Dr. William Clark

In the elections last month, individuals had run for different board positions within the Milton Area School District.  These positions are available in Area 1:  the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd wards; Area 2:  4^th & 5^th wards and West Chillisquaque Township; and Area 3:  White Deer Township, Turbot Township and East Chillisquaque Township.  There may be some additional vacancies on the school board in the coming school year due to not enough candidates running for various positions.  Individuals who would like to run with a write-in campaign need to be aware of the qualification requirements for school board membership. 

According to our District Policy, each member of the Board shall meet the following qualifications:

1.       Be of good moral character, be eighteen (18) years of age, shall have been a resident of the district for at least one (1) year prior to the date of his/her election or appointment, and shall not be a holder of any office or position as specified in Section 322 of the School Code; not shall the individual be a member of the municipal council.

2.      Shall not have been removed from any office of trust under federal, state or local laws for any malfeasance in such office.

3.      Shall not be engaged in a business transaction with the school district, be employed by the school district, or receive pay for services from the school district, except as provided by law.

4.      Shall take and subscribe to the oath or affirmation prescribed by statute before entering the duties of the office.

5.      Shall file a statement of financial interests with the State Ethics Commission before taking the oath of office or entering upon his/her duties.

            If an individual decides to run with a write-in campaign, the above qualifications need to be met.

 
At other points in time during the school year, if a board member leaves and area or is unable to fulfill the position, there is a procedure that must be followed by the board to fill vacancies.  “A vacancy shall occur by reason of death, resignation, removal from a district or region, or otherwise. Such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the Sunshine Act and by appointment by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Board within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of the vacancy. The Board member so appointed shall serve until the first Monday in December after the first municipal election occurring more than sixty (60) days following his/her appointment. When a majority of the memberships are vacant, such vacancies shall be filled by the Court of Common Pleas of Northumberland County.”

            One thing that the district has done over the last couple of years to help members get oriented to the school, if they are first-time board members, is provide a board member orientation.  Here the district demographics are reviewed with board candidates so that they can get an understanding of the interworking of the school system prior to their arrival as a sitting board member.  Once an individual is placed on the board, they need to be immediately involved in decision making.  They cannot abstain from voting just because they are not aware of the situation.  They need to become voting members and do their best to stay appraised of where the district is with certain issues.  Individuals who serve on the board do not receive compensation for their service, and may require hours of tireless dedication to review district information in order to make decisions that are in the best interest of the community, school and students.

            All board members who donate their time are much appreciated by the district administration, students, teachers, staff and community as they put themselves out there in a manner that allows them to work as a collective group to make the decisions that will impact the Milton Area School District in a positive manner.

There has been much information in the news as of late regarding the swine influenza and what are schools could do as well as what are they doing if the issue would take place within a district building or with an individual student or teacher.

                The district has been in constant contact, through the internet and phone conferences, with the Department of Health and the local Emergency Management Center.  Phone conferences have been conducted daily to provide updates to districts regarding information surrounding this issue across the Commonwealth and the nation as a whole. If a district is not able to attend a phone conference, the local emergency management is sending out the notes from the meeting to all superintendents in the area.   

In order to prepare students and staff in this issue, the following items are important to be utilized to prevent the spread of respiratory infections in the school setting.  A list of these items was sent home with students within the last couple of days.

Cough Etiquette

Always remind children to:

·         Cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze – have them throw the tissue away after they use it.

·         Wash their hands often with soap and water, especially after they sneeze or cough.  If water is not near, us an alcohol-based hand cleaner.

·         Remind them to not touch their eyes, nose or mouth.  Germs often spread this way.

Hand Washing

Remind children, staff members and care providers in child care settings to wash their hands or use alcohol-based hand cleaners, and make sure that supplies are available to prevent the spread of germs.

·         Encourage children and staff members to use soap and water to wash hands when hands are visibly soiled, or an alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly soiled.

·         Encourage staff members and care providers to wash their hands to the extent possible when engaged in certain activities, such as after wiping the child’s nose or mouth, after touching objects such as tissues or surfaces soiled with saliva or nose drainage.

