Summary of February 8, 2012 meeting

LPS Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council:  Summary of 2/8/12 meeting

The third meeting of the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council – called together by Superintendent Steve Joel – was held at Lincoln High School on Wednesday, Feb. 8.  Here is a summary of the highlights. 

Superintendent Update

Redevelopment and rebuild of LPS District Offices
LPS Superintendent Steve Joel gave a general update on redeveloping the 5901 O street site with a new LPS District Office building and additional stores and shops. He said the size of the new LPSDO structure will be driven by LPS needs, but also the final insurance negotiations and settlement.

Strategic Planning: Instructional Goals
Joel said work continues on all four goals included in the new LPS Strategic Plan, but focused on the instructional goal of increasing the on-time high school graduation rate by three percentage points by 2016.  He said instructional leaders are exploring a broad variety of concepts including an alternative school for middle school students, some kind of high school vocational technical school, and more.

Joel said the graduation rate for the class of 2011 had increased by 2 percent, and listed at least three possible factors:

• “Your great work, the great job you do in classroom teaching.”
• Community Learning Centers
• TeamMates and mentors

He noted that the school district will need to work toward finding a solution that identifies future funding for two of these programs: CLCs and TeamMates.

To find out more about the LPS Strategic Plan and action steps that go with each objective, please go to: http://www.lps.org/about/superintendent/stratplan.html

Budget/Finance/Legislation
Joel advised the group to pay attention to the current Nebraska Legislative session and an attempt by a coalition of school districts – including LPS – to change the funding formula for state aid to education.

“If we don’t see some changes in the formula, this school district will have to make some tough decisions in the coming school year,” Joel said.

A hearing is scheduled on LB947 in the Education Committee this Monday, Feb. 13.  Stay tuned.

Student Enrollment and Growth
LPS predicts about 285 more students next year, not as much of an increase compared to recent years due to a change in state law governing when children begin kindergarten in public schools. Starting in 2012-13, students may enter kindergarten if they turn five years of age on or before July 31, a date that was previously Oct. 15 – which means fewer kids next year.

However, Joel said, for 2013-14 the school district expects to return to annual increases of 650 to 800 additional students.  The new Kloefkorn Elementary School will open in the fall of 2012, but Joel said the school district will likely need to look at funding additional facilities in coming years.

Q&As

Q: Do we aggressively pursue students when they drop out of high school?

Joel answer:  “We do.  We have outreach workers who check on students, make house visits and literally get them up and out of bed.  But I don’t think we do enough…Once a student drops out of school it becomes difficult to reconnect with them; it is very expensive to bring these students back to graduate.”

But he stressed that easing dropout numbers is not just about getting alarm clocks for kids. “This is about a much bigger question. When you look at kids who drop out of school, they are often the same kids who were truant in kindergarten.  This is about breaking the cycle long-term.”

He pointed to long-term solutions that will have to include opportunities such as increased access to early childhood education.

Joel also cited the new state truancy law and said – though controversial – it is helping increase attendance numbers.

Q: Why do we calculate our official high school graduation rate by using only students who graduate in four years?

Joel answer:  “Because that’s the metric the federal government uses…Some people say we should ‘Just say no’ to those kinds of guidelines, but much of our federal funding is tied to following their methodology.”

He did note that if our school district calculated the graduation rate and included students who graduate in five and six years, our numbers would be significantly higher.

Q: What is the school district plan to improve technology?

Joel answer:  “We think about this all the time; I think about this all the time. I share your pain.”

Joel said the school district’s technology budget was cut in half for this school year as one of many funding measures taken to protect classroom staff and resources.

He noted two current initiatives:

• LPS is one of 25 school districts from across the country participating in a collaboration called the “League of Innovative Schools,” a group that is exploring new educational concepts in technology as well as possible ways to pursue funding with public and private dollars.
• A strategic planning committee of LPS educators and community representatives will begin meeting this month to develop a long-term plan for instructional and operational technology for the school district.

“Our goal is that when we come out of this financial abyss – we have a thoughtful technology plan.”

Q:  Have we cut staffing points for schools?

Joel answer:  “We have not changed the total number of staffing points in the school district, however, we have more kids. Enrollment is growing and we are not adding staff, so it probably feels like a cut. …We’re asking principals to do really difficult work.”

Q: I think schools might feel better if they knew the schools weren’t the only ones making cuts.

Joel answer:  “We are also cutting in District Offices…We are asking every department at LPSDO to justify replacing any job. We’re combining when we can…We’re in a tough time right now, and it’s a tough time for everyone.”

Q: We’re seeing so many more students with severe behavior and emotional issues in our classrooms.  It’s becoming a huge issue for us, and it feels like it’s getting swept under the rug.

Joel answer:  “It is not getting swept under the rug.  We recognize that this is a growing problem – it is exploding across the country. We worry about the violence.”

Joel said the school district uses special education dollars to deal with many students with these issues, and LPS also has a number of excellent programs that address the problem.

“But I am afraid I have no complete answer for you.  I will tell you that we’re talking about – and we will continue to talk about it, looking for solutions.”

Future Teacher Council meetings:

• March 28
• May 9

Updated February 9, 2012