07-19-11_Board_Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

October 5 – Craig Lords  DeVere stated that if ITEC is seriously considering chartering a professional technical high school, it may change the way we look at our plans for a new high school. D. Board Travel Budget:  The Board considered past travel expenses and this year’s travel budget.  All members will attend the Idaho School Boards Association conference in Coeur d’ Alene.  Valerie will register Board members for the ISBA conference. Rooms have already been reserved at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Hotel.  Annette will not attend the Day on the Hill the others will attend.  Annette and DeVere would like to attend the National School Boards Association Conference in Boston.  DeVere asked if the District would pay his registration if he gets there and pays for his food and lodging.  There will be further discussion on attendance at NSBA. E. Board/Superintendent  Goal Setting  Timelines for building a new high school are upon us. A decision needs to be made soon.  Need to make sure we build something that meets our needs and is visionary – we need to bring all three schools along not just the new school  Need to let kids own their own learning by implementing a project based inquiry based model that is student driven and they own the devices that facilitate that learning  What does the facility look like that facilitates that type of learning  Start with small steps. Maybe take a program that the school excels in and offer it after school. That is already happening to some extent. Maybe schedule longer blocks of time for certain courses.  Give teachers choices for when they teach  We are now getting teachers that have been raised on the internet  Pay for performance will make a great difference – peer pressure – collaboration – professional development may come from in house – one teacher at a time  Formative assessments are needed to help teachers know where students are – the system will allow teachers to focus on individual students and not being required to teach the masses  Give students an opportunity – take kids from where they are to where they can be  With our Board and administrative combination we can do it  Communication will be important  How will parents react?  We can do something regardless of what parents do  Need to bring the community along  Need to make parents feel welcome in our schools  Safety is critical  Protect the child  Kids have incredible resilience – environment needs to be conducive to learning  Make sure we enforce what we have in place  Superintendents’ Input  Superintendent Shackett gave the Board a list of potential goals for 2011 - 2012.  Student success needs to be the lens that we look through.  We’ve already started the change that will establish that lens.  We need to discuss what professional development will look like.  Dr. Shackett discussed the possibility of the high schools being open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., allowing students to schedule classes at times that best meet their schedules or learning styles. The model could look somewhat like a junior college schedule.  It was suggested that we may need to keep freshmen someplace else because the scheduling may be difficult for them.  Concerns about providing transportation to students were voiced if this schedule were to be implemented. F. Bond Election  The question is when and how much.  Copies of the demographics study showing the projected needs for a new high school, middle school, and elementary school were distributed to the Board. The study recommended that the District should pass a bond this fall for High School. Building a high school is a 3½ to 4 year process.  Both high schools are full now and we are moving into trailers  If we refinance the 2005 and 2007 bonds to extend repayment terms, we could bond for $50,000,000 without raising levy rate. However, a couple of years later we will need a new middle school.  Election dates are November, March, May, or August. The goal is to have a bond election in March. A resolution would need to be brought before the Board in January in order to meet county election deadlines.  We should look at the new high schools in Madison, Rigby, or Meridian for traditional plans.  We should go other places to see something different.  The building should be designed by function not by funding.  The Facilities Planning Committee meetings will shape the direction the District will go with the new high school plan. Then there should be public hearings in November and December. Hopefully the community will be well informed and ready when the District asks the Bond Election question.  Split sessions at the high schools as opposed to a collegiate model as well as year round school schedules were discussed.  We will need to work on communications. Options will need to be disseminated as soon as possible so people have time to think about them. We can include the media so they understand what we are considering and hopefully they can facilitate feedback from the patrons.