Present: Members: Randy Yamabe, Lydia Woerner, Karen Heinecke, Sherry Nakai, Norma Matsumoto, Shawn Suzuki, Debbie Hedemann, Karen Harrison, Margaret Masunaga (arrived at approximate 5:00 PM). Non Member: Isabel Vinson
Meeting was called to order at 4:03 PM by Lydia Woerner.
Minutes from the 11/29/06 were reviewed. Discussion of necessary corrections regarding (1) Randy’s letter read at the 11/29/06 meeting, and (2) Faculty Attendance policy survey
from Lydia Woerner.
It was agreed that Randy’s letter would be added as an attachment to these minutes. It was further agreed that the attendance policy survey results would also be made a part of these minutes. Both items are attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Motion to approve minutes with the above corrections was made a seconded. Minutes accepted with corrections.
(Lydia) Handout distributed: “Konawaena H.S. School Community Council’s Ground Rules.” Review of KHS SCC Ground Rules, Items 1 - 7. Add time limit of 3 minutes.
Brief Council discussion on Rules: some general thoughts/ideas - make sure the in-coming Council be informed of rules, post sign-in sheet for guests at the beginning of the meeting, perhaps review rules at every meeting, compare ground rules to the By-Laws, rules have been compared and item #7 is not a part of the By-Laws.
Motion: Accept Ground Rules and amend By-Laws to reflect the additional of item #7.
Motion seconded and accepted.
Update on Community Colleges & Life Skills Program (Norma):
Handout distributed. “Report to SCC meeting on the topic of Community College Partnership and LifeSkills Program.” Brief discussion on Community College Partnership: HCC would provide materials and instructor’s salary. We have the classroom. Substitute teacher, Mr. Aramori, is interested in the program. We’re in the beginning stages - need to review the curriculum.
General discussion by Council: Would be a win-win situation, as HCC’s eagerness to help and work with us would ease the burden on KHS. With regards to the CAD program, need to make sure the math is in place. Mr. Christopher has been approached and is willing to help.
Norma - Life Skills meeting tomorrow (12/12/06). She is attending and would like to discuss the outcome of that meeting at our next SCC meeting.
Update on AFP (Academic & Financial Plan): (Shawn)
Handouts were passed out in the following order:
1st - Financial
Plan Template 2007-08 Summary – Draft 12/11/2006
Brief summary of all the funds KHS receives including
Federal.
2nd - Financial Plan Template 2007-08
Standards Based Education – Draft 12/11/06
3rd – Financial Plan Template 2007-08
Quality Student Support – Draft 12/11/2006
4th – Financial Plan Template 2007-08
School Operations – Draft 12/11/2006
Shawn reviewed all of the above handouts with Council members i.e.: Description items, and monies under Standards Based Education (teachers, supplies, equipment), Quality Student Support (student activities, athletic programs, counselors, GRADS, etc.), and School Operations (principal, v.p., registrar, classified, custodians etc). Bottom line: With projected enrollment of 775, the difference between the WSF Total and the WSF Input Total is <$30,776>
Handout:
Shawn reviewed Strategic Actions, Measures and Annual Benchmarks (given to us by State), Enabling Activities, Under Outcomes (a. is the activity, b. is the expectation). Review of pages 1-4.
General Council discussion including how to focus on the 9th graders, ESL, and those students coming in from 8th grade needing remedial instruction to “bump them up” thereby helping to meet standards.
Ideas: labs with more pictorials, reduce 1 pre-algebra class and add a lab, specific enabling activity for ESL, offer remedial class as an elective, institute pre-testing, discussion of Nova Net and math skill recovery program. Discussion of infrastructure, redistributing our class sizes, elective teachers helping with math ramp up classes, academics won’t improve until instruction improves – more accountability. Discussion on accountability. Schedule arranged teacher meetings and collaboration time, rotate teachers in a classroom visitation program, teachers visiting teachers (learning and possible improvement in teaching). Norma will bring up a summary of this discussion with the Dept. Heads.
Goal 2.
Provide comprehensive support for all students
Shawn reviewed all sections of the Plan (pages 5-7). Discussion of measures and annual benchmarks - 100% of all 9th graders have a 4-year plan, work with ECOS program through the classrooms. Discussion of Peer Ed improving student issues on campus, anti-drug curriculum, look at behavior data to see if it works (Shawn will bring data for Council info).
General Council discussion including transition of 8th graders to high school, parent campus visits and/or tours, special visitation for incoming parents (9th grade) utilization of the PTSA.
Shawn reviewed all sections of the Plan (pages 8 & 9).
Since we do not have a PCNC, discussion of possible monthly parent meetings to feature a Dept. a month, teacher mentor program, program (Harvard) with Konawaena Complex to build a shared vision within the Complex. Shawn wants a supportive plan that addresses student needs, teacher needs, and parent needs.
General Council discussion: New teacher support is critical, continue teacher mentor program, institute handbook for staff – “Konawaena 101,” have monthly parent meetings, have student’s work available, do parent survey at monthly meetings and then utilize parent’s talents, student input during class through Mr. Furuto.
