Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education work session highlights 4-21-2020

APRIL 21, 2020

 

  • Early Childhood Education Task Force
  • Advanced Placement programming
  • Board approvals

 

The meeting began at 7 p.m. and was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. It was conducted remotely, with each board member, the treasurer and superintendent joining the meeting from their homes. Board President Jodi Sourini and members James Posch, Dan Heintz, Malia Lewis and Beverly Wright were present. Also attending were Superintendent Elizabeth Kirby and Treasurer Scott Gainer.

Early Childhood Education Task Force

District staff Karen Liddell-Anderson, Lisa Vahey, Danielle Foran and Erin Hanna, and several members of the Early Childhood Task Force, updated the board on progress in early childhood education programing. The task force surveyed parents of pre-K children enrolled in the program as to their priorities. The parents' single most important concern was the quality of programming. The task force's goal is to identify the future of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights (CHUH) preschool programming. There was discussion as to the best date for the cut off for kindergarten entrance. CHUH presently uses the date of September 30.

The task force discussed how to maintain and improve best practices in preschool education, how to best use facilities, the potential impact of the school levy passage or failure, and the impact of COVID-19 on planning future programming.

Advanced Placement (AP) programming

Heights High staff and teachers Alisa McKinnie, Charlene Searcy, Joyce Bukovac, Shawn Washington, Olivia Fatica and Claudine McCoy spoke about the district's AP programming. The high school offers 20 AP courses. The newest high school course is AP computer science. 

The CHUH school district was awarded the AP Honor Roll designation for its increase in underrepresented students while maintaining or increasing the number of students receiving a score of three or higher on their AP exams. The goal is to continue engaging underrepresented students in AP courses and to retain a high-quality AP program.

Board approvals

The board unanimously approved a resolution to authorize distance learning for days and hours that school buildings are closed to students during the 2019-2020 school year due to COVID-19. They also approved a resolution to accept the lowest responsible and responsive bids for roof replacement projects.

Upcoming meetings are a regular meeting on May 5 and a work session on May 19. Both meetings will begin at 7 p.m. and be held virtually. The virtual meetings will be streamed directly on the district’s YouTube channel. They can also be viewed at:https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/8f442366-4bbd-4160-aaeb-ece0f7ab6534

LWV Observer: Robin Koslen.

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Volume 13, Issue 6, Posted 9:23 AM, 05.28.2020