LWV OBSERVER REPORT FORM

Main items on the agenda were approval of board policies, approval of School Improvement Plans for Hall and King Philip, discussion of the latest Strategic School Profile, and an update on the District Improvement Plan.

As part of its ongoing review of all board policies, the board unanimously approved as second and final reading board policies 5650 Communicable Diseases, 5660 Students with HIV, Aids Related Complex or AIDS, 5680 Reporting Child Abuse, and 5640 Emergency Treatment. Policy 5670 Insurance was pulled for further review due to uncertainty regarding exactly what type of insurance is required for interscholastic athletes. Go to http://www.whps.org/whps/primary-offices/boe-page/documents for links to each policy.

Assistant Superintendent Karen List, Hall High School Principal Donald Slater, and King Philip Principal Michael Renkawitz presented School Improvement Plans (SIPs) for these two schools. Such plans are required for them under the federal No Child Left Behind Act because they were identified as "in need of improvement" for failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for certain subgroups of students. Hall was thus identified based on 2008 CAPT results for students with disabilities, black, and economically disadvantaged students. King Philip was thus identified based on 2008 CMT results for students with disabilities, Hispanic, black, and economically disadvantaged students. Both plans are aligned with the District Improvement Plan and were developed in consultation with parents, teachers, and district staff. They outline broad goals for improved student achievement in reading and math, and for increased parental and community engagement. These goals are supported by specific objectives for each underperforming subgroup and action plans for achieving and measuring progress. The board accepted the plans unanimously. Unlike the District Improvement Plan, the plans for Hall and KP do not require approval from the state because neither is a Title I (federal poverty program) school. For the link to each school’s plan, click on the link above.

Superintendent David Sklarz reported that November’s Conservation Challenge was won by Whiting Lane School and that a total of $31,500 in energy savings was achieved district-wide. He and board members all expressed hopes that such savings will be ongoing.

Dr. List reported that the 2008 district Strategic School Profile is now available. This document provides a comprehensive look at the district’s demographics, staffing, achievement and spending and may be viewed at http://www.whps.org/board/agenda-documents/20081202/strategic%20school%20profile.pdf . New this year is a measure allowing broad comparison of our students’ performance on standardized tests with that of other districts’ students. West Hartford ranked pretty consistently in the second quartile on the CMT and CAPT, in the top quartile on the SATs. Profiles for individual schools and for districts statewide should be available shortly on the state Department of Education website at http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/cedar/profiles/index.htm#go .

Dr. List also provided an update on work done so far, work in progress, and work still to be done in conjunction with our District Improvement Plan, a plan required because West Hartford has been identified as a district "in need of improvement – year 4" under No Child Left Behind. The state approved West Hartford’s plan last spring and work to implement it has been ongoing since. The update may be viewed at http://www.whps.org/board/agenda-documents/20081202/DIP%20Update%2012-2-08.pdf . The district improvement plan itself is available at http://www.whps.org/board/agenda-documents/20080318/DIP%20WHPS%202007-10%202%2015%2008.pdf .

The next board of education meeting will take place on December 16 at 7:00 p.m. in room 314 at Town Hall.