TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

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TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby blackturtle.us » Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:15 pm

It was a very short school board meeting this evening, lasting approximately forty minutes! There were more people in the audience than usual mostly due to various awards being presented to students. The following are the items of substance which seemed to be most important:

A. Board Member Comments: Trisha Funke announced that there will be two community clean up dates in March which are sponsored by the Trona Care organization. One will be held March 1st and the other will be March 8th. Sandy Sprouse mentioned that a new Trona cook book will be available for sale at the Centennial Celebration at the end of March.

B. Superintendent's Report: Mr. Olney mentioned a number of topics including: 1) Local Control Accountability Plan - This relates to school funding and the new procedures to be followed in California. A community forum will be held on March 3rd to discuss how this impacts the local school district. 2) Tech Update: An analysis of the school district's local area network will be conducted to locate potential bottlenecks and to make sure that the infrastructure is ready to support a robust wireless network. 3) 1-to-1 Devices: Dell will allow the district to borrow a number of devices so students and staff can try them out. 4) AVID - Mr. Olney passed out a brochure to board members and spoke highly of the AVID program, explaining that it increases student readiness for college.

C. AVID Field Trip - An overnight field trip is planned for the end of March. Two adult chaperones will take five juniors and seniors down to San Diego to visit a couple of college campuses and to visit other sites of cultural interest. They will stay the night in a residence owned by one of the staff members down in the San Diego area.

D. Personnel/Business - The employment of a number of people was approved by the board. Also several maintenance positions were reorganized with a neat increase of one job. There was also one resignation. Additionally a bus was placed into surplus and will be sold at a future date.

E. Policies and Procedures - Ten policies and procedures were either discussed and/or approved. These polices related to the following topics: District Goals, Williams Uniform Complaint Procedures, Single Plan for Student Achievement, Local Control and Accountability Plan, Budget, and Student Wellness.

NEXT REGULAR MEETING: Thursday, March 13, 2014
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting: February 13, 2014

Postby wildrose » Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:39 am

A bus for sale? How fun! I wonder if it will be sold to the general public or if it will be offered to other school districts or what. There's probably a procedure for that, I'd imagine. Sounds like a fun field trip down to the San Diego area.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby tronagirl » Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:46 am

Trona girls beat ICS for Hi-Lo hoops championship :talk:
Looks like the girls' basketball team is headed to the playoffs. Anyone know when and where they will play their next game?
With the victory, Trona completed a sweep of ICS while securing a second straight Hi-Lo League championship — last year the Tornadoes and Crusaders shared the title. In addition to Renzelman's game-high 30 points, Trona received key contributions from other players to score a season-high 59 points — guards Ashley Vassar and Sierra Fleishauer controlled the floor while Linsdey made a number of big shots.

LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20140211/SPORTS/140219931
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby blackturtle.us » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:45 pm

Rock in front of High School
Apparently someone painted the rock that sits in front of the high school. On one side it says Paso Robles and on the other side it says PR Bearcats. According to the school's website their mascot is the Bearcat.
PASO ROBLES HS: http://207.62.24.5/prhs/pasohigh/index.htm
According to Google maps it's a 244 mile drive from Paso Robles to Trona (488 mile round trip) and so even in an economy car it would have taken a fair amount of gas to make the trip there and back. Add in the cost of the paint and food stops and the total cost of the prank would be in excess of $100. Anyone know why kids in Paso Robles would be motivated enough to go out of their way to do this? It seems like a lot of bother for a silly prank!!!
:dizzy:
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby CactusHugger » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:00 am

blackturtle.us: Kind of random if you ask me. Why would Paso Robles go to all that trouble? I think it was kids from a different high school that's closer to Trona. Make a list of the dozen closest high schools and I bet it was one of those.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby desertrat » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:29 am

Zero Tolerance Nets Two 11-Year Old Boys Juvenile Criminal Charges For Bringing A Toy Gun To School :smack:
If you expect kids to become more intelligent as a result of attending a school, then shouldn't those running the school be expected to behave in an intelligent manner?
Zero tolerance weapons policies at schools continue to be ridiculous. Between Pop Tarts bitten into gun-like shapes and drawings of guns being treated as severely as the real thing, schools enforcing these policies (forced on them by the government's decision to tie funding to weapons policies) have slid into cartoonish parody of discipline.