·         Encourage staff members and care providers to wash the hands of infants and toddlers when the hands become soiled.

·         Encourage children to wash hands when their hands have become soiled.  Teach children to wash hands for 15-20 seconds (long enough for children to sign the “Happy Birthday” song twice).

·         Oversee the use of alcohol-based hand cleaner by the children and avoid using these on the sensitive skin of infants and toddlers.

·         Rub hands thoroughly until the alcohol has dried, when using alcohol-based hand cleaner.

·         Keep alcohol-based hand cleaner out of the reach of children to prevent unsupervised use.

·         Ensure that sink locations and restrooms are stocked with soap, paper towels or working hand dryers.

·         Ensure that each room is supplied with alcohol-based hand cleaner when sinks for washing hands are not readily accessible.  Alcohol-based hand cleaners are not recommended when hands are visibly soiled.

Exclusion of ill children and staff members

Observe all students for symptoms of respiratory illness.

·         Observe closely all children for symptoms of respiratory illness.  Notify the parent if a child develops a fever (100° F. or higher under the arm, 101° F. orally, or 102° F. rectally) or chills, cough, sore throat, headache or muscle aches.

·         Notify the local health department so that appropriate guidance can be given, send the child home, if possible, and advise the parent to contact the child’s doctor.

·         Infants and young children can become quite ill with influenza very quickly and might require urgent medical attention and possible hospitalization.

·         If a child has difficulty breathing, is lethargic, or appears to be worsening rapidly, consider calling a physician or 911 in addition to notifying a parent.

·         Encourage parents of sick children to keep their children home.

·         Encourage sick staff members to stay home.

·         Encourage parents of sick children to keep the children home and away from the school setting, until they have been without fever for 24 hours, to prevent spreading illness to others.  Similarly, encourage sick staff members or care providers to stay home until they have been without fever for 24 hours.

Environmental sanitation

Keep the environment clean and make sure supplies are available.

·         Clean frequently touched surfaces, toys and commonly shared items at least daily and when visibly soiled.

·         Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered household disinfectant labeled for activity against bacteria and viruses, an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant, or EPA-registered chlorine bleach/hypochlorite solution.  Always follow label instructions when using any EPA-registered disinfectant.  If EPA-registered chlorine bleach is not available and a generic (i.e., store brand) chlorine bleach is used, mix ¼ cup chlorine bleach with 1 gallon cool water.

·         Keep disinfectants out of the reach of children.

                This information is also posted on the district web page and provides an opportunity for parents to review it to see what they can do to prevent an outbreak not only at home but in the community as well.  Hand sanitizers are provided in lunch lines for students to use prior to purchasing their lunch.

                All district administrators are receiving daily updates from the Department of Health.  One current concern is field trips into areas where there are confirmed cases of the swine flu.  In the updates, the comment on field trips is for the district to contact the regional Department of Health about potential travel to that area.

As any new information comes into the district on additional measures that could be taken other than the items listed above, it would be released to teachers, parents and students.

   Safe Schools           

    As part of the new Safe Schools Initiative during the past school year, a Risk Assessment was conducted of all five (5) district buildings.  During this risk assessment, a variety of suggestions were provided back to the district on things that could be implemented to improve the overall safety of the buildings.  Some of the suggestions were easy to implement and others were extremely costly to the district.

                Even though the district buildings are safe, there is always an opportunity to analyze and look for continued improvements for the safety of the students, teachers, support staff and administration.  Safety is always discussed with parents in a variety of areas.  One is during the dinner meetings with the school board and parents that are held yearly at each elementary building.  Parents have responded that they feel their elementary child is safe within the school during the school day.  Middle and High School students are asked a similar question when they have breakfast with the board.  Students have often commented on how difficult it is to enter the district building.  Overall students and parents feel safe within the buildings that their sons or daughters are sent to on a daily basis.

