Officials are well on their way to finalizing a list of three comprehensive goals for the Starkville School District after working on them again at Tuesday night”s meeting.
All board members were present for the meeting, the last scheduled for 2010. At the meeting, the board also heard about Nov. 29 storm damage and approved a new, online professional development opportunity for teachers.
The board had previously considered two districtwide goals. These were to be a high performing district by 2012, which means 65 percent of all students will score proficient or above. The second goal is to increase the graduation rate from 60.4 percent to 75 percent by 2012.
“These are goals every school can reach and every school can work on,” Superintendent Judy Couey said. “How to reach the goals will require a different strategy for each school.”
Tuesday night, at board member Keith Coble”s prompting, the board proposed a third goal to maintain quality and quantity non-core area programs in arts, advanced coursework, athletics and community service.
Before this goal was added, Coble said the existing two goals did not cover all that the school board and the community feels is important for the schools to strive for.
“I have no problem with the two goals, but some of the people working in the district are only tangentially related to those goals,” Coble said.
His examples included music and athletics, to which other board members soon added gifted and advanced programs. Pickett Wilson concurred.
“A lot of things we put a lot of effort into are not addressed by these goals,” Wilson said.
Coble elaborated.
“At the end of the year, (athletic director) Stan Miller needs to be held accountable,” Coble said. “I don”t see where these hold him accountable.”
Couey stressed the need for any goals the board sets to be measurable, and when it comes to something like music or athletics, measuring success can be hard. For example, the board discussed whether a music program should be considered successful because of the ever increasing number of students it attracts or because of the high marks it receives in competition.
“I wouldn”t omit those things (such as music and athletics) because we have conflicting objectives,” Coble said.
Coble pressed his point until Couey drafted the proposed third goal during the discussion.
“If we drove our decisions by these (first two) goals, we wouldn”t need a music program,” Coble said. “There”s more to education than meeting the state testing standards.”
Couey will take the list of three goals back to the principals for feedback before bringing them to the board again in January for a first reading before they can be accepted as policy.
In other business, the board approved the purchase of a three-year agreement to use the School Improvement Network”s PD 360 and Observation 360, an online professional development tool for teachers and administrators.
“For a very small cost (of just under $60 per teacher or administrator), we”ll get year-round access to as many professional development areas as a teacher needs or wants,” Couey said.
Assistant superintendent Beth Sewell said she has talked to several administrators who are very excited about this professional development tool.
The board unanimously approved this contract on Coble”s motion and Wilson”s second.
The board also heard of the $80,000 or more damage sustained to the high school campus from the tornado that came through Starkville in late November. Fences at the tennis courts were blown down, goal posts and a foul ball marker disturbed, and the roof of the Millsaps Career and Technology Center damaged.
The district has a $25,000 deductible on their insurance policy. Total damages are still being assessed, including possible water damage to computers in some of the rooms under the damaged Millsaps roof.
The board handled several other matters of mostly routine business before going into closed session to discuss student discipline, personnel matters and to begin the superintendent”s annual evaluation. They will meet again at 6 p.m. Jan. 6 in the Greensboro Center.
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