Board Recap – April 22

At the Board of Education meeting last night we had several presentations. First, the District Parenting Council, which is made up of the officers of each building’s PTO/A. It was great to hear the deep commitment to supporting the parent/teacher relationship in each building. I was astounded by the amount of money that is raised and used to help provide for needed programs and materials.

We then were able to hear a presentation from two middle school teachers – Ms. Laurie Erby and Ms. Jennifer Nelson on the success of the Reading Apprenticeship program. It was exciting to see the data from their assessments and the gains our students are achieving in this area. We were also pleased by the implementation plan. There has been increased staff trained in the last two years and next year the plan is continue to expand the use of the Reading Apprenticeship framework.

The last presentation was from Athletic Director Rob White. During the 2007-8 school year, over 1,950 students participated in athletic programs in grades 7-12. We have 22 varsity programs, 9 club programs and 7 middle school sports. Mr. White shared the core values of the Athletic Department that were developed by the coaches last summer – team, integrity, responsibility, accountability, honesty, loyalty and respect. These core values are listed on a special coin given to all our coaches to remind us of the role of interscholastic athletics in the educational process.

Ms. Carol Melcher, our new Director of Secondary Special Education was introduced to the board and community. The board then approved my contract as superintendent. It is a three year contract that begins officially on July 1, 2008. We also reviewed the WISD budget for 2008-2009.

The board also noted the acceptance of retirement letters from three long time Saline teachers Ms. Alison Robison, Mr. Bruce Ross, and Mr. Bill Smigielski. They are all retiring at the end of the school year – together they have combined for 91 years of service to the district!