                As part of the Risk Assessment, one area that the district will begin to address that will need cooperation and collaboration from community members will be visitors in the coming school year.  Starting in August of 2009, the district will be requiring any visitors entering district buildings to produce a photo identification to enter the building (such as driver’s license, work ID badge, etc. – items of this nature would suffice).  The secretaries will ask to see this particular item before granting entrance to the building to that individual.  Once the photo ID is shown, the individual will still need to sign in and log the time they entered the building and who they are visiting, as has been done traditionally within the district.

                This additional layer in the process will allow the district to continue to be vigilant in providing a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff during the course of their instructional time in the school year.

                In order to prepare secretaries for this process, there will be an orientation for them this summer to review the new procedures and protocol, and signs will be placed at the doors to notify visitors to have this information available in order to enter the buildings.

                Again, this is just one step of many which can be taken to improve the overall safety of the district buildings.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

                The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which President Obama signed into law on February 17^th includes funding going to the U.S. Department of Education for states.  States will be allowed to use their portion of nearly $100 billion in stimulus aid for education with a focus on pumping out money quickly to spur economic recovery and save jobs. 

                Within the state of Pennsylvania, the state will receive $2.7 billion in the new Education for Aid.  Stimulus funds for education in the state of Pennsylvania will include $1.6 billion from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), $399 million for Title I aid and $456 million for IDEA aid for Special Education.  The Department of Education is working closely with school districts to maximize their use of taxpayers’ dollars provided through the Federal Stimulus law. 

                The Milton Area School District’s share of the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) will be $808,837.00.  Under the Title I for SFSF it is $223,500.00, under Title I for education of the disadvantaged it is $264,500.00, under Special Education IDEA it will be $425,700.00, and under Title II D for technology upgrades it is $11,600.00. 

o   SFSF – this money can be used as specified in the existing state law.  Amounts up to the rate of inflation can be used to pay ongoing costs of existing programs.  The remainder must be used for early childhood education, longer school days, more days in the school year, and to expand other proven academic programs. 

o   Title I formula for the SFSF – this can be used for modernization, renovation and repair of facilities, basic education, special education, career & technical education, and adult & family literacy. 

o   Title I, Education for the Disadvantaged – this can be used for improving math and reading instruction in high poverty schools. 

o   Special Education IDEA Aid – districts may provide special education programs and services to students with disabilities. 

o   Title II D, technology upgrades – can be used for integrating technology into the school and curriculum and providing related professional development. 

                Even though these funds have been received from the federal level to the state and are being dispersed and monitored by the state, school districts are reminded to be very careful and not supplant local funds but to supplement current programs.  These definitions need to be very clear with the district as they submit paperwork to receive these additional funds. 

                The nice thing of the funding stream is that some of the funds allow you to utilize them in other categories.  For example, under the category of academic investments, the state identifies Classrooms for the Future (CFF) as a possible use of funds.  In the past, CFF was targeted as a high school program only.  Under this new funding stream, CFF can now be extended to the middle school.  Funds from Title I SFSF, Title II D, and IDEA can all be used to support this particular program if the district would so choose. 

                The Milton Area School District is currently looking at all programs to make the best determination for utilization of these funds for academic investment, school safety and professional development. 

                After listening to several Senators and Representatives in Harrisburg, districts around the Commonwealth have been cautioned about planning to expend these funds until the General Assembly gets an opportunity to decide how these funds will be distributed.  School districts will hopefully receive that information from the General Assembly as budgets are being developed and reviewed by the school boards during the month of April, and then take this to the board for preliminary approval in May.  Therefore, the determination from the General Assembly on how these funds would be utilized is timely information that the districts need in order to move forward with applying these funds at the local level.

February 2009
Superintendent’s Blog
Pennsylvania School District Consolidation

 On the day that Governor Rendell unveiled the 2009-10 education budget, I received several phone calls from the newspapers and TV stations.  The basic question was “what are my thoughts of the governor’s proposal to move from 500 school districts to 100?” Since I was not watching the governor’s presentation, I was caught off guard with the concept of District Consolidation of this scale.  

