BATH COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
BOARD OF EDUCATION
WORK SESSION
Monday, January 14, 2002
High School Media Center
MINUTES

I. The meeting was called to order by President Nancy Hawkins at 7:01 p.m.

II. Members present:
 Dean Sweet Jr., Steve Plemmons, Mike Wood, Dan Schultz, Carl Chaffee, Nancy Hawkins, Walter Pett (arrived at 7:04 p.m.)
Members absent: None
Staff present: Superintendent Susan Bolton Business Manager Jon Pechette High School Principal Greg Wieman Middle School Principal Melody Hasselback Elementary School Principal Kathleen Senita

III. Additions/Deletions to the Agenda
Addition of Action Item #C, "Approval of Purchase of Bus." It was noted at this time that at the next meeting of the Board of Education "Naming Facility" will be added to the agenda as a discussion item.

IV. Public Comments
No comments were offered at this time.

V. Discussion Items

A. Alternative Education Considerations
1. DeWitt-Bath Consortium Sean Wade, Assistant Principal at DeWitt High School and lead administrator for the Alternative Education Program, and Katrina Freund, teacher in the Alternative Education Program, presented information about the DeWitt-Bath Alternative Education program. The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for high school students to complete their education requirements in a non-traditional format. It is designed to help students who struggle to meet their academic success and develop productive life long learning habits. Detailed information was given about guidelines and requirements to enter the program. Other information was given that pertained to establishing an individual program for each student, parent involvement and support, curriculum, counseling services available, and regular evaluation reviews. President Nancy Hawkins questioned how many Bath students were involved in the program. It was indicated that there were seven. She then asked the Bath students, who are in the program, if it is difficult to integrate themselves in Bath high school even though they attend these programs in DeWitt. She also asked them what they liked about the program. Several students responded favorably about the program. They indicated that they liked the small class size and individual attention. Nancy also referred to the parent participation requirement and asked if it was happening. Katrina responded that parents were participating with her and the administrators and it is going well. Trustee Dan Schultz noted that on the curriculum page of the presentation that there was a link to the Plato worksite. He asked for more information regarding the system. Katrina encouraged Board members to visit the website www.plato.com and see what is available. She stated that it is used as a base in this program for fundamentals, and that it was aligned with the Michigan frameworks. He also asked about an average amount of time students would spend on computer-oriented curriculum. Katrina responded that it would vary with each student's choice, but the maximum would be one-third of a day. Trustee Mike Wood asked how many students were successful with the Plato system. Katrina said that aside from prior resource students with additional academic needs, which is not supposed to be the case, students were successful with the Plato system. President Nancy Hawkins asked about the popularity of the program with DeWitt. Sean Wade indicated that there is a waiting list of students and that it has been met with positive response. Trustee Mike Wood asked Mr. Wade if there is anything unique or different about how discipline matters are managed. Mr. Wade indicated that they always try to teach through their discipline in order to help the student understand how they got off base and how they can make better decisions in the future. He indicated that they put a lot of effort into communicating the procedures and policies with the students. A parent, Angie Faunt, whose son Jordan has just started the program, indicated that this has been a very positive experience for him, and he looks forward to going each day. She felt that without this program he would have struggled and might not graduate. Katrina then invited Board members to visit the program any day, preferably after 11:40 a.m.

The meeting recessed at 7:35 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:40 p.m.

2. Meridian High School/ 3. Bath Program
High school principal Greg Wieman presented information about the number of students attending this program and their success. He indicated that students who attend these programs are usually credit deficient. He went on to say that he believes that one of the reasons Bath has lost students is that our requirements are the most stringent in the area. Bath requires more credit hours, more math, and more science than any other school. He said he does not know of any other school in the area that requires three years of math and three years of science to graduate. He felt that math was the curriculum that students tend to "hit the wall" at some point. He feels that because of these requirements, students who are at risk will take the path of least resistance and opt to go to an alternative education program. Trustee Mike Wood asked if there were any valuable learning programs available that could substitute for the additional year of math or science for students who are clearly not going to pursue college. Greg indicated that this issue might be addressed in the presentation that Guidance Counselor Anthony Habra will be giving regarding a comprehensive guidance program i.e. a plan for education. This program addresses students taking more ownership in their education. The outcome will be that students will take more math and science because they see how they will use what they are learning.

B. Comprehensive Guidance Program

Guidance Counselor Anthony Habra distributed documents regarding the Career Pathways program and grant and the comprehensive guidance plan. Anthony stated that the counseling department was moved two years ago from the Board of Education to the Michigan Career Development Board. The four areas that they want counselors to help with are: career pathways, educational development plans (EDPs), career contextual learning, and comprehensive guidance and counseling. Anthony addressed the educational development plans (EDPs) first. He indicated that Bath currently has a program, the Michigan Occupational Information System or MOIS program, that is paid for through the Perkins grant. This program has an electronic EDP section to it. Each student will do an interest inventory based on the type of job they are interested in and use that interest inventory to help select their pathway and classes. The Career contextual learning is a program where teachers receive externships and funding of approximately $500 to spend a week in some type of job. One day is spent training for the job and three days are spent working the job. Following that, one day is spent writing a lesson plan based on that job and industry and working that plan into their subject area. CCRESA is willing to set up the externships. The funding to pay for this would come from the Career Pathways grant so there would be no cost to the district. At this time, Anthony offered a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Career Pathways program. This program is designed to help students focus on the future. Career Pathways is a cluster of specific occupations grouped by interests, strengths, and skills. This program helps students develop their own goal-oriented future. It is Anthony's intent to connect the courses with the pathways and then publish it in the course book, curriculum guide and on the EDP. On the grant application, Anthony has stated that the goal is for this year is to have an EDP for every student in 8th, 9th and 10th grade. In two years the 11th grade and in three years the 12th grade will be added. The grant will provide the monies for the funding of the professional development, the externships, and a coordinator to put it all together. The grant will be submitted to Michigan Career Development via CCRESA later in January. It is anticipated that the district will have an answer about the grant by mid- February. If the district is awarded the grant, the monies will be available immediately. Anthony stated that this is an in-kind grant. Although he did not have all of the figures the in-kind matching funds would be 25% of Anthony's salary, 25% of Lynda Whitman's salary, 25% of Greg Wieman's salary, and 20% of Melody Hasselback's salary. He also stated some administrative and supply costs would be matched. The approximate amount being applied for is $40,000, but he would like to increase it to $65,000. This is a one-year grant that is renewable. High school principal Greg Wieman stated that regardless of whether the grant is awarded or not they would be approaching the Board to at least have a statement stating that we are adopting this program and incorporating it into the curriculum. Some of the funding at the Clinton County level is contingent upon Bath Community Schools' buying into the program.

