C-EL School Board reviews hiring new principal, benchmark tests correlate to absenteeism, and consolidation with Bloomington Regional Office of Education

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[May 29, 2015]  LINCOLN - On Tuesday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m., the Chester-East Lincoln School Board held its regular monthly meeting. Board members present included President Jeff Brooks; vice president, Lori Birnbaum; secretary, Tish Podunajec; and members Karen Martinez, Dwane Morris, Jason Toft and Brandi Splitter. Superintendent Jennifer Hamm was also present and around 25 guests.

After roll call, Brooks mentioned some queries he has had about the recent hiring of Laura Irwin. He said that there will be an interim superintendent and Irwin will serve as principal since she has just worked one year in an administrative position and superintendents need to have worked at least two years in administrative roles.

Brooks also noted that the board let the public know about Irwin's hiring as soon as possible and actually hired her sooner than they had planned because word was getting around. He asserted that there will be no loss of funding during this time. Jennifer Hamm will work until June 30 and may consult with Irwin on what will occur going forward. Brooks asks that everyone work with Irwin to help make the transition seamless.

Brooks next offered a question and answer session for community members. CEL parent Leslie Starasta thanked Hamm for the increased use of technology during Hamm's time at the school.
 


Starasta then said that she felt the board did not follow procedure on hiring the new principal/superintendent. She also explained that a note on the school's website stating that Hamm had resigned and that the board was hiring a replacement would have been nice, and she noted that the information had just been posted on the site.
Starasta also expressed concern that there were only five board representatives instead of seven when the board vacancies were filled.

Finally, Starasta asked for more transparency from the board. CEL parent Mark Shew echoed many of Starasta's sentiments, also thanking Hamm for her work and thanking the two new board members for stepping in.

Next, the board approved the agenda and minutes from recent meetings. Hamm clarified that both the new board seats will be up for election in 2017.

Hamm then shared the 2014-2015 benchmarking results (see Pdf of slideshow), focusing especially on the spring data such as attendance, MAP [Measure of Academic Progress] test results, which are common core aligned and non-timed, and the AIMSweb [standard universal screening assessment] test results, which are not common core aligned and timed.

She expressed concern about attendance this school year, noting that 74 students (25%) have been absent between 10 and 20 days, 13 students (4%) have been absent between 21-30 days, and one student (>1) has been absent more than 31 days. Another concern Hamm expressed is the disconnect between MAP and AIMSweb data. She said many schools are dropping the AIMSweb test and the recommendation is that it only be used for progress monitoring.

Hamm noted a correlation between the number of absences and some of the test scores.

For example, during the math and reading spring tests, only 45 % of the kindergarten class was present and 36% met or exceeded reading scores, while 77% met or exceeded math scores. For first grade, 55% were present and 71% met or exceeded reading scores, while 77% met or exceeded math scores.

In second grade, 60% were present and their reading and math scores were the same as the first-graders.

The third-graders had 69% present with reading scores at 69%, while math scores were at 73%.

The fourth-graders had 69% present with reading scores at 64% and math scores at 75%.

The fifth-graders had 68% present with reading scores at 81% and math scores at 73%.

The sixth-graders had 71% present with reading scores at 57% and math scores at 71%.

The seventh-graders had 68% present with reading scores at 89% and math scores at 79%.

Finally, the eighth-graders had 43% present with reading scores at 80% and math scores at 77%.

During the winter testing when most of the classes had between 59% and 81% of students present for testing, the lowest reading scores were 61% (kindergarten) and the highest 86% (eighth grade), while the lowest math scores were 69% (fifth grade) and the highest were 92% (second grade).

Hamm noted that when students are absent, they miss important information. For next year, Hamm suggested that the school continues sending attendance letters to parents and meet with those who have missed more than 15 days of school. She also suggested a need to research the attendance policies other districts have and consider revising the policy. Right now there is little deterrent for absences, but Hamm said that numerous absences may lead to retention as there is a correlation between absenteeism and achievement.

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Hamm noted that in addition to achievement, attendance also impacts general state aid, which is the largest funding source at the state level.

New board member Dwane Morris asked about having parents send in doctor's notes after a student has missed a couple of days. Hamm thought that idea was good, but worried about homeless and uninsured families. She suggested that the school might help provided resources for these families.

As for this year's benchmark assessments, Hamm used the projector to show a graph indicating that 77% met or exceeded winter benchmarks, while 69% met or exceeded spring benchmarks. She expressed concern about the 8% drop between winter and spring and wants to see higher scores on the MAP tests.

To compare data between the MAPS and AIMsweb test, Hamm displayed side by side results for kindergarten through eighth grade. Hamm emphasized the scores for kindergarten, first, and second-graders since the early math and reading skills are so important.

For the MAP test, kindergarteners scored 77%, first-graders 77%, and second-graders 89%.

While on the AIMSweb test, kindergarteners scored 59%, first-graders 46.5% and second-graders 74%.

She stated that the school plans to implement a phonics program for grades K - 1st, and grammar program from grades 2nd - 8th, plus an academic vocabulary program.

Hamm also said the school may hire a Title 1 teacher for push-in intervention for a whole class and Tier II intervention and pull-out groups for Tier III. There are also plans to utilize AIMSweb for tier III [students who need more intensive intervention].
 


In addition, there are plans to develop school-wide intervention plans for computation.

After Hamm's presentation, Regional Superintendent Mark Jontry and assistant regional superintendent, Diane Wolf, spoke about the consolidation of Logan County Regional Education office (ROE) with the Bloomington Regional Office of Education as of July 1, 2015. Jontry and Wolf welcomed CEL to their ROE and explained that they can provide services to teachers, students, and school districts, as well as being a resource, answering questions, and providing trainings. Wolf showed attendees the ROE website and its many resources explaining that the office is active with teachers, administrations, and school boards, and acts like a translator for what happens in Springfield. She also noted that the ROE works on truancy outreach, work with homeless families, and work with homeschool families. In addition, the ROE can help with professional development, evaluation systems, in-services, and licensing online for teachers, substitutes, and paraprofessionals. The ROE also works with students working on their high school equivalency by providing the GED testing program. Finally, Wolf showed a list of contacts who will answer questions and mentioned that a retired superintendent mentors new superintendents. Jontry said that the ROE will help the school through the time of transition.

As the open part of the meeting drew to a close, the board discussed new business that included several action items. Brooks stated that Toft would hand out diplomas at the Friday graduation.

Among other action items approved were the hiring of Jennifer Luckhart for the 2015-2016 breakfast program, raising lunch fees by ten cents for next year, hiring Greg Hoffert as a part-time summer maintenance worker, reaching a memorandum of understanding with the CEL Education Association, establishing a chess team student activity account after a local dentist donated $350 to the team, setting up a sick/personal leave payment agreement with one of the staff, and the posting for girl's basketball coach for 2015-2016.


The next board meeting will be Tuesday, June 16. The public is welcome to attend the open session.

[Angela Reiners]

 

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