spmeeting Jan 27 2011 - Wilder School District #133

WILDER SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 133
MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING HELD
January 27, 2011
“APPROVED”
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
(
PATRICIA CLAGG, CHAIRPERSON
SONNY SARCEDA, VICE-CHAIR
JEB BECHTEL
District Clerk Susan Lincoln and consultant Sally Anderson were present throughout the
meeting.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Clagg called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
WORKSHOP
Sally Anderson spoke to the Board about her background and experiences that she is bringing
with her to the Strategic Planning Process. She has gone through this process with many school
districts of all sizes and has also worked with many other businesses.
She told the Board that they are the link between the District and the community and it is
important to find out what their community members want. She feels the best part of the
Strategic Planning Process is the thinking that is involved as you have your discussions.
Jeb Bechtel feels that the Board must listen to community members. He feels that miscommunication
is the biggest problem within the District. He would like to see the District reach
out to the students who are not going to college.
Sally Anderson asked the question, “Will our students be ready for college or careers in the 21 st
century?” She said that studies have shown that regardless of whether the student goes to college
or goes out into the workforce, many of the same skills will be required of the student.
She indicated that the new National Cores Standards curriculum in math and language arts will
be in use in the next 2 years. These will be more rigorous that what the students are facing now.
She feels it is important to teach the students regardless of what they choose to do. They should
have as much knowledge as possible to make those choices later. It is important that the District
prepare the students for the new standards and tests.
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Due to the issues facing Wilder, this is a high risk community. Ms. Anderson feels that every
effort must be made to avoid having students drop out. Academic achievement is very important
as the students must be ready for anything.
Sonny Sarceda asked what can be done to help the students who leave and come back at different
times throughout the year. How can you see that they don’t fall behind? He believes that
currently those students are leaving to attend the COSSA Academy for credit recovery. Is there
any way they could do that in our school? What can be done to retain the student in the District?
Patricia Clagg feels that some of the students leave because of problems with the administration
and the communication problems.
Ms. Anderson recommends that it become a part of the District’s policies that an annual review
is done of the Strategic Plan. By doing, this, it will outlast the current Board and progress will
continue on the changing issues within the District. It is important that everyone be involved in
the process. The community, students, staff and administration should all have input into the
process.
She recommends that the District narrow their focus and deal with a few items instead of having
a vague plan as it stands now. A couple of the concerns are (1) mobility. Students coming and
going during the year, causing them to get behind and (2) student achievement. The District
needs to develop a system that allows us to know what the individual student is needing and be
able to customize plans for the students based on that information.
Ms. Anderson stressed that the plans must align within the District. When a student leaves the
elementary and goes into the middle school, the transition should be seamless. The schools
should work together as part of one District.
Jeb Bechtel feels that the homework given should be age appropriate. A seventh grader should
not be given the same amount of homework as a senior in high school.
Ms. Anderson suggested that the Board request to look at the performance of the students
annually at the very least. It is important to know where the District is and what changes should
be made. Perhaps there are subjects that most students are struggling with. These may be the
areas where more funding is needed. She would like to see the administration report to the board
regularly on these issues.
Ms. Anderson then went over the ideas the Board had discussed from an earlier Strategic
Planning Session. She asked the questions,
1. Where are we going in the long run?
2. Where is our District now?
3. How well is our school District performing in the following areas?
Student Achievement
Student Preparedness
Financial Capacity
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Personnel Capacity
It is important to ask the hard questions in order to make changes. There should be no fear of
repercussions.
Jeb Bechtel believes that every student graduates on their own achievements but it is up to the
School District to motivate them.
Ms. Anderson said that there is a trend for more personalization for students and their learning
abilities. This can be difficult for the teachers to do individually.
Jeb Bechtel reiterated that it is important to use words and ideas at a level that will be easy for
everyone to understand when discussing the Strategic Planning.
Patricia Clagg feels it is important that we be better at speaking our thoughts and in our
communication with each other.
Ms. Anderson said that after the Board and Administration input, it is necessary to look at what
the other is saying and listen to each other’s ideas.
Jeb Bechtel doesn’t see very much involvement with staff members after hours. He said it
makes it difficult for a community to know and to support the staff if they never see them.
Patricia Clagg feels that the negative perceptions are coming from adults more than from the
children. She would be curious to hear what more children think.
Ms. Anderson suggested doing a survey. This could be handled a number of ways. They could
create a website with a survey on it. They could also do a newsletter or a handout with a survey.
The surveys would be collected by Ms. Anderson or go directly to another address besides the
District Office. The survey may bring to light issues that the District and the Board are currently
unaware of.
Ms. Anderson asked the Board to contact the missing Board members and update them on this
meeting and to get ideas from them.
Ms. Anderson asked “What strategic assets does Wilder School District currently have?”
Some of the answers were, The Academic Decathlon; the improved retention rate; better student
to teacher ratio due to the District size, and a staff that is very concentrated on learning new and
better skills in order to help their students.
Ms. Anderson asked, “What needs to change in order to excel in these areas?”
It was determined that we must learn to motivate students. Jeb Bechtel feels that we need more
electives such as band. By having more electives, he feels the students will want to stay, and in
turn, will improve the funding for the District. Sonny Sarceda has heard of students leaving the
District to play sports not offered here at other schools.
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Jeb Bechtel said that it is important that when we receive feedback from the community that we
really listen to what is being said.
Ms. Anderson then asked, “What do we need in terms of staff, skills and capacities?”
Sonny Sarceda suggested that the middle/high school has many good teachers, but that some
may take a hard line approach to students.
They’d like to see the K-6 staff members touch on all subjects so the students are ready when
they reach middle school.
Ms. Anderson asked, “Are there trends on the horizon for which we should prepare?” She
suggested that the District define what the students need to know and if they are getting it. If
they are not getting it, what do we do?
It was suggested that the staff be allowed to speak to Ms. Anderson privately (either in person or
through an internal survey} so there will be no fear of repercussions.
Sonny Sarceda feels that the District is doing a lot of things right. He pointed out the group of
past graduates who came forward at a Board Meeting and talked about their positive experiences
at Wilder School District.
Ms. Anderson asked for any suggestions or concerns that need to be addressed. She asked the
Board what would make you a better Board?
Patricia Clagg said she would like to see the Board members get together two at a time for
discussions outside of the regular meetings. She feels that smaller groups make it easier to talk
about the issues. Ms. Anderson again reminded the Board to have a discussion with the two
missing Board members.
ADJOURNMENT
Chairperson Patricia Clagg adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Lincoln
District Clerk
AJOURNMENT
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Chairperson Patricia Clagg adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Lincoln
District Clerk
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