School
Advisory Council
October
14, 2002 – Minutes
The VHS School Advisory Council meeting was called to order on October 14, 2002 at 6: 30 p.m. by Chairperson Cheryl Bolton. It was noted that Greg Miller served as the SAC representative on the Principal hiring panel and that the panel selected Candy Millington as the new VHS Principal.
Ms. Bolton also commented that the Dan Parrett Roast was highly successful and that donations amounted to approximately $30,000 for student scholarships.
The agenda items commenced with an explanation of the EQuIP data by Candy Millington. It was noted that the VHS Math and Writing scores were among the highest in Sarasota County and were significantly higher than the state average. The area of needed improvement was reading which graded out at less than50% of 9th and 10th graders scoring at level 3 or higher. Similarly, the scores of minority students needed attention as they were below expectations.
A further analysis of the EQuIP data substantiated that on the nationally normed Stanford 9 test there was significant progress in our math scores. During the past two years better than 83% of our students scored above the national average. During the past two years, VHS reading scores indicated a growth from 47% to 61% of our students who scored above the national average on the Stanford 9 examination.
The next agenda item was also presented by Candy Millington. The item was a discussion of the Campaign for Excellence Strategic Plan III (School Improvement Plan.). The newest items of emphasis were the ninth grade transition plan and the status of career academy exploration. These items were only briefly discussed as a more complete explanation of these initiatives were to be presented by Assistant Principal, Jack Turgeon, as a later agenda item. While discussing the Needs Assessment Summary, parent Claudine Anderson asked about what strategies have been implemented and what future plans are being considered to reduce the large failure rate of students who take the FCAT examination. Ms. Millington highlighted the Intensive courses, the dual math and English courses for freshmen, the newly instituted Mentor Model program, and the ninth grade transition program as some of the current strategies. Mrs. Anderson wanted to be including in planning for future strategies to help reduce the number of VHS students who are unsuccessful on the FCAT.
Sally Vihlen was introduced to discuss the PMT School Recognition Award progress. Ms. Vihlen reviewed the process which the VHS staff undertook to most equitably divide and share the award money. Ms. Vihlen described the process as being very “egalitarian.” All staff members input was heard and considered during the lengthy process. While there was some acrimony and hard feelings as a result of hearing everyone out, the staff ultimately voted to award equal shares of the award to all staff members.
The SAC unanimously voted to uphold the staff’s disbursement plan. Chairperson, Cheryl Bolton will be issuing an official statement of support very soon.
The final order of business was a presentation by Jack Turgeon of the Cornerstone Project. Mr. Turgeon’s “power-point” presentation was well received by the SAC and the entire ninth grade transition project was discussed at length. The items of emphasis included the two-person teaming, the common planning time for teachers, the tutorial initiative, the Career exploration emphasis, the team building activities and the community-mentoring program.
It was also mentioned that the ninth grade project will be expanded during this academic year to include some form of teaming and vertical career academy structure.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. with the next meeting to be held on November 18th.
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Mitchell