| Topic |
Action |
| Welcome |
Mrs. Castrey called
the meeting to order, thanked members and guests for their attendance
today and asked everyone to introduce themselves and state the school
they are representing. |
| Facilitator's
Report |
No report this
month. |
| "Good
News" Reports |
- Esperanza High School’s Back-To-School night was successful
with over 1,000 parents in attendance. Two hundred and forty
eight students at Esperanza High School have earned the designation
of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional
achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program
Exam. Of this year’s award recipients, 115 are sophomores
or juniors.
- Fairmont Elementary – Students are involved in the Response
to Intervention (RTI) reading program. The program provides
students 45 minutes of reading time four times a week.
- George Key – Students have been participating in the
Art Masters program and are also enjoying a new platform swing
that the school was able to provide for the students. The swing
has the added benefit of providing a therapeutic experience
for the students.
- Rose Drive Elementary held a Jog-A-Thon last week that raised
more than $20,000 which surpassed last year’s event total.
Also their second annual Fall Festival will be on October 24th.
As part of Rose Drive’s Red Ribbon Week activities, police
officers will be at the school showing students squad cars and
teaching them about smart choices. A SWAT helicopter will also
be landing on the school’s field as part of the festivities.
- Topaz Elementary test scores improved this past year. Students
and teachers alike are proud of this achievement.
|
|
Superintendent’s Update and Announcements |
Dr. Smith introduced
Eric Padget, School Board Trustee, and thanked him for his participation
on the SCAC today.
Dr. Smith shared a card and note from Marie Otto which thanked
everyone for last month’s luncheon and the gifts she received
from staff and SCAC members.
- Yorba Linda High School Update – Dr. Smith reported
that construction is well under way and on schedule for the
fall 2009 opening of the new YLHS. In response to a question
regarding staffing for the new high school, Dr. Smith explained
that anyone interested in becoming a staff member at Yorba Linda
High School would apply through the district’s Personnel
Department. Once boundaries have been determined and the approximate
number of students attending is known, the process for staffing
the school will begin. In response to a question regarding the
school colors, the colors selected were crimson red, navy blue
and silver.
- Boundary Community Forums - Dr. Smith distributed a flyer
indicating the boundary public forums locations and times. Two
or three boundary scenarios will be presented to the community.
Staff will share a boundary presentation at the November 17th
meeting and Dr. Smith encouraged members to invite a friend
to attend. In response to a question regarding how information
related to the community forums would be distributed, Dr. Smith
indicated a phone message will be going home to parents as well
as a letter with the date, time and location of each community
forum.
- State Budget – Dr. Smith reported that he was in Sacramento
at a meeting last week regarding the budget situation. Public
education is anticipating a special budget session after the
election and possible midyear budget cuts.
- In response to a question regarding the selection of an academy
for Yorba Linda High School, Dr. Smith explained that to accommodate
students’ interests each high school has developed or
is in the process of developing a career technical academy.
Valencia High School has already established the Val Tech and
BITA academies; El Dorado High School has developed a Digital
Media Arts Academy, and this year Esperanza High School has
established a Medical Science Academy. Mr. Flynn, Principal
of Yorba Linda High School, will be meeting with his leadership
staff soon to determine the best career technical path for the
new high school.
|
| Meeting
Minutes |
There were no corrections
to the September 22, 2008, meeting minutes. |
| Booster
Clubs |
Mr. Jim Moore,
Director, Educational Services, distributed a School Connected Organizations
Guidelines (Booster Club Philosophy) handout. Also, shared was a
Booster Club booklet that Mr. Moore developed in response to questions
regarding club activities. Mr. Moore explained that the district
would not be able to provide the quality extra-curricular programs
we have without the support of Booster Clubs. Discussion followed
on fund raising, the different expenses of the individual programs,
financial considerations of families and how funds are managed and
audited.
In response to a question regarding elementary school booster
clubs, Dr. Smith explained that the PTAs do the major share of
fundraising at the elementary level. In response to a question
regarding Outdoor Science Camp and fundraising procedures, Dr.
