Riverview
High School
School Advisory Council
Meeting
February 4, 2003
Present: Pat Bliss,
Chuck Evans, Judi Ex, Abby Gerrity, Christine Glass, Sue Hlohinec, Clay
Kearney, Judy Lyon, Jason Mocherman, Becky Moyer, Linda Nook, Janice Piedra,
Sam Sharff, Fred Spence, Katrina Ward, and Russell White
Absent: Ned Ashton
(excused), Tracy Brady, Demetrus Dawkins (excused) Paul Gallagher, Mary Gorman,
Lisa Hlohinec (excused), Simon Kirby (excused), Shannon Lyons, Coral Pleas,
Charmaine Pontlitz, April Roberson, Dusty Twining, Peggy Wiggins (excused), and
Laticia Williams (excused)
Guests: John Gorman
Mr. Chuck Evans called the meeting to order at 2:06
p.m.
Review of
Regular Meeting of January 14, 2003 Minutes
Members were asked to review the Minutes of the
January 14, 2003 Meeting. There was a
consensus to accept the minutes as presented.
Request for Lottery Dollars:
Mr. Spence made a request on behalf of Evie Eddins
for $170 to be allocated for the purpose of “cloning” Leo Lachambre in the
Renaissance Learning Center. There is a need for another computer lab to use
the FCAT Explorer program for students who need additional assistance in
passing the FCAT. Since Leo cannot run
both labs simultaneously, the need to have another person trained now exists.
These dollars would be spent for that purpose.
After discussion, the committee approved the
request. As an aside, Mr. Russell White
made the suggestion for RHS to consider consulting an outside tech support team
for future technology needs.
Mr. Evans removed from the table the discussion of
the need to revise the current requirements for the Renaissance Program. The
following topics that were recommended by the Curriculum Coordinators were
brought up for adoption to include for next year’s Renaissance program.
1.
Students serving Administrative ISR/OSS
The recommendation from the CCs was that any
student who served administrative ISR or OSS would not be eligible for
Renaissance recognition during that particular quarter.
Motion was presented and failed. (Many felt that inconsistencies in assigning
ISR would lead to problems. In addition, it was also indicated that students
were being doubly punished for something that may have been a small offense in
the first place.)
A second recommendation was to limit the number of
administrative ISR to one per quarter.
Motion was presented and failed.
A third recommendation was to eliminate the wording
for any type of ISR and only include OSS as a factor in determining Renaissance
eligibility. The motion was presented
and passed. Sue Hlohinec went on record
as a dissenting vote for the motion. Sue’s rationale was that a student worthy
of recognition as a model student should not be permitted to continuously break
school rules and still be recognized as a Renaissance student.
The recommendation of the CCs was to adopt the
following grading scale to be used as the new criteria for Renaissance
eligibility:
Gold Card: 3.8 – 4.0 (unweighted); Silver Card: 3.3 – 3.79 (unweighted);
White Card: 3.0 – 3.29 (unweighted)
After much lively discussion on the issue, the
motion was presented and passed. Clay
Kearney went on record as a dissenting vote for this motion. Clay’s rationale was that the new guidelines
would not appropriately reward those students who have taken the upper level
classes by giving them the extra quality point to count toward their GPA and
that the current weighted system was still a fair and equitable method of
determine eligibility. It is possible that another level of card (platinum) may
be presented at a future meeting.
3. Attendance
Requirement
The proposal for adoption was to include an
attendance policy for students in order to prevent excessive absences from
class. The proposal from the CCs was as follows:
Any student who misses more than five days,
regardless of whether it is excused or unexcused, in one quarter from any class
(as determined by the teacher of signature) will be ineligible for Renaissance
that particular quarter. School related absences would not be counted in the
students five days. Furthermore,
students with extenuating circumstances, such as a prolonged illness, will be
permitted to appeal to the attendance board (consisting of the Curriculum
Coordinators) for reinstatement.
After discussion on the issue, the
motion was presented and passed. Judy Lyon went on record as a dissenting vote
for this motion. Judy’s rationale was
that five days per quarter was entirely too many absences, as it could possibly
total 20 a year., and she felt that the number should be reduced.
Mr. Evans and Mrs. Nook encouraged everyone to come
to the March meeting with suggestions for Renaissance rewards. Since the standards are being raised for
eligibility into the Renaissance, it was determined that it is definitely
necessary to up the rewards for being a Renaissance student. Future agenda items also included the
budget, which will be presented in the April SAC meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:36 p.m.
*The
next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Respectfully
Submitted by Chuck Evans (for Demetrus Dawkins)