TJUSD Board Meeting - April 12, 2018
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:45 am
This meeting lasted about one and a half hours. There was a fair number of people present at the beginning of the meeting, but very few people stayed all the way to the end of the meeting.
MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:
1) A student representative updated the board on various high school activities. Board members shared a few items including info about an upcoming "Cornhole Tournament", a bike rodeo, and a senior center 55-inch TV raffle.
2) TTA Report - A teacher shared with the board regarding a recent Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference she attended (and which the district paid for). She had a visual presentation prepared and provided info about lots of educational technology gadgets and software for use in the classroom including robotics, 3D printing, coding activities, and virtual reality simulations. Some of the items were quite expensive, but many were completely affordable.
3) Superintendent Report - The superintendent reported to the board about upcoming interviews for new teachers, new lighting being installed throughout the district, increasing campus security, a threat assessment to be conducted by county sheriffs, an active shooter presentation, and a building structure report. As most people know, the high school is very old and there are concerns about the stability of the buildings. For instance, the gymnasium floor slants and one end appears to be slowly sinking due to its proximity to the dry (on the surface) lake. [EXTRA INFO: The local chemical plant pumps fluid in and out of the dry lake and this activity seems to have resulted in damage to the foundations of many buildings at the high school.]
4) Charter School Report - A representative from California STEAM San Bernardino gave a report to the board. CA STEAM is a charter school sponsored by TJUSD. The representative talked about the types of students served by his organization, enrollment growth over the last couple years, a bit about his teaching staff, and about payments being made to TJUSD as part of the sponsorship deal. He also talked about expansions planned for the future and a petition to get TJUSD to sponsor these expansions. The superintendent responded by explaining to the board that the petition will be thoroughly vetted and that they will have a chance to decide on whether or not to sponsor the expansions at a future meeting.
5) High School Principal - Announced to the board a successful WASC three-year one-day revisit recently completed. This means that for the next three years the high school is officially accredited. The longest term given is a six year term with a one-day revisit at the halfway point. That revisit was recently completed. The high school principal also talked about the need to bring up math scores at the high school and proposed increasing the requirement of two years of math courses to three years as a solution to the problem.
6) Several items approved including employment of lifeguards, substitute teacher, senior trip itinerary, etc. One item pertaining to financial matters was tabled until next month.
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: May 10
MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:
1) A student representative updated the board on various high school activities. Board members shared a few items including info about an upcoming "Cornhole Tournament", a bike rodeo, and a senior center 55-inch TV raffle.
2) TTA Report - A teacher shared with the board regarding a recent Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference she attended (and which the district paid for). She had a visual presentation prepared and provided info about lots of educational technology gadgets and software for use in the classroom including robotics, 3D printing, coding activities, and virtual reality simulations. Some of the items were quite expensive, but many were completely affordable.
3) Superintendent Report - The superintendent reported to the board about upcoming interviews for new teachers, new lighting being installed throughout the district, increasing campus security, a threat assessment to be conducted by county sheriffs, an active shooter presentation, and a building structure report. As most people know, the high school is very old and there are concerns about the stability of the buildings. For instance, the gymnasium floor slants and one end appears to be slowly sinking due to its proximity to the dry (on the surface) lake. [EXTRA INFO: The local chemical plant pumps fluid in and out of the dry lake and this activity seems to have resulted in damage to the foundations of many buildings at the high school.]
4) Charter School Report - A representative from California STEAM San Bernardino gave a report to the board. CA STEAM is a charter school sponsored by TJUSD. The representative talked about the types of students served by his organization, enrollment growth over the last couple years, a bit about his teaching staff, and about payments being made to TJUSD as part of the sponsorship deal. He also talked about expansions planned for the future and a petition to get TJUSD to sponsor these expansions. The superintendent responded by explaining to the board that the petition will be thoroughly vetted and that they will have a chance to decide on whether or not to sponsor the expansions at a future meeting.
5) High School Principal - Announced to the board a successful WASC three-year one-day revisit recently completed. This means that for the next three years the high school is officially accredited. The longest term given is a six year term with a one-day revisit at the halfway point. That revisit was recently completed. The high school principal also talked about the need to bring up math scores at the high school and proposed increasing the requirement of two years of math courses to three years as a solution to the problem.
6) Several items approved including employment of lifeguards, substitute teacher, senior trip itinerary, etc. One item pertaining to financial matters was tabled until next month.
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: May 10