The first District
Accountability Committee (DAC) Meeting was held on Tuesday 9/4. We are in
DESPERATE need for more parent involvement on this committee. This is the
committee that can make the most impact in the district as it involves all the
schools and has the ear of the school board too. The charter of the
accountability committees is to measure the adequacy & efficiency of the
educational program. We also handle issues that arise building or
district wide. Building Accountability Committees (BACs) feed building
level information to the DAC. Please consider joining us at our next
meeting on Oct 1st at the school district offices (next to the Middle School)
from 5:15 - 6:45.
Key items from this month's
DAC were:
- 3-5 Parent
Drop off loop graveling (1-1/2"
gravel, 4" deep) is only a few days from final approval and will be
completed prior to winter weather. Cones are placed daily to delineate
the drop off area and a duty teacher assists with crossing the bus lane.
- School Lunch times have been extended, two serving lines are being
run and lunches are mixed grades. This is improving the issues at lunch.
More tables have been ordered (in addition to the ones already received) to
accommodate the larger Kindergarten class this year.
- DAC priorities
on School Budget:
o
Keep class
sizes in line with district guidelines
- K-2 is running average of 21.5 students/class (K-20.3, 1st-21.6,
2nd-22.4). Added one Kindergarten teacher to handle additional class
size. 3-5 is running an average of 22.6 (3rd-22.4, 4th-22.7, 5th-22.1).
Requested additional data on OMS/AHS class sizes.
o
Don’t cut
specials - more elective offerings at
OMS/AHS than previously.
o
Make
technology updates at OMS/AHS a priority
- new computer lab being added to AHS. Funds from sale of Open High will
go directly to OMS/AHS technology needs.
- Parents Needs
Assessment - the Unified District
Leadership Team reviewed the Parent Survey sent to all parents in May of this
year. Three items were added to the district improvement plan as a result
of this survey:
o
Welcoming
Environment - the district will
create a welcoming environment for all parents
o
Restructuring
of Parent Teacher conferences - to
include pre-scheduling appointments
o
Additional
training/information on Power School
Each
School Building Accountability committee will use their building's data to
create actions on those 3 items as well any individual school items based on
the survey. Copies of the survey results will be available to the DAC
& BACs by the end of the month.