C. MEAP Analysis

Middle school principal Melody Hasselback gave information regarding MEAP. The goals of the presentation were to:

Melody pointed out the parallel between MEAP and NCA programs. She stated that currently, curriculum alignment review is being done by the Curriculum Council. Classroom test results are examined by teachers and Common Assessments are used. The common assessment is a test given to the student to assess what the student is learning compared to what the teacher feels is important and what they think they are teaching. The goal is a curriculum alignment parallel to the MEAP. She then covered the MEAP results for the district. Noted was the increase in the fourth grade story reading score from 78.9 to 84.7, which surpassed the state score. In seventh grade, story reading was up slightly from 82.3 to 82.7, which again passed the state score. Students who scored 300 or better in both story reading and informational reading were 72.6% in fourth grade and 74.7% in seventh grade. In eleventh grade, the score increased from 80.3 % to 95.4%. These scores indicated improvement and movement in the right direction. Melody went on to say that a couple of schools have called her to ask if they could talk with the math teachers because of the movement and improvement that Bath has made in their math scores. She noted that this is a transition year for math. Last year's seventh graders will take the test this year as eighth graders, i.e. the test is moving from seventh to eighth grade. The eleventh grade score in math increased from 82.7% to 89.4%. Scores in science have dropped from 35.4% to 31.9% at the fifth grade level and from 38.7% to 30.7% at the eighth grade level. Melody noted that the eighth grade level is above the state average but is still an area in need of help. There will be a transition this year in the writing tests. They will move from fifth and eighth grade to fourth and seventh grade. There was a slight drop in writing scores at the fifth and eighth grade level last year, but an increase occurred at the eleventh grade level. In Social Studies, Melody noted that the way the scores were reported in 1999-2000 were different than in 2000-2001. In 1999-2000, the score reflected only the students who scored at level one. In 2000-2001, the score was a combination of students who scored at level one and level two, which makes them proficient. She stated that the state scores reflect the fact that we are all struggling. She stated that social studies is the area of focus this year for review of curriculum alignment, common assessments etc.

D. Professional Development Opportunities

a. Professional Development Days Superintendent Susan Bolton presented information regarding professional development days as required and directed by the state, the Bath Education Association contract, Federal and/or State program(s) or law.
b. Additional Opportunities Superintendent Bolton mentioned that other opportunities for professional development include curriculum related training at conferences and workshops, professional organization conferences, etc.
c. Technology-Related Training Technology Coordinator Doug Murphy addressed the technology portion of the professional development. He gave Board members copies of pages off the Bath Community Schools' web site. He pointed out the Tuesday afternoon meetings currently running to address problems that staff is having. He stated that he has had up to five teachers stay on Tuesdays to attend the workshops.

VI. Action Items

A. Approval to Hire Ms. Samantha House Moved by Sweet, supported by Pett THAT the Bath Community Schools Board of Education hire Ms. Samantha House as a teacher for Bath Community Schools and that she be placed on Step One of the BA +18 salary schedule, or $32,292, to be prorated to a .76 position for one half-year (one semester). AYE: Wood, Pett, Schultz, Plemmons, Sweet, Chaffee, Hawkins. NAY: None. Motion carried. Dan Schultz questioned the effect of hiring this position as a three-quarter time position. Anthony Habra addressed this issue. He stated that part of the reason for reducing the time of this position was that this teacher would not have responsibility for the advisory period. Additionally, the creative writing class that is being eliminated only had eleven students signed up. He stated that all students' needs are being met in other ways and this would be a cost savings for the district.

B. Acceptance of Resignation of Bookkeeper/Payroll Clerk Barbara Konen Moved by Plemmons, supported by Pett THAT the Bath Community Schools Board of Education accept with true regret the resignation of Ms. Barbara Konen with an effective date of April 30, 2002. AYE: Wood, Pett, Schultz, Plemmons, Sweet, Chaffee, Hawkins. NAY: None. Motion carried.

C. Approval of Purchase of Bus Moved by Sweet, supported by Pett THAT the Bath Community Schools Board of Education adopt the resolution authorizing Superintendent Susan Bolton or her designee to solicit and accept financing bids for the purchase of a bus. AYE: Wood, Pett, Schultz, Plemmons, Sweet, Chaffee, Hawkins. NAY: None. Motion carried. VII. Adjournment Moved by Sweet, Supported by Schultz to adjourn at 9:29 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted, Michael Wood, Secretary
Teresa Massey, Recording Secretary

Bath Community Schools Board of Education Work Session Minutes January 14, 2002 2