Shawn – Plan is revisable, however, need to be submitted to Mr. Souza soon. Need brief SCC meeting prior to the Winter Break.
Members agreed to meet Monday, Dec. 18, 2006, at 7:15 AM in S103 for further review of the AFP.
Jan. SCC Meeting – Monday, January 22, 2007 4:00 PM
Norma – quick
discussion of ipod & cell phone policy. Will bring up reminder of policy to bulletin and at faculty
meetings.
Proposed Agenda items:
Dec. 18, 2006
q Review of AFP (Shawn)
q Recognition of Waiver Day (Shawn)
Proposed Agenda items:
Jan. 22, 2007
q Update on Attendance Policy (Lydia)
q Update on iPod and Cell Phone Policy feedback (Norma)
q
Update on Community
College Program (Norma)
q Update on Technology (Debbie)
q Approve Amended By-Laws (Item #7 of Ground Rules) (Lydia)
Letter written and read by
Randy Yamabe to the SCC at the
November 29, 2006 meeting regarding his concerns/opinions on the attendance
policy issue.
“At our last meeting, we were presented with a lot of information concerning the Attendance Policy. I have taken the time to think about each point brought up at our last meeting and quite frankly, I am somewhat amazed at what I found the points to really mean. I wrote it all down so that I would not miss any of them for they are all important to consider, in order for a fair decision to be made.
I would like to first start
off where we left off last, and that is with Mr. Daugherty’s
presentation.
Mr. Daugherty presented some
numbers to the Committee showing the effect of an attendance policy on
attendance. If I remember correctly, he noted that there was a 6% improvement
with a policy in contrast to not having a policy, and that this percentage was
insignificant. I am not fooled by this deduction on Mr. Daugherty’s part,
and if he were not a mathematics teacher, I could forgive the oversight. But
being a mathematics teacher, he should know full well that his numbers are
misleading, and I would guess so, in order to support his position in
preventing this policy from becoming a reality. Please let me explain.
If we have a 100% absenteeism
or unexcused absences rate, and we reduce it by 6%, the number is in fact,
insignificant. But, if we are experiencing an 18% absenteeism or unexcused
absence rate, and we reduce the overall absenteeism by 6%, we now have a 12%
absenteeism rate. Reducing absenteeism from 18% to 12% is in reality, a 33%
reduction in absenteeism, and that is quite significant. In other words, where
we had 18 out of a hundred students absent, we would only now have 12, thereby
reducing the number of absences by one-third. So really, on the basis of an 18%
absenteeism rate, having a policy has reflected a 33% reduction in absences. I
would think that you would agree that having a policy with this kind of effect
is, in fact, significantly positive.
There was also the story
shared, as an example of how the policy could have negative effects, of the
student who was habitually tardy to class because surfing a few extra morning
waves was more important to him than being punctual. The opinion of this
teacher was that this student should not be given an “F” grade
because he was doing work that earned him Valedictorian status.
I posed the question,
“Do you think he would make sure that he was in class on time if he knew
that to be consistently late would get him a flunking grade?” This was
obviously a bright student and I think that you would agree that he would have
been bright enough to figure out that surfing a couple of extra waves were not
worth jeopardizing his grades.
But there is even more to
this scenario that is not seen by merely perceiving it on its surface.
The message being given out
by a teacher who allows this kind of behavior is this: if you are a bright
student, attendance or promptness to class is optional. There will be no
consequence in your case, and in fact, you will be rewarded. Those who are not
so fortunate and have to work to get good grades, really do not have this
option because skipping class could mean missing out on information that they
need in order to succeed. Of course, if a student is content with an average
grade, he could also exercise that privilege of skipping class or habitually
being tardy.
I would be very careful about
continuing to have such a relaxed attitude of this sort towards attendance.
Permitting this kind of activity could almost be called “intellectual
discrimination”. That is the bright students get the favored treatment.
There is no getting around the fact that allowing and condoning tardiness and
class cutting is not right. Whatever happened to the indiscriminate rule of
requiring all students to be in class at the times scheduled? This is the basic
point that seems to be invisible to those that are against this policy.
Our guest speaker also took
pride in sharing the information that his children’s absences could be
counted on one hand. And, although he did not say, knowing the
Daugherty’s, I would venture to say that they are also getting good
grades. But I wonder how he would feel if he found out somehow other than
through the school, that his children were acquiring these good grades while at
the same time cutting classes. Would he say that cutting class was acceptable
behavior as long as they were making the grades? And what about not being
notified of the habitual cutting; would he not require some accountability from
the teacher involved?
The fact that class cutting
and/or tardiness is being condoned by this teacher or any other, as long as a
student is making his grades, seems to indicate that attendance is not that
important to them. If the administration agrees with this kind of mind-set, I
would expect that nothing would be done about it. But if this administration
has some concerns with this kind of attitude, I would suggest that this
administration is obligated to do something about it, if in fact they really do
consider this a problem and care to solve it.