Over the past several years, there have been various attempts to move districts towards sharing of services.  Currently, the Intermediate Units (IU’s) provide a wide variety of services to districts throughout the Commonwealth.  Here is a list of some available services: Administrative and Cooperative Business Services, Center for Schools and Community, Educational Initiatives, Employee and Community Relations, Outreach Programs and Corrections Education, Professional Development and School Improvement, Special Education and Early Childhood, and Technology.  Each district within the IU is afforded the opportunity to take advantage of the services provided as is sees fit for their district.

 Another approach by the governor’s office was the Common Sense Initiative (CSI).   Through the CSI, school boards would have to vote in the affirmative to take part in the project.  Once in CSI, the Department of Education would send a team to evaluate the school district and determine where cuts could be made.  One major issue with CSI was whatever suggestions were made by PDE would have to be implemented by the district. 

Below I have outlined the Pennsylvania School District Consolidation Facts for you review:       

 o   Governor Rendell proposed to create a legislative commission to study how best to right-size Pennsylvania’s local school districts.  His goal is to have no more than 100 school districts.

o   Full-scale school consolidation provides a very effective way to relieve the local property tax burden all across Pennsylvania.  There is no need to maintain 500 separate school districts across the state – each with its own staggering, and growing, administrative costs.

 o   Reducing the number of school districts would not necessitate the closure of individual schools, but could instead improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public education through other means.

o   Only 10 states in the nation have more school districts than Pennsylvania, while many of the highest-achieving states are organized into far fewer school districts in order to achieve greater efficiencies and improve the delivery of quality educational services. 

o   More than 40 percent of Pennsylvania’s school districts currently educate fewer than 2,000 students and over 80 percent of the school districts educate fewer than 5,000 students, requiring significant bureaucracy while raising questions about the diversity of courses offered to students. 

o   Consolidation is not a new idea in Pennsylvania:  in 1955, there were 2,700 separate school districts before the General Assembly authorized consolidations statewide.  Within two years, the number of separate districts fell to 1,900.  By 1962, the number of separate school districts fell to 600, and as of July there will be 500 school districts statewide. 

o   The proposed commission would have 12 voting members appointed by the General Assembly:

·         Three members of the Senate of Pennsylvania appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate;

·         Three members of the Senate of Pennsylvania appointed by the minority leader of the Senate;

·         Three members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appointed by the speaker of the House; and

·         Three members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives appointed by the minority leader of the House. 

o   It would also have two non-voting members who serve ex-officio:

·         The Secretary of Education; and

·         The chairman of the State Board of Education. 

o   The proposed commission would have one year to develop a plan for the reorganization of school districts.  It would be responsible for determining the optimal enrollment size, new statewide boundaries, and an implementation plan. 

o   To ensure progress is made, the Governor proposed that the commission adopt up to two merger plans.  After a period of public comment, the General Assembly would be required to give an “up or down” vote to each commission consolidation plan within six months. 

o   If the General Assembly rejects both plans, the law would vest authority for consolidating school districts with the State Board of Education. 

Some comments on the information listed from the Consolidation Facts.  The committee has no representation from Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania System Educators Association, and Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. 

Several studies have been conducted looking at district consolidation.  One was conducted by Standards and Poor which outlined that the optimal district size for efficiency was 3,500 students.   A second study by Andrew Coulson found similar number at 3,000 students.  With the number of students in public education currently at 170,000 in Pennsylvania, if the 500 districts went to 100 the districts that would allow an average size of 17,000 students per district. 

A couple of questions that consolidation would raise: what would happen to the taxes in the larger districts?  Districts that have lower milage rates consolidate with a district of larger milage rates; one would see a decrease in taxes and the other an increase.  How can the teacher and support contracts be consolidated?  What is the academic benefit of consolidation? 

If you have feelings about this issue contact your local legislator or let me know so I can respond to them.     

In an effort to improve communications between the teachers and school board, a group of teachers and board members meet quarterly each year to discuss issues that impact education.  The name of this committee is the Educational Chit Chat.  One of the topics that have been discussed several times has been the student dress code.

The Milton Area School District currently has policy 221 to address the dress code. 

221.  DRESS AND GROOMING 

The Board recognizes that each student’s mode of dress and grooming is a manifestation of personal style and individual preference. 

