Cleveland Heights - University Heights Board of Education meeting highlights [9-20-11]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

• Tax increment financing
• District goals and priorities for 2011-2012

All board members were present.

Tax increment financing

Scott Gainer, treasurer, announced that the tax increment financing agreement for Cedar Center (South Euclid) has been extended to December 2011.

District goals and priorities for 2011-2012

Jeffery Talbert, assistant superintendent, and members of his curriculum team stated that although the state report card was not as good as they would have liked, there were areas of improvement. These included: third grade and fifth grade math, sixth grade reading and math, and eighth grade math and science. The Annual Yearly Progress had only one area not met. In addition, Roxboro Elementary School achieved a rating of excellent with distinction and Noble Elementary School maintained an effective rating two years in a row.

The goals for the district continue:

• Goals 1 and 2

Increase student achievement in the core academic subjects of both reading and math by 15 percent by 2013 for all students in grades K-12.

• Goal 3

Decrease the number of instructional days lost due to discipline by 20 percent by 2013 through an increase in positive student, family, and community engagements.

Concerns will be addressed by changing literacy groupings, integrating English/language arts and social studies, and piloting three math programs.

Professional Learning Communities will have common time allocated daily for grade level collaboration.

District-led professional development meetings will be held five times during the year.

Tiger Nation was created to improve school culture and climate. The five themes for 2011-2012 are:

• Tiger Nation - K-12
• Tiger pledge and expectations
• Discipline progression
• Tiger proud and bully free
• Student assistance team

The assessment management system, purchased with Race to the Top funds, placed data directly in the hands of the teachers.

LWV observer: Adele Cohen.

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.