School Newsletter
TECH HIGH SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL
Meeting Minutes
October 26, 2009
Members Present: Roger Ziemann, Carol Potter,
Jackie Peterson, Erin Vorpahl, Glenna Soenneker,
Marcia Setrum, Melissa Kamstra, Barbie Schoenleben
Introduction of Members: Roger Ziemann
H1N1 Update: Linda Saupe
The absences due to flu have been going down since Oct. 12th.
In terms of students out with illness, we peaked before MEA. We may be on the
up swing. On Oct. 12th Tech had 5% of students out ill and this was
reported to MDH (MN Dept. of Health). H1N1 Consent Forms for the Vaccine have
been sent home with students. 200 forms have been returned. The Nurses office
will be taking the forms continually. The Consent forms can also be found
on-line.
http://www.isd742.org/influenza/ConsentForm.pdf The vaccine will be coming
in Late November. The In-School vaccines are only for students K – 12.
Teacher Staff
Development
SPRE – Staff Performance Review & Evaluation – Each year teachers are
evaluated by Principals. Probationary Teachers are evaluated for the first 3
years of teaching with a minimum of 3 classroom observations. The Principal
meets with the teacher before the observation and also after the observation to
talk about what can be worked and improved on. Tenured Teacher’s are observed
on a 5 year cycle.
· Learning Walks – Each teacher must have several learning walks by the Principal. These are to be short, frequent, unannounced visits to the classroom. Each Principal will complete 18-20 hours in order to get to each individual teacher. There is a form with 4 categories that is completed and put in the teacher’s mailbox. The teacher receives feedback on what they are doing well and what they may need improvement on.
· Learning Cohorts – Teacher’s get together in Small groups to exchange ideas and monitor progress. Each Teacher has to be in a Cohort. Jackie Peterson, ELL Teacher shared that she is in a group with 7 other teachers from all different departments. She finds this very beneficial. Erin Vorpahl, Language Arts Teacher said her group is working on trying to raise the MCA’s Reading Scores 5% by concentrating on areas students need the most help with. Each Learning Cohort has been turning in their Action Plan Form. These plans will be reviewed by the Principals and then Dr. Espe will be at Tech on November 4th to go over them.
Activities Director Position – Andrea Swanberg has resigned as the Activities Director of Tech. She will stay until a replacement is found. 5 candidates have been interviewed and the committee narrowed that down to 2. The committee includes: Nancy Efta – HR Coordinator, Steve Taylor – Phy Ed. Teacher/Coach and Shelly Fruth – Activities Secretary. The committee will meet Thursday morning and make their final decision. This is an Interim Activities Director position and will go until May, 2010. If the person does not work out, we will open up interviews in May again. The Activities director is to attend all varsity activities and most artistic events. All candidates were made aware of the multiple hours involved with this job.
Other: There was a question regarding when the Skyward Parent Portal will be available? We had been told that the parent portal would be available by mid October, but now we don’t know when it will be available. There are issues with cleansing data. Access to a student’s homework is a concern and having this Portal could alleviate some of those issues.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55 PM
Next meeting: Monday, November 30, 2009
Meeting Minutes
September 28, 2009
Members Present: Roger Ziemann, Carol Potter, Denny Smith, Loren Terlisner, Marcia Setrum, Melissa Kamstra, Jackie Peterson, Bridget Hamak, Kelly Bates, Shiela Molde, Lori Johnson, Barbie Schoenleben
Welcome and Introductions: Roger Ziemann
Skyward Update: The new Parent Portal in Skyward will be available mid to late October. This new Student System should be very user friendly for parents. Watch for more information coming soon.
Enrollment This Year:
Roger Ziemann explained that over the past ten years, Tech’s student
population has fluctuated between 1500 and 1900 students. As of Friday,
September 18, 2009, we are at our lowest at 1404 students. This is not because
kids are going other places more than before or that parents have suddenly
decided that Tech is a bad place for their kids. We have 73 fewer 9th
grade students this year than last year. This small 9th grade class
has been moving through the St. Cloud system since they were in first grade.
Coupled with a large graduating class last year, Tech is at 1404.
Budget Adjustment Information: Roger Ziemann
presented a Power Point Presentation explaining the District Budget Adjustment
Information. The District has invested in a decision making process using 3
groups: Group A – Shared reality – Parent/public Group B – Administrators, Group
C - choice makers – School Board. Timeline: Now we are at Building level
Meetings. There will be 2 more public sessions: Thurs., Oct. 1st and
Mon. Oct. 12th at Apollo HS @ 5:00 PM. The School Board will need to
cut $700,000.00 for the 2010-2011 School Year. The decision will be made by
November 19, 2009. The areas being considered to cut are:
15 General Ed/9 Special Ed $1,000,000.00
Secondary Monitor Reductions 90,000.00
Secondary – Clerical 60,000.00
The Site Council listed a few other ideas for consideration:
1. Magnet School Program
2. District Bussing combining with City Bussing
3. 1 day furlough – every staff member give up 1 day = $400,000 savings
4. 4 day work week
If you have ideas – go to the website and submit them. Get Active!
Other: Denny Smith presented information from the Math Department. The Algebra Trailer courses are in place. Denny has promoted Trailer courses for years. Very hopeful!
Meeting adjourned 7:05 PM
Next Meeting: Monday, October 26, 2009 @ 6:00 PM