Superintendent Advisory Committee

The Superintendent Advisory Committee (SAC) met on Tuesday, April 30th.  The SAC is comprised of parents, community members, teacher representatives from each school and support staff members.

The first topic discussed was an update regarding the Facility Planning Committee.  The district has hired Struxture Architects to lead a comprehensive facility planning process that will result in a Final Summary Report presented to the Board of Education.  The facility planning committee reviewed the results of the input provided by seven focus groups as well as the results of a survey that was sent to community and staff members.  Based on focus groups and survey feedback, the facility planning committee discussed the need to improve the middle school.  There was a lengthy discussion on building a new school versus continuing to remodel a school that is almost 100 years old.   The committee also discussed the need for a new auditorium at the high school.   The facility planning committee will continue to discuss district facility opportunities to consider in the final report.

School security was discussed at length.  The committee discussed investments being made by the district to improve school security as well as training for staff members in emergency management.  Video surveillance, quickly locking a school perimeter and a quality internal communication system were areas of discussion.

The committee discussed personnel changes for the 2013-14 school year.  The district will be adding an alternative kindergarten program called, Begindergarten, which is designed for student that need an additional year before starting Kindergarten.  The district will also add At-Risk teachers at Lakeview, Middle School and High School.  The At-Risk positions will provide support for students in the areas of reading and math and serve as a contact for parents and the school to help identified students.  The district is also adding a school nurse.  The district currently has one nurse serving approximately 1,400 students.  The additional nurse will primarily serve middle and high school students.

The committee also discussed the middle school schedule.  Mr. Herdliska is working on changing the schedule for the 2013-14 school year.  Two primary goals with a schedule change include adding remediation time and eliminating study hall.  Remediation time would be a time when students reported to the same teacher every day and would have time for help in a curriculum area, time for reassessments, or help with organization.  The current middle school schedule has many students with one or two study halls per day.  The goal would be to create a schedule that has students engaged in learning throughout the day without study hall time.

The SAC committee will meet again next fall.

School Security

The bombing that took place during the Boston Marathon on April 15th was another sad reminder the devastating impact deranged people can have on society.  Despite what appeared to be high levels of security and planning, three innocent people were killed and over a hundred others hurt because of the terrorist attack.  The Boston attack happened four months after the Sandy Hook tragedy.

In recent years, the Solon School District has made several improvements in our building security including adding video surveillance, a locked perimeter during the day and advanced electronic security.  This spring, administration presented a plan to the Board of Education that would provide additional security.  Board members have been very supportive of making investments to improve our building security across the district.

The district is also utilizing consultants that specialize in school safety to help identify plans for increased safety.  Thinking about school safety and security can be alarming. The district is investing in security improvements on spending time discussing safety, not because we think we have an unsafe school district, it is being done so that we can be better prepared.

School Start Date

Historically, Iowa legislators, with respect to education, supported the concept of local control.  For decades, Democrats and Republicans alike have been able to agree on one issue, give school districts and their locally elected board members the independence of making decisions on how best to run their schools.

Local control is once again under attack as Iowa legislators are considering a bill that would dictate when Iowa school districts could begin school.  Why would legislators care when school begins?  Two words - State Fair!  Thats right, in this era of Education Reform we are more concerned with promoting the state fair than allowing districts the flexibility to use a calendar that best meets local needs.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Iowa State Fair.  The Iowa State Fair symbolizes what a great state we live in (also has a lot of really good food).  However, if legislators were interested in supporting the state fair, why not require districts to set aside a few days each year during state fair when school cannot be in session.  Do not mandate every district must start after state fair.

Mr. Nathan Wear, Solon High School Principal, and chair of the Solon Community School District Calendar Committee recently contacted our elected legislators with concerns about changing the start date.

From Nathan Wear:

I am writing today to share my concerns about proposed legislation regarding school calendar start date.  As the chair of our local calendar committee, this is not in the best interest of our students to start school at the end of August or beginning of September.

Here are some talking points that I want you to be aware of as you consider this legislation.

• Allow districts to keep the waiver.  In 2011-2012 school year, 98.5% (346/351) of school districts request a waiver to start school early in August (Des Moines Register Article 4/10/2012).
• The main reason we set an early start date is to finish our semester by winter break.  It is detrimental to student learning to have a 2 week break over the holidays and then return to school.
• Our local calendar committee existing of parents, community members, students, and school staff has recommended a start date of August 14 for the fall of 2014.  
• Solon High School excuses absences for families and students wanting to attend the Iowa State Fair.  We had  2% of students (12/487) attend the state fair in August of 2012.  
• As a school leader, I observe higher levels of engagement from kids in August than late May and June.  This year, we have 5 snow days and our scheduled last day of school is June 3.  Moving the start date back would push our end of school year to mid-June or later depending on the number of snow days.
• Graduation is in May.  Pushing the start date back would be difficult for seniors to meet the 175 days of required school attendance.  Moving graduation to June is not in the best interest of Senior students.
• Community colleges and universities start classes the early in June.  Extending the school year would severely restrict teacher and student availability to take summer courses for credit.  Additionally, seniors would not be able to start post-secondary experiences if graduating in June.  

Do not support legislation that requires schools to start late in August.  I am happy to provide testimony for committees or during public comments in support of local school districts regarding this legislation.

Please contact our locally elected leaders and let them know you oppose taking away local control on school calendar.  You may not think your voice matters, but trust me, they listen to constituents.