The Board has the authority to impose limitations on students’ dress in school.  The Board will not interfere with the right of students and their parents/guardians to make decisions regarding their appearance, except when their choices disrupt the educational program of the schools or constitute a health or safety hazard. 

Students may be required to wear certain types of clothing while participating in physical education classes, technical education, extracurricular activities, or other situations where special attire may be required to ensure the health or safety of the student. 

The building principal or designee shall be responsible to monitor student dress and grooming and to enforce Board Policy and school rules governing student dress and grooming. 

The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that all rules implementing this policy impose only the minimum necessary restrictions on the exercise of the student’s taste and individuality. 

Staff members shall be instructed to demonstrate by example positive attitudes toward neatness, cleanliness, propriety, modesty, and good sense in attire and appearance. 

Even though this policy is in place, issues still arise during the school year that need addressed by teachers and administration.   

The goal of this month’s blog is to share with readers a Dress Code Policy from another district.   The policy comes from Mount Carmel Area School District and is much more specific with respect to clothing items that are allowed to be worn to school.   

Mount Carmel Dress Code Policy 

Purpose:  The Mount Carmel Area Board of Education recognizes every student’s right to freedom of expression in speech, written or oral, as that right is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court.  The Board also recognizes its obligation to provide schools where the health, safety and welfare of students are given paramount consideration and where a positive learning environment must be maintained.  The Board is aware of its obligation to make every effort to minimize the opportunities for student disruption and/or distraction in the school.  The Board believes that a standard dress code policy will address issues related to the health, safety and welfare of the students and the maintenance of a positive learning environment. 

Authority:  The Mount Carmel Area School District, by the authority granted to it under the law, hereby imposes a standard dress code policy for grades K-12 for the 2001-02 school term and all upcoming school terms.  The administration reserves the right to amend the dress code for clothing styles that become trends which are associated with antisocial behavior or have a disruptive influence. 

Guidelines:  During instructional school hours and at any school sponsored event on or off school property, no student shall wear any apparel or jewelry that by words, signs, pictures of combination thereof appearing on said clothing or jewelry advocates or promotes sexual activity, violence, or the use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs, or demeans or degrades another because of race, sex, religious persuasion, national origin, handicap or disability.  The Board is cognizant of the diversity of the students within the school district.  Certain students may have a religious preference which precludes the adherence to the standard dress code policy and the parents are directed to inform the school administration and accommodation will be made accordingly.  Any parent whose children may suffer as a result of economic hardship is directed to advise the school principal and such cases will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

Penalties:  Any student who violates the dress code/school standard dress code policy shall be subject to the following:

·         1^st offense:  Notify parent to bring in appropriate clothing.  Student will remain in the Student Support Room until proper attire is provided by parent.

·         2^nd offense:  Parent meeting is required.  Student will remain in the Student Support Room and be assigned detention.

·         3^rd offense:  Parent meeting required.  Out-of-school suspensions will occur.

Repeated violations of the standard dress code shall be treated as disruptive behavior as noted in the discipline policy. 

DRESS CODE

Students are required to be dressed according to the standard dress code policy:

Boys:

·         Khaki, navy blue, gray, and black slacks (no cargo or baggy style)

·         Khaki, navy blue, gray, and black shorts of approved length (no cargo or baggy style)

·         Red, white, navy blue, gray, black, and pink long or short sleeve golf shirt, button-down dress shirt, crew neck shirt, and V-neck shirt with or without approved logo.  (No T-shirts or tank tops).

·         Shoes, sneakers, coordinated socks.

·         Approved accessories, sweaters, sweatshirts with or without hoods, turtlenecks, vests, mock turtlenecks in red, white, navy blue, gray, black and pink with or without school logo.

·         Gym clothing – sweatpants, shorts, athletic pants, and appropriate shirts.

