Reynoldsburg Community Advisory Council
The Community Advisory Council is not an actual part of Raider Strong PAC but was born from the same set of circumstances. Beth Thompson has worked with Joe Begeny and Sandy Long to create this group. Below you will find information on the creation and updates from the council.
November 25, 2014
"I'm pleased to invite community members to participate in the first meeting of the Community Advisory Council! We will meet at Messiah Lutheran (exact room to be announced soon) at 7 pm next Thursday, December 4th. This is our way of communicating actively and respectfully with members of the Board (Joe Begeny and Sandy Long have agreed to work with us) and Administration. The idea would be for many people to attend the first working meeting, and then 'self-select' representatives from each school, so that there is fair representation. I've also asked the district to push this invitation out to our families so that if people aren't on Facebook, they can still be invited to participate, to ensure that no viewpoints are missed. We want to be an inclusive group that collaborates with the district to plan for the future- bringing concerns to their front door, and discussing possible solutions, while at the same time celebrating successes across the district. Hope to see you there!"---Beth Thompson
FUTURE MEETING DATES:
• Thurs., 2/12 7 pm Taylor Road gym
• Thurs., 3/12 7 pm Taylor Road library
• Thurs., 4/16 7 pm Messiah Lutheran
• Thurs., 5/14 7 pm Messiah Lutheran
Email for Reynoldsburg Community Advisory Council: Please feel free to submit questions and concerns on school issues for our group to investigate and address.
[email protected]
November 25, 2014
"I'm pleased to invite community members to participate in the first meeting of the Community Advisory Council! We will meet at Messiah Lutheran (exact room to be announced soon) at 7 pm next Thursday, December 4th. This is our way of communicating actively and respectfully with members of the Board (Joe Begeny and Sandy Long have agreed to work with us) and Administration. The idea would be for many people to attend the first working meeting, and then 'self-select' representatives from each school, so that there is fair representation. I've also asked the district to push this invitation out to our families so that if people aren't on Facebook, they can still be invited to participate, to ensure that no viewpoints are missed. We want to be an inclusive group that collaborates with the district to plan for the future- bringing concerns to their front door, and discussing possible solutions, while at the same time celebrating successes across the district. Hope to see you there!"---Beth Thompson
FUTURE MEETING DATES:
• Thurs., 2/12 7 pm Taylor Road gym
• Thurs., 3/12 7 pm Taylor Road library
• Thurs., 4/16 7 pm Messiah Lutheran
• Thurs., 5/14 7 pm Messiah Lutheran
Email for Reynoldsburg Community Advisory Council: Please feel free to submit questions and concerns on school issues for our group to investigate and address.
[email protected]
Minutes from Feb 12, 2015 Reynoldsburg Community Advisory Council
Very short update on last night's Community Advisory Council meeting: Our primary discussion surrounded the direction the group needs to take now that we know that administrators are not going to participate with our group. Basically, we suggested two options- one, the PR person attend our meetings to help answer questions or facilitate responses, and two, that Sandy Long and Joe Begeny be given the task of taking our questions and passing them along to the administration in an effort to find answers.
We didn't discuss any new issues- but did focus on the idea that while building level concerns could and should be handled at the building level by principals, there is another whole level to our questions that is higher than that. We have discussed issues over and over that occur because of a lack of consistency in decision making and communication at all levels- elementary, middle/jr high, and high school. We emphasized this again, that there have to be other ways to allow the community to participate in the decision making process so that we do not feel left out and ignored.
Suggestions were made- town hall meetings, questions and answers weekly on the reyn site by the Supt, surveys. We shall see what comes. When I send out official minutes over the weekend, I intend to say that the next meeting on Thurs., March 12 at TRE's library (*Hint - please attend) must serve as a progress report from the Board members regarding the suggestions we made regarding communication.
Very short update on last night's Community Advisory Council meeting: Our primary discussion surrounded the direction the group needs to take now that we know that administrators are not going to participate with our group. Basically, we suggested two options- one, the PR person attend our meetings to help answer questions or facilitate responses, and two, that Sandy Long and Joe Begeny be given the task of taking our questions and passing them along to the administration in an effort to find answers.
We didn't discuss any new issues- but did focus on the idea that while building level concerns could and should be handled at the building level by principals, there is another whole level to our questions that is higher than that. We have discussed issues over and over that occur because of a lack of consistency in decision making and communication at all levels- elementary, middle/jr high, and high school. We emphasized this again, that there have to be other ways to allow the community to participate in the decision making process so that we do not feel left out and ignored.
Suggestions were made- town hall meetings, questions and answers weekly on the reyn site by the Supt, surveys. We shall see what comes. When I send out official minutes over the weekend, I intend to say that the next meeting on Thurs., March 12 at TRE's library (*Hint - please attend) must serve as a progress report from the Board members regarding the suggestions we made regarding communication.