Smith indicated that a district staff will be working with school
site principals and the PTA to determine the most appropriate
way to raise and hold funds for outdoor education Dr. Smith and
staff will report back on the outcome of this discussion.
In response to a question regarding ASB organizations, Dr. Smith
explained that ASBs are at the middle school and high school levels
only.
In response to a question regarding the district’s policy
on Outdoor Education, Mrs. Cash, Assistant Superintendent, Educational
Services indicated that the decision to participate is a site-based
decision only. Within established standards, school sites have
discretion in the methods which they use to teach students the
various aspects of curriculum. For example, some school sites
choose to take students on field trips and others use in classroom
instruction and experiential activities to teach the same standard.
Outdoor Science Camp is on the Principals agenda in November and
this item will be brought back to a future SCAC meeting
|
| High
School Exit Exam and Students with Disabilities |
In response to
a question from the September SCAC meeting, Mr. Moore, Director
of Educational Services, indicated that district-wide 97% of the
students passed the CAHSEE. Last year 55 seniors did not pass the
CAHSEE and 28 of those students were identified as special education
students. Students have up to two years to complete the CAHSEE after
their senior year.
In response to the question regarding services to help students
who did pass the CAHSEE, Mr. Moore stated that students may receive
instruction in individual or small group CAHSEE classes one to
three times per week. The district also has diagnostic computer
software that provides prescriptions to help students identify
areas that need special emphasis.
|
| Homework
Policy for Sixth Grade Students |
Mrs. Candy Plahy,
Director, Educational Services, was asked to explain the difference
between homework expectations for sixth graders at an elementary
school and sixth graders at a middle school. Mrs. Plahy explained
that the district policy allows for 45 to 60 minutes of homework
per night at the elementary level in addition to 30 minutes of reading
per night. At the middle school the policy states that a teacher
can assign 30 minutes per subject. Mrs. Plahy said she would check
with principals and reexamine the policy for alignment with the
elementary and middle school levels and report back at a future
meeting. |
| Items
From the Floor |
- In response to a request for a Bible Club update, Dr. Smith
reported that a change of our current district policy from Closed
Forum to a Limited Open Forum policy went to the October 14th
School Board for a first reading. The second reading will be
on the agenda for the next School Board meeting, October 28th.
- In response to a question regarding lunch money accounting
and a more efficient way to notify parents when their child’s
lunch money account is low or expended, district staff contacted
Henrietta De’Ora, Food Service Director. Mrs. De’Ora
indicated that they are close to implementing a pilot program
before making this available to all parents.
- In response to a question regarding the district’s policy
on distribution of flyers for non-sponsored school events, Dr.
Smith explained that schools are continually asked to distribute
non-school sponsored information to students. The district has
established policies that allow for non-profit organizations
to submit flyers for district approval before being distributed
home with students. It was suggested that if a parent has a
particular need, the situation be discussed with the principal
and then perhaps the PTA, Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts or a similar
nonprofit group would like to use the event as a service project.
- In response to a question regarding oversight of curriculum
throughout the district and how that curriculum is presented,
Dr. Smith explained that the state has established content standards
that all teachers are expected to teach. District assessments
and teachers collaboration are used to continually monitor and
ensure the standards are being taught in the most effective
way possible.
- In response to a question regarding a shaded cover for students
at Key School, Dr. Smith thanked the representative for her
extreme patience and promised to check with Mr. Bailey to find
out when that will happen and report back at the next meeting.
- In response to a question regarding opportunities for teachers
to share information, it was explained that teachers from all
schools use collaboration time to discuss curriculum and standards,
evaluate assessment data as well as discuss individual student
needs for the purpose of improving student achievement.
- In response to a question regarding the discrepancies of
the website at the district level and the websites at the individual
schools, Rosemary Gladden said that she would investigate but
noted that the district is requiring that each school use either
the district website or the school website to disseminate information,
not both.
|
| Next
Meeting: |
Mrs. Castrey
closed the meeting with a reminder to fill out a “Good News”
form and share your school’s good news with SCAC members
and to bring questions to staff at the next meeting on November
17, 2008.
|
| SCAC
Previous Minutes |
Click
here for previous SCAC meeting minutes. |
|