Girls:

·         Khaki, navy blue, gray, and black slacks/Capri pants (no cargo, baggy style, or low-rise)

·         Khaki, navy blue, gray, and black shorts – approved length, no more than four inches above the knee (no cargo, baggy style or low-rise)

·         Red, white, navy blue, gray, black, and pink long or short sleeve golf shirt, dress blouse, crew neck shirt, and V-neck shirt with or without approved logo.  (No T-shirts, tank tops, or midriff shirts that expose the skin).

·         Shoes, sneakers, coordinated socks

·         Khaki, navy blue, gray, and black skorts, skirts, dresses, and jumpers – approved length, no more than four inches above the knee.

·         Approved accessories – sweaters, sweatshirts with or without hoods, turtlenecks, vests, mock turtlenecks in red, white, navy blue, gray, black and pink with or without school logo.

·         Gym clothing – sweatpants, shorts, athletic pants, and appropriate shirts. 

General:

·         Clothing must be of proper fit, not to exceed one size beyond the correct size.

·         Hats, bandanas, headbands, and chains are not permitted.

·         Jeans of any color are not permitted, even on gym days.

·         Corduroy is permitted.

·         Leather clothing is not permitted.

·         Rubber flip-flops are not permitted.

·         Underclothing is not permitted to be seen through outer clothing.

·         Mutilation, i.e. purposely cutting holes or tearing of clothing is prohibited.

·         No side pockets on slacks, skirts, or shorts. 

New students entering Mount Carmel Area School District shall be granted a grace period of two weeks before being required to conform to the dress code. 

Principals can use their discretion to designate specific days that permit students to wear other types of clothing. 

After reading over the two policies, I would encourage blog comments be sent pro or con on adjusting the Milton Area School District Dress Code Policy.  Similar input is being gathered by teachers from the Educational Chit Chat Committee by working with students in their classes.  Either way rest assured this is simply an information gathering process to investigate teacher, student, and community feelings on student Dress Code.

** All comments are moderated by the author of the blog to ensure appropriate language and content for all readers **  

December 2008

Superintendent’s Blog

Communicating With Your Children

                As a former  High School Principal, I have had many conversations with parents about communicating with their students.  Some helpful information that I have utilized through the years is the following: 

Conversations with teens may be going along perfectly well when, without notice, they end abruptly.  A conversation killer could be the culprit.  Check yourself on each of the following questions by answering yes or no.  Identifying the problem will give you a target at which to aim to improve your communication skills.

Ø  Do I talk longer than a minute without giving my teen a chance to speak?  (time yourself)  Yes or No

Ø  Do I talk about myself or my interests without spending at least as much time listening to my teen’s interest?  Yes or No

Ø  Do I assume that “getting the facts straight” is more important than “understanding feelings?”  Yes or No

Ø  Do I tend to tease or get back at my teen by things I say or the way that I say them?  Yes or No

Ø  Does my teen say that I think I am always right?  Yes or No

Ø  Do I find myself not knowing or understanding what my teen just said?  Yes or No

Ø  Do I tend to be dogmatic or argumentative?  Yes or No

                Some of these comments may vary with respect to yes or no responses, but they would give you a potential indicator of ways to better understand that dialogue you may be having with your child.  These concepts are also applicable at any level of conversation, whether it is with another adult or an elementary, middle school or high school student.

                Other things I have seen that have worked in the past include:  when working with kids, raise the praise and minimize the criticisms.  Five things that help praise work are:

Ø  The praise should be authentic.

Ø  The praise should be very specific with respect to why the individual is being praised.

Ø  The praise should be immediate after the situation has transpired.

Ø  The praise should be clean and very simple.

Ø  The praise should be given in a private manner with the child.

                In doing these things, it may help parents communicate effectively with their child at a level that may have not been open in the past.

                I am open to any comments or suggestions that people have utilized that have worked for them either by utilizing information provided on this blog or information they have utilized themselves that is not listed on this blog that has been effective.

 November 2008

High School Drop-Outs

                Many of us understand the importance of graduating and obtaining a high school diploma, but statistics in our region show that some students fall through the cracks and drop out.  Even though regional statistics may not be as bad as the national statistics, there are still areas that need to be considered.  Data always helps to understand the importance of obtaining a high school diploma.

