OHS is School of Distinction for 2011

For outstanding improvement in student achievement, Odessa High School was one of only 99 schools in the state of Washington to receive a 2011 School of Distinction Award.

The 2011 School of Distinction award winners include 53 elementary schools, 22 middle/junior high schools, 17 high schools and 7 alternative schools. This year is the fifth year that the annual School of Distinction recognition has been awarded, and an Odessa school, either high school or elementary, has received it in four of the five years.

Each regional Educational Service District (ESD) in the state will host an award ceremony recognizing the award winners within their service regions. Dr. Michael Dunn of the NE Washington Educational Service District (NEWESD) in Spokane said, “The success and hard work of these highest improving schools across our state needs to be celebrated.” The award ceremony will be held at the NEWESD 101 Conference Center in Spokane to recognize the schools within its area for their hard work and achievement on November 29 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Board action

The board approved:

• a resolution to allow electronic payment of taxes

• a resolution to follow the National Incident Management System (NIMS) guidelines as part of the NIMS grant.

• the addition of half an hour a day to the assistant cook’s work schedule.

• the hiring of Denise Hoffman as junior high head girls basketball coach.

• a revision to the school calendar for this year, whereby there will be no school January 2 (which is a federal holiday, since January 1 falls on a weekend) and there will be school on the scheduled snow day of March 2. Any snow days will be made up at the end of the school year.

• Jeff Wehr as Chess Club Advisor (renewed interest has increased club membership to about 40 members this year)

• Tyson Linstrum as junior high assistant boys basketball coach

• Policy 2020 dealing with Curriculum Development.

Principal’s report

School principal Ken Schutz told the board that parent conferences have been scheduled after the first quarter ends on Thursday, November 3, so that each parent can communicate with their child's teachers regarding their progress. Grades K-4 will have conferences with the individual teachers. Parents of 5th-grade students will have conferences with all four of their child's teachers at one time. Parents of students in grades 6-12 will have the opportunity to meet with teachers in an arena-type environment from 5-8 p.m. on November 7. Some separate conferences with “at risk” 6-12 students and their parent(s)/guardians(s) will be scheduled to help the students improve in necessary areas.

Schutz said the Odessa School District is taking part in a Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) grant managed through the ESD 101. Superintendent Suellen White, head custodian Justin Parr and Schutz have been working with the ESD facilitator to plan for virtually any type of emergency that could occur. Eventually, preparedness drills will be developed and implemented.

The teachers have continued to meet in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) during early release days. The objective is to focus on the school improvement plan and improve student performance. A language arts group headed by Bev Scherr works directly with the writing curriculum. Schutz leads the math/science PLC, where common core standards and data on needed remediation for individual students are being studied. White and special education coordinator Jeanie Read work with the paraprofessional staff. A few teachers who do not fit neatly into a particular PLC group, physical education teacher Bruce Todd, ag teacher Erica Whitmore, business teacher Terri King, music teacher Craig Holman and social studies teacher Larry Moffet have been working on classroom-based assessments and learning targets.

Schutz reported that a Bi-County Professional Development Day had also been held which emphasized development of PLCs with job-specific groups (all first-grade teachers or all history teachers, for example). Many of the groups are planning either face-to-face or electronic meetings in the future to improve instruction in each of the schools participating. Schutz was pleased to report that many Odessa teachers took on leadership roles in this endeavor.

Schutz reported that Odessa was awarded a Teacher/Principal Evaluation Consortium Grant along with seven other districts within ESD 101. This work group will focus on development and implementation of a new evaluation system for all certificated staff and principals. Full implementation is to occur in the 2013-2014 school year, and much work will be required during this school year and next. White, Ellen Holman (teacher association president), Duane Pitts (secondary teacher) and Schutz will attend training sessions during the next two years.

Superintendent’s report

White reported on the Regional Staff Development conference and the followup work being done. Part of the presentation there addressed the topic of the “whole child,” in other words, influences outside the classroom that inhibit or improve learning. The impact of these factors must be considered, she said, if learning is to improve for all students. The staff spent part of the second day of professional development “de-briefing” and discussing what was learned.

Since the beginning of the school year, secondary teachers have expressed concern about several students who persistently receive Ds and Fs. Discussion began on organizational ways to get these students additional help. Also discussed was how each of the students was different, i.e., what might work for one may not work for the next. A short survey summarized the discussion. At a meeting later on, teachers reviewed the survey and began discussing how to proceed. Teachers agreed to be mentors to individual students who were identified as needing extra help. White reported being heartened by the response of the teachers, by their belief in all of the students, their willingness to go above and beyond to help individual students and their commitment to working as hard as possible to keep any student from failing.

White also reported on a presentation at the monthly NEWASA meeting in Spokane by a speaker whose focus was on the “whole child.” The presenter, from the South Kitsap School District, reported on many initiatives his school district and community have implemented to support students who don’t have the “assets” in their lives to be successful. His school and community have developed successful partnerships, many of which already exist in Odessa, White said, but it might be time to take an inventory to ensure that all students have a chance for success.

White provided a report on the summer breakfast and lunch program. We served 371 breakfasts and 1,542 lunches this summer in the 40 days of the program. An average of 9.3 breakfasts and 38.5 lunches were served each day.

Personnel costs were $3,092 and the food cost was $3,802. Reimbursement for the program was $4,961, so the district contributed $1,934 (71% of the program costs were reimbursed – about the same as for the regular school breakfast and lunch program).

Board member’s reports

Board member Marcus Horak reported that he and fellow board member Karma Henry visited school last week to observe. They reported being impressed with the discipline and focus on learning demonstrated while they were present, even during times that classroom changes were in progress.

Facilities report

White told the board that the energy grant projects are still not complete. The “front-end equipment” needed to provide local climate control has been ordered and will be installed when received. The contractor, Schneider Electric, sent a troubleshooter to Odessa to inspect the gym heater that had recently become very noisy. He agreed the noise level was too high and promised it would be fixed.

Estimates were obtained for carpet for the hallways, library and those classrooms that do not yet have it. To do all would cost about $55,000. White said the numbers were obtained for planning purposes and that any eventual work plans will require more discussion.

Financial report

September ended with a cash balance of $586,712. Payroll was higher than normal due to payments for work the teachers did during the summer.

White told the board the levy will need to be set at the December meeting. Depending on what the board feels is still needed in terms of facilities, it may be possible to reduce the capital projects levy this year. The board decided to hold a levy workshop prior to the November meeting.

Preschool transportation

At the previous board meeting, the board tabled its discussion of a request from the parents of a rural preschooler to provide transportation for the child on a bus route that went right past the family’s driveway. The bus did not currently stop there for any school-aged children. The board sought more information and tabled the matter. On further study, White reported that the action needed was administrative in nature, as the rules were set in procedure, not policy. She amended the procedure to allow for a case-by-case decision. Therefore, transportation can be provided to preschoolers if no rerouting of the buses is involved.

Next board meeting

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 28, at 7 p.m. to be preceded by a levy workshop at 6:30.