TJUSD Board Meeting - May 11, 2017
Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 10:59 am
The school board meeting was well-attended last night. There were far more community members present than usual. The meeting lasted almost an hour and a half. Here are some highlights from the meeting:
1) Elementary Presentation - Ms. Yeager and three elementary students gave a Year in Review presentation for the elementary school. Images showing memorable moments were featured depicting events from the 2016-2017 school year.
2) Superintendent's Report - Dr. Tomes talked about staffing needs for next year, the state educational budget, and various summer projects including technology upgrades and renovations for the high school library, the high school science room, and two elementary classrooms.
3) Public Comments:
A) A high school student talked about provisions of the student dress code which she found objectionable. She presented several images demonstrating what she considers to be inconsistencies and unreasonable aspects of the dress code. She even went so far as to assert that the dress code discriminates against girls.
B) Another high school student presented some ideas she had for improving the quad area of the high school. Her suggestions included shade umbrellas, flowers, and a tornado mural on the wall at the east end of the quad. She estimated that these improvements would cost between two and three thousand dollars.
4) Summer Employment - About a dozen students and adults were officially hired for various maintenance and pool-related jobs.
5) High School Discipline Plan - HS Principal Joseph Wolfe talked with the board about some plans he has to help improve student behavior at the high school. Ideas included rewarding good behavior, creation of a student lounge, social isolation for students who refuse to follow school rules, detentions, referrals, suspensions, and several other items. The board asked him to provide them with more information on this issue at the next regular board meeting.
6) Eleventh Grade Math - Mr. Wolfe proposed that all eleventh graders be required to take a math class. Only six out of fourteen eleventh graders took a math class this year. Many of the students who did not take math felt that they did very poorly on the math section of the state test. In order to bring scores up next year the idea is to require all of them to be enrolled in a math class. They will have two options. They will be able to take the normally offered course or a new course which will review concepts from previous years and help students to apply them to real world situations. Plus the new course will conform to requirements for college prep courses and so it will count toward college admissions.
7) Senior Transition Class - Also proposed is a mandatory semester long course for seniors which covers general life skills, college prep, and career prep so that graduates are prepared with basic skills to help them to deal with life after high school.
8) Summer School - Teachers and paraprofessionals were hired for summer school.
9) Overnight sports trip to Carpenteria was approved.
10) CIF contacts representing the school were approved.
11) Approximately 1000 books were approved as surplus. They may now be legally sold, donated to organizations, or given away to individuals.
12) FREE LUNCH - A proposal was made that all students be provided with free lunch. The board requested more information and plans to discuss the issue in more depth at the June board meeting.
13) Curriculum - Seventh and eighth graders will be taking a course next year in which they learn keyboarding skills and participate in activities which help them to think about their future careers and to understand the importance of certain character traits which will prepare them for future success.
NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING: June 8, 2017
1) Elementary Presentation - Ms. Yeager and three elementary students gave a Year in Review presentation for the elementary school. Images showing memorable moments were featured depicting events from the 2016-2017 school year.
2) Superintendent's Report - Dr. Tomes talked about staffing needs for next year, the state educational budget, and various summer projects including technology upgrades and renovations for the high school library, the high school science room, and two elementary classrooms.
3) Public Comments:
A) A high school student talked about provisions of the student dress code which she found objectionable. She presented several images demonstrating what she considers to be inconsistencies and unreasonable aspects of the dress code. She even went so far as to assert that the dress code discriminates against girls.
B) Another high school student presented some ideas she had for improving the quad area of the high school. Her suggestions included shade umbrellas, flowers, and a tornado mural on the wall at the east end of the quad. She estimated that these improvements would cost between two and three thousand dollars.
4) Summer Employment - About a dozen students and adults were officially hired for various maintenance and pool-related jobs.
5) High School Discipline Plan - HS Principal Joseph Wolfe talked with the board about some plans he has to help improve student behavior at the high school. Ideas included rewarding good behavior, creation of a student lounge, social isolation for students who refuse to follow school rules, detentions, referrals, suspensions, and several other items. The board asked him to provide them with more information on this issue at the next regular board meeting.
6) Eleventh Grade Math - Mr. Wolfe proposed that all eleventh graders be required to take a math class. Only six out of fourteen eleventh graders took a math class this year. Many of the students who did not take math felt that they did very poorly on the math section of the state test. In order to bring scores up next year the idea is to require all of them to be enrolled in a math class. They will have two options. They will be able to take the normally offered course or a new course which will review concepts from previous years and help students to apply them to real world situations. Plus the new course will conform to requirements for college prep courses and so it will count toward college admissions.
7) Senior Transition Class - Also proposed is a mandatory semester long course for seniors which covers general life skills, college prep, and career prep so that graduates are prepared with basic skills to help them to deal with life after high school.
8) Summer School - Teachers and paraprofessionals were hired for summer school.
9) Overnight sports trip to Carpenteria was approved.
10) CIF contacts representing the school were approved.
11) Approximately 1000 books were approved as surplus. They may now be legally sold, donated to organizations, or given away to individuals.
12) FREE LUNCH - A proposal was made that all students be provided with free lunch. The board requested more information and plans to discuss the issue in more depth at the June board meeting.
13) Curriculum - Seventh and eighth graders will be taking a course next year in which they learn keyboarding skills and participate in activities which help them to think about their future careers and to understand the importance of certain character traits which will prepare them for future success.
NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING: June 8, 2017