                I would like to review with you some information that I received after attending the Pennsylvania Drop-Out Prevention Summit.  During this Summit, several individuals presented statistics that reinforced that the local communities need to spend time and money on programs to keep potential drop-outs and at-risk students enrolled in programs in order to succeed outside of school.

                One of the statistics shared from Paul Harrington, Associate Director for the Center for Labor Market Statistics from Northeastern University, was that nationally 1 in 3 individuals do not graduate from high school.  In Pennsylvania, 21% of the student population dropped out in the 2003-2004 school year.  In Pennsylvania, there is an 89% completion rate for students who graduate from high school.

                Dr. Harrington also reported that, in today’s market, there are no longer blue-collar or white-collar jobs; there is what are called “gold-collar” jobs.  These require a high school diploma and some college education.  Researchers are saying students cannot just walk out of high school anymore and go to a place of employment.  They would need some sort of a college program, whether it is an associate or bachelor program, or so many credits showing that they are working toward a college degree.  The way it was explained by the panel was, individuals coming out of college may not be able to find jobs and would bump down into lower paying jobs.  That trickledown effect with the college graduates coming in would bump out the high school diploma people who would then go to jobs that would bump out individuals who have dropped-out.  This would cause a trickledown effect.

                Coming from the Alliance for Excellence in Education, it showed that in 2005 the average income earned by educational attainment:  For a high school dropout, the salary was $17,299.00; students with a high school diploma earned $26,933.00; with an associate’s degree, the salary was $36,645.00; and with a bachelor’s degree, it was $52,671.00.  The source of this information comes from the U.S. Bureau of Census in 2006.

                If we look at the number of drop outs, the graduation rate in 04-05 in Pennsylvania was 80.4%.  The projected number of non-graduates for the Class of 2006 in the state of Pennsylvania is 30,578.  This leads to a total lifetime additional income if dropouts in that group had graduated of $7,950,162,188.00.  If those kids would have stayed in school, that would have been the additional income they would have received.

                One thing that school districts do know is that a diploma cannot be just a piece of paper.  There must be some academic rigor to go along with that.  By working the curriculum alignment to the state standards and local industries in business partnerships, that is critical to develop a gateway program for those students.

                The next presenter was Adria Steinberg, Association Vice President of Jobs for the Future.  She stated for every 100 low income students who enter high school, only 65 will graduate, 41 will enroll in college, and only 11 will graduate from college.  The Milton Area School District has a free/reduced lunch count average rate of 42%, which means that this could be a potential problem area in the future. For every 100 low income high school graduate, 34 are at least minimally prepared for college, 11 are very prepared for college.  One of the burning questions from the panel was “What if school districts identified 50% of the future drop-outs between 6^th and 8^th grade and got 80% of them back on track for graduation?”  The statistics that were shared would show then that for every 100 drop-outs, we would gain 40 additional graduates.

                The Milton Area School District has developed a Middle School Auxiliary program for students to cycle in and out to receive academic remediation.  At the High School level, students encountering difficulities can enroll in the Milton Auxiliary High School which will allow them to do academic recovery and graduate on time.  Through the Milton High School Auxiliary program the district dropout rate has been cut in half.  Since the Auxiliary Middle School program is only one year old, the benefits are yet to be determined.

                Looking at the statistics and the programs that are currently available in the Milton Area School District, the district needs to continue to support the efforts of the teacher and administration in these programs to allow the opportunities for students to succeed in the future and not become a statistic in a negative manner.

October 2008

Superintendent’s Corner

                Several times during the school year, an opportunity affords itself for district personnel to attend various civic meetings and present information on the district.  During these presentations, district statistics and demographics are often presented to describe in vivid detail the population that is being served.  Over the past several years of doing these community presentations, some groups have directed the question back to the district as to what they could do to help.  In some cases, this has led to team-building with second parties in order to provide services to students in areas where they may have found particular challenges. 