Lastly, in respect to our
guest speaker, a threat of a grievance was also revealed. Just because someone
threats to grieve does not mean that they have ground to stand on, or that it
puts an end to this Policy moving forward. I have been told by a union
representative that a policy of this kind may or may not violate the HSTA
contract, specifically referring to the section stating that a teacher cannot
be made to change a grade. If the policy was in place, the grade would stand
before the teacher would give his quarterly grade. If it was in place and a
teacher decided not to follow it, the teacher would be insubordinate. But if
the teacher decided to be insubordinate, and was then made to change the grade
to an “F” because of the policy, there then might be a contract
violation.
So in order for there to be
no confusion or room for grievance, an exemption can be acquired from this
section, and there are the mechanics for the SCC to follow in order to secure
it.
Now I would like to address
the points brought up by our Temporarily Assigned Vice Principal through our SCC Chairwoman.
It was shared that the
opinion of the Vice Principal was that our Policy is a punitive one, which is
entirely negative, and suggests we move in the direction of rewarding good or
perfect attendance instead.
I am not against recognizing,
somehow, perfect attendance, for it is always good to recognize perfection.
But, I am very leery of rewarding students for something that really is
considered expected behavior.
I agree with the Vice
Principal that the Policy is punitive but I would suggest that her perception
of it being negative is in error. If there is no negative consequence for a
negative action, how would anyone know that what they did was wrong? If wrong
goes unpunished, how is someone to know right from wrong? If a student learns
that cutting class and being tardy to class is wrong, because there was some
negative consequence for that action, they will at the same time learn that it
is right to be in class and on time. If a student learns right from wrong, and
as a result decides to act on the right, is this not a positive thing? I think
we would all agree that it is. And this is simply all that this policy is conveying.
The purpose of this policy after all is not for the goal of looking to flunk
students, it is to get students who realize they risk a flunking grade, to do
the right thing; and that is to attend class. It is to get those students who
are cutting class, because they can without consequence, back into the
classroom.
There was also the argument
that our Administrator is too busy already to attend to teachers’
requests for an exemption to the “F” grade, as provided by the
policy. Now this excuse of our Administration being too busy to do the work it
is tasked to do comes up frequently. How is it that our administration is too
busy to attend to any teacher’s request for anything, and more so when it
involves giving a student what that teacher with good reason feels they
deserve? I cannot even comprehend this notion. Having a Principal and two
Vice-Principals with an enrollment of roughly 800, we certainly are not
understaffed in our Administration department.
There was what I consider a
very disturbing comment made also that in the past, the Administration grants
every request for exemptions pertaining to assorted protests from different
individuals anyway. I have heard this same sentiment from different teachers as
well, and it is construed as a lack of support from this Administration, for it
leaves the teacher feeling foolish and unimportant. If this is the case, why have any policy at all of any kind?
In fact, in this case, if attendance is not such a big concern, why even have
an Attendance Roster? I would ask this committee to demand accountability in
our High School. Any Policy or Rule is only as good as its enforcement. If we
are going to move forward without any backbone to support Policies that we work
so hard to create or are already in effect, then we are surely wasting our time
and effort.
There is one last part of our
meeting that I would like to address. Please bear with me. I will not take too
much more of your time.
Now I was very disturbed by
what was revealed at our last meeting because it seems we not only have some
teacher attitude problems, but we have administrative problems as well. One of
our Teacher reps along with our guest speaker had some excuses for not turning
in attendance.
1) They get interrupted by a
student and so they forget to turn it in later.
2) The computer sometimes is
in “down” status.
3) We do not have a way to
specifically pull up specific attendance data
anyway.
I am a Substitute Teacher and
have had the opportunity to use the electronic attendance reporting system.
This is such an easy task, and takes only a minimal amount of time. When I
substitute, not being familiar with all of the students in my classes, I take
role using the Attendance Rosters. It takes me no more than two minutes. If I
am not allowed to use the electronic reporting, I hand in these Attendance
Rosters to the VP’s office on my way to the Administration Office, which
takes me out of my way for another minute or so. To make sure I have an
accurate attendance and report it does not take much effort. And, I do it
because I take attendance seriously. Why? Education starts with having students
in class to educate.
I do not understand why, we
as a committee seem to be so busy with finding excuses for not taking action
with this Attendance Policy, which already has been reviewed, revised,
analyzed, and at this point, seemingly paralyzed. . Let us not confuse excuses
with justifications, for they are not one and the same. There has been a lot of
time and effort already invested in this policy not only by this Committee, but
the Committee before us. It was decided by them, as well as by us, that an
Attendance Policy was necessary. We should be looking for the good in it and
the mechanics needed for it to succeed rather than excuses why it is not good,
so that it will fail. Both Committees have decided we need an Attendance
Policy. Let us turn our attention into how we can make it happen, so that we
can be successful into seeing it through.
In closing, I want to say that
it is a good and positive thing, and an easy and right thing to do, and very
possible to do, if we want it, to get the clear message to teachers, students,
and parents, with support from the Administration, that at Konawaena High
School, you are required to attend classes when you are scheduled to attend. We
all know the positive implications a message of this sort will have on students
for the present as well as the future. But as a C0ommittee, consisting of
representation for all concerned facets involved, we must be willing to do what
is required to implement it and enforce it, and then we can watch our unexcused
absences drop as students become used to the idea that it is right to be in
class when they are scheduled to be there.”