LINK: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140220/11331726301/zero-tolerance-nets-two-11-year-old-boys-juvenile-criminal-charges-bringing-toy-gun-to-school.shtml
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby tronagirl » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:38 am

Trona girls b-ball rallies past Lutheran in Div. 6 first round
The girls won their first playoff game against La Verne Lutheran 35-26. They were actually down at the half, but they rallied by to win! :talk:
The Trona girls basketball team had plenty of excuses not to win its postseason opener on Thursday night — but didn't need any of them. The 11th-seeded Tornadoes rallied to beat Lutheran (La Verne) 35-26 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs at THS Gym.

LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20140221/SPORTS/140229873
---------------------------------------
The girls lost their second playoff game against Joshua Springs by a score of 63-33. :cry3:
MAXPREPS: http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/trona-tornadoes-%28trona,ca%29/girls-basketball/home.htm
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Re: Trona Girls Basketball

Postby CoolChick » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:46 am

They made it to the second round of playoffs. That's pretty impressive! Everyone involved should be proud. Great season! It's been a tough year with all the flu and sickness going around.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 13, 2014

Postby blackturtle.us » Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:40 pm

Community Forum - A Community Forum was held this evening (Monday, March 3) in the District Auditorium. It lasted from 6:00 p.m. to a little after 8:00 p.m. There were not a lot of people in attendance, but those present shared lots of good ideas for ways that the school can improve. Superintendent David Olney talked about Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Local Control Accountability Plan, Strategic Planning, District Goals, and Eight State Priorities. Community members were able to ask questions throughout the presentation and were provided with time to work in groups to brainstorm ideas on various topics related to the Eight State Priorities.

1) Common Core State Standards (CCSS) - Mr. Olney explained the basic structure of CCSS. He talked about English/Language Arts Standards, Math Standards, ways that curriculum is being reorganized, changing priorities, and the need for critical thinking skills to be developed across all curricular areas. Regarding high school math instruction he explained how schools are abandoning the traditional pathway which segregates algebra, geometry, and trigonometry into separate classes and switching over to a more integrated approach which has already been approved by the UC system and other institutions of higher learning.

2) Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) - Mr. Olney outlined the old funding formula and provided information on how it differs from the new funding formula. He explained that categorical funds for things such as GATE, Class Size Reduction, EdTech, etc. are being discontinued and that Supplemental and Concentration Funding based on the number of students at a school who are English Language Learners, Low Income, and Foster Youth is replacing them. He also presented the basic timeline for this transition.

3) Strategic Planning / District Goals - Mr. Olney listed several changes which were made at the school in response to suggestions shared at the Community Forum last year. Included in this list were upgrade of internet and technology, AVID, website improvements, after school tutoring, electronic marquee, as well as a few other items. The school strives to encourage high levels of stakeholder engagement and is responsive to input from the community. At some point funding for ROP (career technical education) was discussed. There is some uncertainty about the future of ROP, although funding is secure for this year and next year.

4) Eight State Priorities - The eight priorities were presented in three groups and community members were given time after the presentation of each group to brainstorm and share suggestions for ways the school can improve in each area.

I) Conditions of Learning (qualified staff, curricular materials, facilities) - The main concerns here had to do with cooling rooms during hot weather and availability of hot water so students can wash hands in order to ensure proper sanitation.
II) Pupil Outcomes (Standardized Test Scores, College & Career Readiness, PE, Art) - Community members suggested that home econ classes teaching budgeting and cooking skills would be useful. Also more art and music was another area of concern.
III) Engagement (parent involvement, pupil attendance & graduation rates, school climate) - Discussion here included parenting classes, incentives for students to attend regularly, school safety, etc.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting

Postby wildrose » Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:39 am

Community Forum - When I was in high school we had a solid home economics course. We did lots of cooking and we learned how to run a household and live within a budget. Basic life skills should be taught in schools. Otherwise you wind up with a bunch of people who can't take care of themselves and if they can't take care of themselves and they can't afford to pay someone to take care of them, well then guess who winds up paying for it!
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