One particular group that has been active this school year is Faith In Action, which is a group of individuals from the Community Mennonite Fellowship Church, that decided to undertake activities within the community and the district. Building principals were sent a notification of the group’s willingness to complete some work on the district property.  A list of items to be addressed was provided by each principal.  Several requests centered on providing more aesthetic pleasing areas in the district.  For example, three groups descended upon the school the weekend of September 27^th.  One group worked at Montandon painting a classroom there utilized by one of the social service groups.  A second group was at the High School and landscaped in front of the marquee.  A third group was at Baugher Elementary completing the landscaping in front of Baugher Elementary and another group painted several classrooms and offices. 

All of these individuals donated their time and effort, as well as any items necessary to make the beautification of the district take place.  Even though these individuals may not have had direct interaction with students, their collective efforts to address the visual issues through their work do not go unnoticed by students and staff.  This is just one example of the district and community working together in an effort to allow the district and the community to interact in a positive manner that is beneficial to residents of the community and the students served.

Superintendent’s Blog

September 2008

Learning Focused Schools

            In the 2008-09 school year, the Milton Area School District is undertaking the Learning Focused Schools concept to be implemented across district levels.  The thought behind Learning Focused Schools is looking at exemplary schools, which are defined as a school with 90% or more of its students on or above grade level.  Dr. Thompson, in reviewing schools that met this definition of exemplary, found that only 10,000 out of 93,000 schools in the United States met that criteria in 2006-07.  Five thousand one hundred of the 10,000 were highly diverse where over 35% of the students were highly impacted by poverty, language or minority discrimination.

            Looking at these exemplary schools, Dr. Thompson tried to also look at exemplary practices to find those strategies or activities that exist on a consistent, pervasive basis in those schools.  The schools were identified as 90/90 schools or 90/90/90 schools.  The 90/90 schools are schools where 90% of the students on or above grade level are passing a state or national test at proficiency meeting adequate yearly progress in all academic areas – the second figure is 90% of the students are on free/reduced lunch indicating the school is highly impacted by poverty.  There are approximately 1,100 schools that are 90/90 of the original 5,100 that were identified.  In the 90/90/90, one more layer was added which is 90% of the students were minorities and the school was highly impacted by low expectations and racism.  There were only 350 schools in this category.

            The focus was on the 350 schools that were still achieving despite all of these criteria.  Some major concerns these schools dealt with were:  1) they need to increase student achievement and accountability to match increasing national and state standards; 2) many districts are trying to decrease the minority/majority achievement gap, and 3) too many students coming into the school are already behind and the number of students below grade level is decreasing by increments that are too small. 

            In order to address these concerns, the Milton Area School District knows that it needs to implement some strategies locally.  The strategies that are recommended by Learning Focused Schools are:  to raise the standards for students you have to raise the standards for teachers; to raise the standards for teachers you have to raise the standards for principals; and schools must focus on learning and have one goal, which is continuous improvement.

            In order to implement this at the district level, the school district is taking a variety of Learning Focused initiatives, the first of which is curriculum maps where the district will begin to look at the Capitol Intermediate Unit curriculum maps and apply this to the district curriculum.  This will allow for a smooth transition between the old district curriculum and the proposed state curriculum. 

The second approach is a lesson plan template which will integrate Learning Focused curriculum maps and will also use a lesson plan template which was developed in the 2007-08 school year. 

The third approach will be observations of teachers with accountability for Learning Focused initiatives using a walk-through method which is a 5 by 5 by 5 model, meaning that the principals will try to observe five teachers, for five minutes each day of the school year.  There is a new district observation form that will have new criteria added to it relating to the Learning Focused model.

Fourth, the district will be looking at summary point writing at each of the levels.  The teacher will ask students to summarize, explain, clarify, list and give examples in writing during the lesson.  All this basically entails is one or two sentences with concepts of Blooms Taxonomy.  The goals is to have one summary point writing per day in K-2, in grades 3-5 in Language Arts and Math each day, in grades 6-12 three times per week in all areas except band, physical education and chorus.

These new approaches will allow staff to begin to implement the Learning Focused strategies into the classroom and also allow the principals to model and monitor these strategies as they are implemented during the course of the school year.  The overall goal of these strategies is a continuous improvement for academic success for students in schools.