USD 383 Board of Education

March 3, 2010

Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Work session:

Wilson Elementary's design development was presented to the board for discussion. The two-story school will be adding an elevator and a new classroom addition on the southeast side of the building. The asbestos coating on plaster ceilings is still being evaluated for abatement.

Regular meeting:

The board received an update on the review process for adopting a new math curriculum for grades K-5. The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers have begun a Common Core Standards Initiative for math (Kansas signed the initiative). Board members were concerned that if a new math curriculum is adopted by the district, it might be obsolete and not in line with the upcoming new standards. Textbook companies have indicated a willingness to work with the district and to create correlation materials to reflect the new standards. The curriculum committee's recommendation was to continue to move forward with adopting a new curriculum because it will take a few years for textbook companies to produce materials that reflect the new standards, and teachers and students need updated materials now.

The board received a report on the Professional Development Schools program, which is a partnership program with KSU that provides clinical instructors to supervise student teachers. Both KSU and the district contribute funding, and board members expressed interest in revisiting the funding model at a future meeting.

Board members discussed the proposed school calendar for 2010-11. The calendar includes inclement weather make-up days at the end of the school year, but the calendar adds the disclaimer that time may be made up during the school year by adding minutes to the school day. Board members liked the addition of the disclaimer because it makes it clearer to employees and families how the district may make up time missed.

The board approved 6-0 the design development for Wilson, which was discussed during the work session.