Minutes from Nov 25, 2014 Reynoldsburg Community Advisory Council
These minutes will be heavily anecdotal and reliant on my memory, as I admit to being more involved in discussion than note-taking. Therefore, if I’ve missed anything that you remember and would like to see added, please email me at [email protected] Thanks!
This first meeting was very organic in nature, as all attendees introduced themselves and talked about their reasons for attending. Because this format was very productive, it was decided to leave this open, round-table discussion structure in place for at least the first few meetings, then ultimately organizing meetings based on grade-level bands, buildings, or specific topics of concern. That way, additional concerned community members could be invited to participate, as could the appropriate administrators. In this way, the ‘meeting structure’ that was initially envisioned has already changed, from the idea of including the same people at each meeting to allowing participants to change to best represent the needs of the moment.
Overall, it was felt that the elementary buildings do not have the same level of concerns as middle, junior high, and high school. The major items brought up regarding elementary were ones that stretched across all levels: consistency of offerings, and communication. At all levels, it is widely felt that the arts/specials are important to students and parents and should be offered at the same level in each building- the goal being equality of educational opportunities for all children. At the last board meeting, this issue was recognized, although what the ramifications are as far as policy, we are unsure. Although site-based management is purported as the reason for the current shift away from same offerings in buildings, we feel that the district could do more to help parents ‘fix’ what we perceive is a problem of inequity and inconsistency. For example parents offered this example: while at Taylor Road, students have Art (only) one quarter, at Herbert Mills, Art is not offered at all. Regarding communication, it was mentioned often that there should be a fairly simple way to create and maintain an editable calendar of events for the whole district, so that conflicts don’t continue to happen between buildings, if possible. For example, TRE’s Cookies with Santa event is the same night as Summit’s district-wide Reading Night, and our CAC meeting conflicted with an Orchestra event and Blended Learning meetings. Sometimes these conflicts are unavoidable, but an online, posted calendar would help to ease some of these problems. In addition, using the robo-calls and –emails would be a good way to continue quickly getting information out to the parent population.
Across the board at middle, jr. high, and high school buildings, the use of technology was a concern. There was discussion that focused on whether the teachers have been properly consulted/trained in using the technology they currently have, and if they in fact ‘buy in’ to things like the Edgenuity program. Parents feel that technology used in the classroom should be tied to what students are doing, and used as a true supplement, as opposed to just being used so that we are ‘using technology’ or ‘blended learning’. Parents also feel that if they wanted MORE technology, rather than MORE teachers in front of students, they would/could pull their children and enroll them in online education programs.
The implementation of any programming midway through the year can happen, and there is a recognition that this year is unlike any other we’ve experienced. However, when major changes are introduced, like increasing blended learning, or, the shift to standards-based report cards at the upper grades, the district’s communication should take into account feedback from the parents and students (the ‘customers’ in essence). Though there are meetings being held currently regarding these two topics, the shift to the standards-based reporting feels uncomfortable mid-year, particularly given the cancellation of early conferences. Standards-based reporting, even with the online training videos sent to parents, is a tremendous shift from A-F grades that parents understand currently, and there are many questions to answer about how that shift will affect high school students’ transcripts, sports eligibility, etc.- parents will attend meetings to ask these questions and report back to the group.
There is an overall feeling from parents that the amount of testing kids undergo is too much. We recognize that some of that is state-directed, but there is concern that students are progress-monitored more than they are instructed/interacting with their teachers, and this is not helping students to achieve. Pressure has mounted on teachers and on students, and the end result can be an unhealthy environment without some appropriate discussion and perhaps modification.
The suggestion was made to survey parents at the high school level about how the four academy/one identity decision has worked to meet their needs now that those programs are reaching the first full, four-year cycle. Curriculum offerings, from band/orchestra to foreign language, were mentioned as a concern related to inconsistencies in offerings across the four programs. In addition, the students’ perspective should be considered. A similar survey idea was described by the Superintendent at the last board meeting.
Offering high school level courses at the Junior High was mentioned, in that the courses are not being taught in the same manner, and in some ways the younger students are being asked to complete more challenging tasks, yet the credit is not earned the same way as the high school students.
Gateway parents have concerns about the decrease in rigor of the program this year, particularly compared to previous years.
Finally, many parents in attendance represented Baldwin Road Junior High. The concerns at that building are many: changes to curriculum and schedules mid-stream, losing/replacing teachers (Spanish) and administrators (3 in 3 years), disciplinary challenges, etc. Their concerns will necessitate a building-specific meeting date.
Many times it was stated that the people participating in the CAC want to be part of positive change, climate improvement, and collaboration so that all decisions being made are done with educational and social value in mind, not just price tag or ease of scheduling. I particularly like the phrase one participant said: We want our children ‘challenged, but still children’, recognizing the need to remember the whole child, not rush our children to forgo arts and classroom experiences in the rush to become miniature adults.
Next meeting date to be determined. (Submitted by Beth Thompson)