Senator Bob Dvorsky: Robert.dvorsky@legis.state.is.us

Representative Bobby Kaufman: Bobbby.kaufman@hotmail.com

Representative Mary Mascher: Mary.mascher@legis.state.ia.us

Representative Dave Jacoby: Dave.jocoby@legis.state.ia.us

Solon Facility Planning Committee

The Solon Community School District has hired Struxture Architects to develop a long-range master facilities plan. This Project will involve a review and report of district buildings, sites, facilities utilization, educational suitability, renovation or new construction opportunities for more cost efficient or effective district operations, and review of the district report on projected growth.  Struxture Archtects will present informational reports and facilitate the development of this long-range plan in a collaborative manner with the district’s Facility Planning Committee (FPC).  Struxture Architects will, at the end of the planning process with the FPC, provide a final summary report to be presented to the Board of Education.

The Solon FPC held an initial meeting on Tuesday, February 12th.  The FPC meeting was facilitated by Struxture Architects Craig Schwerdtfeger and John Darveau.  The agenda for the meeting included:

• Planning process overview
• Setting goals, expectations, and defining outcomes
• Setting the path for delivering education in Solon's future
• What is important to maintain a vibrant school district and community?
• What is missing in the district facilities in order to compete in the future?
• How do you perceive technology effecting Solon's educational future?
• How do you see educational delivery changing in the future and how do facilities need to change in order to accomodate?
• What do you consider to be the best grade levels to be housed together in order to achieve the most effective curriculum delivery?  
• Summary and next steps
• Setting the next meeting date
• Adjourn

The FPC discussed the importance of engaging students, staff and community in the facility planning process.  In the future, stakeholders will be given the opportunity to provide input in a survey.  There will also be focus group meetings to provide additional input.

The final report will serve as a road map to guide district facility decision making.

School Funding - Did You Know?

As legislators at the statehouse continue to debate school reform and funding for 2013-14, I thought sharing a few facts would be timely.

Did You Know...

• The annual increase in funding of Iowa Schools over the past three years is the lowest in the 40-year history of the aid formula.

• Whereas Iowa's commitment to fund education (as a percentage of per capita income spent on state and local government) was as high as 8th in the nation in the late 80's, funding per student in Iowa has more recently plummeted to 31st.

• Iowa invests nearly $1,000 less per student than the average of other states in the nation.  The funding gap is widening.

• The performance of Iowa students has remained stable, while the performance of students in many other states who've made significant investments in education has improved.

• Because of state law, Iowa school districts are required to make final budgetary decisions in the month of March.  Until the legislature acts, schools districts must budget with conservative estimates in funding.  In many cases, this prohibits districts from investing in additional personnel or worse, cutting personnel.

During the difficult years of our recent recession, school leaders understood the need to tighten our belts.  However, the economy has turned and the state of Iowa is financially healthy again.  Our elected leaders need to fund education at levels that allow school districts to run our schools effectively.

College & Career Readiness

Workplace Learning Connection hosted a conference on January 17th entitled, Connecting Today's Students to Tomorrow's Careers.  The purpose of the conference was to provide a forum for educators, employers and Corridor Area resource providers to identify gaps, challenges and needs, and build awareness of existing programs for workforce development.

I was asked to present on the challenges facing educators in preparing students for college and career.  The short PowerPoint presentation can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/a/solon.k12.ia.us/file/d/0B-PpFUj27mYqUVN5bU1yQWdfTlk/edit.  In summary, I shared that schools must do a better job of putting students in a position to learn more about career opportunities and aligning their interests/aptitudes with careers.  The Solon Strategic Plan includes a Post-Secondary Goal that states: Within five years of graduating from the Solon Community School District, 90% of students will have earned a post-secondary certification or degree.  If we want to put our students in a competitive position, we must equip them with training and certification necessary in the 21st century.  A high school diploma is no longer enough.

I applaud Workplace Learning Connection for hosting the conference.

2013 Legislative Session

Monday, January 14th will mark the beginning of the 85th Iowa General Assembly Legislative Session.  Last year, Governor Branstad commissioned a Task Force to study education reform ideas. The Task Force's Final Report was released in October.

Last fall I spent two days with superintendents across the state analyzing the Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation (LINK TO REPORT).  There are several reform ideas listed in the final report that I support.  I commend the task force for identifying raising all teacher salaries in Iowa to a minimum of $35,000.  If Iowa intends to recruit and retain quality teachers, we must have a sustained effort to increase teacher pay, not play catch up every ten years.  I also support the idea of providing teachers with increased opportunities to collaborate and improve instruction.

However, I am concerned with the details of several proposals.  I am not convinced the pay structures identified in the final report will lead to increased collaboration and improved instruction.  In fact, as a Professional Learning Community School District that regularly provides teachers with collaboration time, I think the change in pay structure may have the exact opposite effect.

I am also very concerned with the funding of the proposals.  Allowable Growth, the funding mechanism to run schools, has not been funded at Cost of Living levels for years.  If the proposals contained in the final report are not embedded in the school funding formula, then the next downturn in the economy, or change in political leadership, may result in under funding or a complete elimination of funding.

I am a big believer in innovation.  In fact, if Iowa schools do not undergo a significant change and begin customizing the learning experience for all students in a manner that allows students to demonstrate learning through the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating), then public schools will be in serious jeopardy in the next 20 years.

Legislators have an incredibly difficult job.  I cannot imagine the number of issues they must analyze and consider, in an forum that is not known for civility.  I would caution legislators on approving sweeping education reform unless a funding mechanism with long term guarantees are also provided.