The Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) has already had a busy October. The school board held its monthly meetings on Wednesday Oct. 4, and the district’s "Ready to Work" Fall Student Job Fair occurred at the Lower Woodville Campus on Thursday. Here are a few highlights from the board meeting:
Updates on district's improvement schools
The full day of school board activities began with a rescheduled meeting of the Accountability and Equity Subcommittee. Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed.D., summed up the focal point of the meeting when she said, “Data doesn’t lie but it doesn’t tell the whole story either.”
Executive Director of Accountability, Assessment, & Reporting Services Laura May, Ph.D., presented findings about the SCCPSS’s six schools that are federally identified as needing comprehensive or targeted support and improvement. Four of the six schools fall under the category of Comprehensive Support & Improvement (CSI): Andrea B. Williams Elementary, Brock Elementary, Mercer Middle and DeRenne Middle. Two fall under the category of Targeted Support & Improvement (TSI) schools: Largo-Tibet and Windsor Forest Elementary schools.
All Georgia Title I elementary and middle schools are assessed for CSI or TSI status based on Content Mastery (with regard to the lowest performing 10% of the school’s students), Progress toward English Language Proficiency (with regard to the lowest three-fourths of English Language Learner’s progress toward English Proficiency,) and Readiness (with regard to the lowest 5% of students in all the districts’ total number of Title I schools).
May explained that the three stages are designed to have a “funnel effect” to identify a “workable number” of students at each school for which the state then provides additional resources, staff and other supports. At the November board meeting, principals from Andrea B. Williams, Mercer Middle School and DeRenne Middle School will be present to discuss strategies and action plans to improve their respective school outcomes.
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LETRS and SCCPSS literacy plan updates
The SCCPSS Informal Meeting of the board shifted focus to the district’s literacy plan update. May introduced an in-depth review of district GMAS scores and how individual results should be read. She also mentioned GAExperienceOnline.com, a resource for parents who might want to familiarize themselves and their students with GMAS through practice tests.
Director of Curriculum Programming Andrea Burkiett and Director of School Improvement Lesley Taylor introduced literacy plan strategies and action items. Burkiett detailed how, this month, administrators, district personnel and academic coaches will begin the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training. Elementary teachers, particularly K-3, will start their training in January. Burkiett reiterated that four of the district’s six Literacy Specialists roles have been filled. The two vacant slots are designated for the secondary school level. She said the Division of Academic Affairs is “on the verge of finalizing the 6-12 literacy plan.”
She also reported that interviews for the Literacy Effectiveness Officer position would start soon. The position will oversee the specialists and implementation of the LETRS training. Taylor presented on specific measures such as the 120-miunute literacy blocks and literacy support plans for students with disabilities and English language learners.
The school board also discussed potential legislative priorities. While board members offered a variety of avenues to consider, the prevailing item mentioned was the need for legislation mandating statewide Pre-K and K programs. A particularly relevant point given that Oct. 2-6 is Georgia Pre-K Week.
Superintendent to hold community conversations
Board of Education President Roger Moss began the regular meeting with the note that the "request to speak before board members" cards and meeting agenda were now available in both English and Spanish. The agenda minutes appeared in both languages on the overhead monitors at the Whitney Complex.
The board discussed a few policies that were up for review and addressed financial allocations for the new Groves High School athletic complex as well as the purchase of 15 wheelchair lift buses from Peach State Truck Centers, which will cycle out older wheelchair-accessible buses.
The board also announced that Watts will kick off her Community Conversations series from 6-7 p.m., Oct. 11, at Hesse K-8. According to a recent SCCPSS press release, “Participants will have the opportunity to offer feedback and input in a collaborative space that will allow Watts to conduct a 'real time' examination of the current environment and further establish priorities for ensuring a quality education for each student.”
The first event covers District One Schools, which include Charles Ellis Montessori, Heard Elementary, Hesse K-8, Isle of Hope K-8, J.G. Smith Elementary, Savannah Arts Academy, the STEM Academy at Bartlett Middle School, and White Bluff Elementary.
Her second Community Conversations will take place from 6-7 p.m., on Oct. 25, for Districts Two and Three at Jenkins High School.
Appearances before the board
Each meeting, the board welcomes comments from the public. Anyone who wishes to speak before the school board is strongly encouraged to review the Rules of Conduct and policy.
Notable comments included but were not limited to:
- Rick Roney who expressed regret that the transportation presentations from September felt extremely similar to the transportation presentation from January but with more dire outcomes. Roney suggested that board consider outsourcing busing services
- Christina Magana, a member of Migrant Equity Southeast, asked the board to address if more math, science and history classes will be added at Jenkins and New Hampstead High Schools to accommodate some transferred ESOL students, who have told MESE that certain classes are full. She also asked that the online requests to speak before the board form be made available in Spanish.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at jschwartzburt@gannett.com.
