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Adair County School Board Regular Meeting Dec. 15, 2005 Whiteboard presentation gives awesome demonstration of technology to improve teaching; board grapples with, but doesn't decide on solution to assigning town students to openings at new Adair Elementary School. Public involvement in meeting very low. No mention of disappointing Nickel Tax vote. One photo with this story By Ed Waggener ed@columbiamagazine.com In the regular December meeting of the Adair County Board of Education, two topics dominated: How to choose the 120 students who from the town schools who will get to attend the new Adair County Elementary School (ACES), and how to fund the installation of "Whiteboards" in the new school. It was the first meeting following the defeat of the Board's Nickel Tax proposal, and no mention was made of that. The meeting was held in the much more comfortable John Adair Intermediate School Auditorium and was called a Special Meeting because of the change of venue. A disappointingly few people outside the school board and school officials attended the meeting. Only 60% of the usual media representation was present. Whiteboard demonstration dominates meeting A lively presentation of the innovative "Whiteboard" was conducted by Holly Adams, Newburgh, IN, a representative of South West Communications, Inc.The Whiteboards are part of a system called "The Promethean Collabarative Classroom." A number of advanced Kentucky school districts, including Allen, Warren, Hart, Taylor County, Russell County, and Laurel Counties either already have the White Boards or are contracting to install them. Test scores, teacher retention, pupil involvement, and overall costs improvements have resulted from the use of the devices, the board was told. Interactive teaching devices which include a 78" screen, wireless ACTIVslates or student interaction, software for every subject matter which would be taught, and gives teachers flexibility rather dazzling ability to focus on a particular subject or problem. Students use their ACTIVslates to take tests, giving answers by "voting." Programs in the software allow teachers to automatically pull test results and grade. Members of the board had visited the Allen County Schools to see the system in action and were, for the most part, enthusiastic about it. Over the 5 year life of the devices, the cost of the system is "a wash," Mrs. Adams said, when the savings in video equipment, computers, and even paper copies which would no longer be needed, are compared. But there are likely to be an up-front costs which will squeeze the budget for Adair County Elementary School. With discounts, each of the devices will cost roughly $9,500 each, and a total outlay of approximately $320,000 is projected as the cost for the new school. At the moment, the most likely source of the funds is the building project's contingency fund. The board voted, 5-0, to have Jim Ivey, the architect for the project, to get cost comparisons ready for the January 2006 meeting to see if there is any way possible to make the new school a state-of-the-art one in technology. A concern of Member Marsha Walker about the equipment is whether there would be "teacher buy-in." Principal Jane Branham was asked her opinion about current teachers at John Adair buying in to the use of the systems, and her thought was that it would not be nearly 100 percent, but that a large number of the teaches, the one's who are already into technology, would enthusiastically embrace them. But Board Chairman Mike Harris said, "I think these are the tools of the 21st Century," and urged the board to find a way to get the Whiteboards into the new school, and to guide reluctant teachers to buy in.Activist Kenny Aaron, one of the tiny number of concerned citizens present, also urged the board to get the Whiteboards. "This has got to be cost-effective," he said. For more information on the Whiteboard, visit the company's website by clicking here. Filling the new school When the new Adair County Elementary School opens in the fall of 2006, students from Knifley, Shepherd, and Sparksville will be assigned to it, leaving a 120 openings to come from the town schools, Colonel William Casey and John Adair.No action was taken on how to solve the problem of allocating the 120 openings, but Superintendent Darrell Treece gave several options as starting points, including:
Request for completion of Athletic Building will be made, will be denied The board voted 5-0 to approval sending the BG-1 Form for Completion of the Athletic Building. "It will be denied," Superintendent Treece told them before the vote. "The state is not going to approve funds for this. But we will have it in writing." He said that the board would then be able to get the word out into the community that they tried, but the state turned them down. The board could thus escape blame for an action the State had taken. Staffing formula for 2006-2007 approved The board approved, 5-0, to keep the same staffing ratios as nearly as possible to the 22 students to one teacher for grades 1-8, and 20-1 for the High School. The new Adair Elementary is to have a principal, assistant principal, librarian, technology director, three teachers for music art, and PE, a special education teacher and classroom teachers in the same ratio as the other comparable schools. Board submits application for free lunch programs be unchanged Mr. Treece recommended, and the board approved unanimously, that grant applications for the Family Resource/Youth Services Centers which include the free lunch programs, but which serve all students and families, be sent with eight centers for the 2006-2007 school year just as it was in the previous year's application. The number of centers will be reduced to 3 in 2006. One center will serve the high school and middle school, one will serve CWC and John Adair, and one will serve the new elementary school. The district can amend the number of centers later. Mr. Treece said that the application is being handled in this manner at the advice of the state agency handling the application. No bid received on firewood from laps No bids were received for the firewood from tree laps from the timber sold to Jonathan Brockman. Mr. Treece said that Mr. Brockman will be allowed to harvest any of the firewood he can before the right-of-way clearance for the Columbia Bypass begins. "They would just push the laps into a pile and burn them, anyway," the Superintendent said. AMERESCO selected to provide energy savings program On a motion by member Floyd Burton, seconded by vice chairman Greg Willis, the board voted 5-0 to retain AMERESCO to conduct the systems energy savings program. Carl Shirley accepts plaque for Band Boosters support Carl Shirley, President of the Band Boosters, accepted a plaque presented by the Board for service to the band during is National Championship Season 2005. Chairman Mike Harris presented the plaque to Mr. Shirley. Superintendent's Remarks Mr. Treece recognized Brenda Mann for the beautiful buffet she prepared for the board. He noted that the Central Office of the Board will be closed on Fridays, December 23 and December 30, before the holidays. He recognized Sammy Taylor, the boards Grants Writer, and Norma Blair, the Supervisor of Instruction, who both retired effective December 16, 2005. Between them, the board lost over 50 years experience with their departures. Mr. Treece recognized Jim Ivy, the ACES architect, who noted that the board will soon have to make a decision on the roof color for the new school. He recommended a darker shade, because of the brick color. No one spoke in the public comments segment of the meeting. Consent agenda passes unanimously The consent agenda, which included the following items, passed unanimously:
The Adair County Board of Education holds regular monthly meetings each third Thursday Adair County Board of Education: Chairman Mike Harris (District 5); Vice Chairman Greg Willis (District 1), members Chris Watts (District 3), Marsha Walker (District 2), and Floyd Burton (District 4). Superintendent Darrell Treece. School Board Attorney Mike Loy. Phyllis Curry, Instructional Supervisor; Brenda Mann, Director of Pupil Personnel; Anita Wethington, Special Education Director; Norma Blair, Title 1 Supervisor; Carla Perkins, Technology Coordinator; Sammy Taylor, Grant Writer; David Jones, Transportation Director; Ricky Bault, Maintenance Director; Carol Roy, Food Services Director; Renae Smith, Finance Officer. NOTE: Two school board seats, those of Greg Willis (1), and Chris Watts (2) are will be on the November 2006 General Election ballot. Click here for Adair County Schools website This story was posted on 2005-12-18 16:43:38
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WINTER WEATHER: School buses on one-hour delay Dec. 16, 2005 REMINDER: Adair CO School Board meets at John Adair tonight Adair CO School Board Regular Meeting AGENDA December 15, 2005 Adair County Schools lose Nickel Tax vote by 73%-27% vote LETTER: Mr. Treece encourages vote FOR Nickel Tax President Luckey speaks out for Adair County kids Adair County Community Voice publisher will vote for Nickel Tax VFW presents Patriotic Essay awards at Knifley Grade Center LETTER: Casey personnel spent Saturday morning fighting heat pipe burst LETTER: Marsha Walker says commentator wrong, Adair's School tax is lower View even more articles in topic Education |
 
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