High school facility still top priority for board

Fairfield school board members left Monday?s meeting with a homework assignment from Jennifer Anderson, board president: ?Bring ideas to share about how to reach goal No. 1.?

The board formally approved its 2011-2012 goals Monday and the first of the four goals is: Create a plan for addressing high school facility needs before next school year.

The board?s homework is due at its next meeting, the monthly work session, at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Administration/Curriculum/Technology Center. That meeting will begin with a special meeting and public hearing about the district?s continued participation to levy taxes for the Instructional Support Program.

Board members took a 10-minute tour of the high school building Monday, prior to the start of the 3.5-hour meeting, to be more familiar with the facility.

Superintendent Art Satoff reported administrators are continuing to explore alternatives to provide support to students with level 3 behaviors.

?We?re having further conversations about Christamore,? he said. ?We want what?s best for kids. The long transport concerns us.

Fairfield students, grades 6-12 with behavioral or educational issues, travel to Mount Pleasant for a school program at Christamore. Sathoff said Fairfield sends five or six students per year.

?We?re looking at two different models and will visit another site Dec. 1,? said Sathoff. ?I?ll bring you more information in December.?

High school news

Fairfield High School Principal Aaron Becker also talked about student issues.

?I?ve been meeting with a community partnership of agencies about what we?re seeing at school,? said Becker. ?It?s the best meeting I?ve ever been a part of ? we?re all trying to help one another.

?We knew we have some issues with alcohol and drug abuse among students, but we thought it was a smaller problems than it is,? he said. ?I?ve had my eyes opened. This doesn?t differentiate by socio-economic status or gender. We?re trying in various ways to prevent drug and alcohol abuse.

?We?re wanting to set up a parents meeting to get parents aware and involved,? said Becker. ?We?ll take any help we can get.?

On a positive note, Becker commended students involved with the fall play, ?The Diary of Anne Frank,? for good performances in the community, and performing it at the Thespian Festival.

?Performing at the festival is comparable to going to compete at state,? said Becker. ?Our students really enjoyed it.?

Three FHS students won awards at the festival and teacher Scott Slechta won an award for directing.

Board member Jeri Kunkle said the Veterans Day program at FHS was inspiring.

?I was impressed with the students? attentiveness,? she said

Activities director Jeff Courtright said it was a successful ?Meet the Trojans? event held for winter sports. Admission was a donated canned food item; he packed up three boxes of donated cans and took them to the Lord?s Cupboard.

The high school had a 53 percent attendance rate for parent/teacher conferences. Becker said he?d like to see that percent higher.

Middle school report

Fairfield Middle School is working with the Rotary Club, which is providing mentors to students about keeping drug and alcohol free, said Principal Laura Atwood.

?During Red Ribbon Week [in October] we had high school student role models come to talk with our students,? she said. ?We?ve brought in life-choices speakers.

?We are recognizing positive support and behavior,? she said. ?But the best way to help steer kids away from drugs and alcohol and to do well in school is getting each kid connected to school. We are proactively working to support those connections.?

Students feeling a connection to school means finding an activity or interest at school, whether it?s a sport, band, a club or extra-curricular study in a favorite subject.

Sixty-six percent of middle school students were named to the A or B honor rolls in first quarter.

Elementary teachers blog

Parents of elementary students in the district can stay connected to classrooms in nearly real-time now because most teachers have a blog about their classes, said Kelly Schloss, principal at Libertyville and Washington schools.

?It?s almost 100 percent of our teachers and some update weekly,? she said. ?Parents can go online and read the blog and often view pictures, too. It?s a fresher update than our newsletters.?

P.E. teachers have been posting video blogs, said Pence Elementary Principal Chris Welch. ?I?m hoping to see two-way communication from parents to our teachers online. I think this is a good thing.?

Board member Amy Miller commended the elementary staff on rolling out the new, more in-depth report cards.

And board member Kunkle said she was happy to see autism training provided for associates.

?We have some high quality associates,? agreed Welch.

Resolutions approved

The school board approved the following resolutions Monday:

? Class of 2012 graduation date is June 3.

? A start date of school for 2012-2013 prior to Sept. 1. Iowa code requires districts to file for a waiver if they plan to begin fall classes prior to Sept. 1. Fairfield has not set a firm date for next year?s start.

? Seeking bids for two school buses; a 65-passenger and a 72-passenger bus.

? Patty Ingle to serve a regular school bus route driver for the rest of this school year, at the rate of $37.40 per regular route.

? Three substitute bus drivers, Dan Clemmons, Merle Adler and Mark Eklund; contingent on Adler and Eklund completing licensure requirements. Substitute route pay is $36.82 per regular route.

? Hiring Kim Olson as a preschool special education associate, 20 hours per week at Washington.

? Appointments of each building principal as Level 1 investigator of allegations of abuse of students by staff. Each building also has an alternate, and Sathoff is the trained alternate for any district building.

? Three staff requests for unpaid, intermittent Family Medical Leave Act absence.

? Transferring FHS custodian Jack Burnham to a fill second shift custodial position at Pence Elementary, effective Nov. 28.

? School Budget Review Committee application for additional modified allowable growth in the amount of $114,719, for increasing enrollment out; students not on last year?s count; and Limited English Proficiency instruction beyond four years.

All of the board members and Sathoff each reported on workshops attended and take-away messages learned from the Iowa School Board Association?s annual convention in Des Moines earlier in the month.