears that funds would be available through an USDA grant to fund building one high school. Funds are available to support an Early College. Plans are under way and will be presented at the next Board of Education meeting for the addition of a wing at EMS. Hope to break ground on the addition this summer. The county has been very supportive. For all other projects and school facility needs an ongoing maintenance plan has been developed. The plan projected needs for the next 30 years, and will allow funds to fix needs throughout all of our schools.
Question: Have you looked at getting input from teachers and students on the one high school versus updating existing ones? Yes, in order to receive USDA grants community meetings must be held to get input. If it’s approved, hope to break ground in August. The ultimate goal is to make Montgomery County more economically competitive.
Staff Development
The committee was asked to provide information on trainings that would be beneficial. The following were noted:
· More canvas training
· STEM workshops – Unit by Design
· “User friendly” data workshops
· High school and middle schools would like conflict resolution and team building for the students
· High school – how to actively use and analyze data – “RTI”
Questions
Why were county number grades for EOC's not updated to match the new ten point grading scales? We had individuals who were only at the 8th percentile on EOC's given passing grades of 60. On the other end of the spectrum we had students who were at the 94th percentile who only received a grade of 93. On the Math I EOC a student who gets only 1/3 of the questions correct receives a score of 70, which is a D. EOC letter grades were updated to reflect the new 10 point scale. However, if you have a student whose letter grade does not reflect this please contact Dr. Legrand. She can also provide you with the letter grade conversion charts upon request. In 2013-2014 the state adopted raw scale with 5 achievement levels. The scales are different for each of the EOCs. Raw scale information is available from the following link, http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/technicalnotes. Or, you may contact Dr. Legrand for the raw scale EOC conversion charts. A student who received a score of 70 for the fall 2015 EOC should have received a C. If you have a student who received a 70 and did not receive a C please contact Dr. Legrand.
What purpose does it serve to have salaried employees on the time clock? Can we eliminate this task? And second, if President Obama signs the executive order to pay salaried employees paid with federal funds overtime, how will this affect all of us on the state payroll? Dr. Ellis initiated the signing in. The point is to prove that you worked, and to validate the No day. In order to pay federal employees overtime, we would have to cut staff by 30%. It would be devastating to our budget.
Had teacher want a list of in county field trips that are available to go to for the school year. We know that you can do one in county and one out of the county. However they are having a hard time with the one in county field trip. They would like a list of ideas that could be used for that trip. Will be assigned to our Curriculum Department to provide that information.
1-Is there any way to have-
Reading Intervention teachers-
*1-2 per school depending on school size
*30 minute blocks
*Provide Guided Reading for below level readers
Math/Science STEM labs as part of special/connect teachers.
*Like the middle schools have.
Testing People-Someone who is SOLELY responsible for Reading 3D testing.
Will be discussed with Curriculum Department. The issue is that when you add someone you have to remove something or someone. School improvement teams and principals are responsible for making placing decisions.
How will redistricting be determined at GRES? The goal was take 100 kids to Star. In order to do so you have to go further into Biscoe. Still working through the logistics. A community forum is set for February 11th for parents to voice their input. Staff would be based on volunteer basis then seniority.