Cleveland Heights–University Heights Board of Education meeting highlights
AUGUST 3, 2010
- RTA bus transportation
- Renhill staffing services
- Career and technical program
- Field trips
- Credit flexibility
- Federal technology policy guidelines
- Donation
- Cleveland Music School Settlement
Board Member Karen Jones participated by teleconference and was not voting.
RTA bus transportation
Myra Cook, a parent of two Heights High students, was concerned about the impact of RTA cutbacks on the safety of students living in northeast Cleveland Heights. These students would be required to walk a mile to an RTA bus stop, sometimes in the dark, and then take two buses to get to school. This can take an hour and RTA bus fare is $5.00 per day per student. Cook requested school bus transportation for these students or the district’s financial assistance. She also suggested collaboration with Cleveland Heights City Council because Mayor Kelley is RTA board president.
Renhill staffing services
Renhill Staffing Services provides substitutes for the district. A staff survey showed that 74 percent felt the substitute quality was average or higher. Renhill is working to bring down costs for the upcoming school year, increase the size of its substitute pool, and do more orientation for substitutes to provide those who are most suited to their assigned classrooms. Treasurer Scott Gainer reported that the contract with Renhill for 2009-2010 was a money saver.
Career and technical program
All courses in the district’s career and technical program will be upgraded to obtain state of Ohio Tech Education approval and thus carry college credit.
Field trips
The board approved the following field trips:
- Gospel Choir’s field trip to Nassau in the spring of 2011.
- Minority Student Achievement members trip to a Network conference in White Plains, NY in September 2010.
Credit flexibility
The board approved credit flexibility guidelines mandated by Senate Bill 311, which will allow students to receive credit for alternate learning experiences. Discussion followed as to how to ensure adult guidance of student learning and collaboration with other districts concerning such tasks as common record keeping.
Federal technology policy guidelines
The board approved an update to the Student and Staff Acceptable Use Policies for technology to meet new federal guidelines.
Donation
The board accepted miscellaneous science materials for the Heights High science department from a donor who recently passed away.
Cleveland Music School Settlement
Board President Nancy Peppler reported that the Cleveland Music School Settlement would not go forward with its proposal to buy or lease the Coventry property because it is not feasible at this time for the organization to raise the necessary money.
LWV observer: Nancy Dietrich.
These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.
These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.