[PC News] Parent Council News-Meeting Minutes

[Tammy Dance-Skinner]

Parent Council News<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />


   October 18, 2005


  

 

Inside This Issue ....

 

vMeeting Minutes

 

 

Albemarle County Public Schools

Parent Council Meeting Minutes

October 11, 2005

 

Members Present: D. Stollings, Agnor-Hurt; Kathy Osvath, Albemarle High School; T. Pajewski, Baker-Butler; H. Simons, Broadus Wood; S. Cushing,  Brownsville; D. Vermillion, Burley; P. Hutchins, Cale; C. Deale, Crozet; S. Bashline, Greer; M. Noble, Jouett; W. Ruschmann, Meriwether Lewis; J. Stokes, Murray Elementary; M. Marano, Murray High; J. Stern, Red Hill; C. Dillard, Stone-Robinson; R. Price, Stony Point; S. Walker, Sutherland; C. Adams, Walton; B. Dierolf, Western Albemarle High; M. Pawinski, Woodbrook; S. Newman, Yancey. 

 

School Board Members Present: S. Friedman, D. McKeel. 

 

School Division Staff Members Present: P. Moran, acting superintendent; C. Dyer, director, community engagement; B. Benson, executive director of curriculum, instruction and technology; J. Smith, coordinator, character education/youth service; B. Hairston, principal, Burley Middle School; L. Fendley, guidance counselor, Sutherland Middle School; R. Wharham, coordinator, adult and driver education; C. Sinatra, communications coordinator. 

 

Guests Present:  M. Lynch, Greer. 

 

1.      Announcements and Consent Agenda - Mr. Chip Deale, President

a.      Those who are not receiving meeting agendas, minutes and announcements by e-mail should submit their e-mail addresses to Mr. Deale.

b.      The November and December programs have been changed. In November, the program will focus on the world languages and the agenda will include a focus group session with Lisa Moorefield to provide feedback on concepts for a new school division identity project. In December, the program will be a Q&A with School Board representatives. Jon Stokes, who is running unopposed for the seat being vacated by Gordon Walker, will be one of the School Board representatives participating. 

c.      Minutes from the September meeting were approved as presented. 

 

2.      Students Make A Difference Day Report - Mr. Ron Price

a.      Students Make A Difference Day is October 22, 2005. This year we are doing an event at the end of the day to report out results of our efforts. With many schools focusing on hurricane relief projects, we will present the event as a celebration of caring for others not only outside our households but outside our community.

b.      Newsletter articles and event flyers were sent to schools. They will also be distributed through the Parent Council listserv tomorrow. 

c.      Some schools will need replacement banners. Mr. Deale said he would ask Photoworks Creative Group if they can produce more. Agnor-Hurt and Woodbrook said they will need banners.  

 

3.      Program Presentation: Bullying and School Climates - Ms. June Smith, Mrs. Leslie Fendley, and Dr. Bernard Hairston. 

a.      Ms. Smith gave a PowerPoint presentation about the school division's anti-bullying efforts. 

b.      The focus on bullying in Virginia schools is being emphasized more than before due to legislation Delegate Rob Bell sponsored that was approved. The legislation revised the Code of Virginia and requires schools to address bullying through character education and their code of conduct. Albemarle County Public Schools Policy JBA addresses both bullying and harassment.

c.      To identify bullying incidents, three things must be observed: Aggressive behavior that is intentional, an imbalance of power (person being bullied has difficult time defending self), and repetition over time.  

d.      There are many different forms of bullying: Physical; verbal, non-verbal or emotional, and cyber. 

e.      Schools that have trained staff in anti-bullying tend to report higher numbers of incidents because the staff is educated and knows what to look for. 

f.       This year Albemarle County has three certified trainers in the Olweus Bullying Prevention Model. The model is among the best-researched and widely used intervention programs. The program goals are to: Reduce existing bullying problems; prevent the development of new bullying problems, and improve peer relations at the school. 

g.      Burley and Sutherland have gone through the Olweus model training. Training is scheduled for Jouett, Walton, and Henley. The school division anticipates starting to roll-out the program at the elementary level next school year. 

 

4.      Group Dialogue: Bullying and School Climates - Ms. June Smith, Mrs. Leslie Fendley, and Dr. Bernard Hairston. 

a.      Dr. Hairston said Burley has had an anti-bullying program since 2000. The school is using the Olweus model to change its program focus. The original program emerged during the school improvement planning process. There was a climate survey for students, parents, and staff, and in the school safety area it showed some students saying they didn't feel comfortable at school. This led to a study of bullying and the program emerged from there. Burley collected data to establish benchmarks and from the data, they know the program is very effective. Burley is down to about five percent of students reporting that they have been bullied. The school has an anti-bullying team in place that met monthly last year and talked about how they could institutionalize what's going on because an effective program shouldn't be driven by one or two people but expanded out to the whole group. The school worked with the University of Virginia to obtain a $50,000 grant and is using the grant to implement a research-based, proven model called Olweus. Right now Burley is training every staff member in the Olweus model, from bus drivers and cafeteria workers to teachers. 

b.      Mrs. Fendley said at Sutherland they have had school climate programs including an advisory program that involves classroom meetings and discussions on respect, a peer mediation program and others but did not have an anti-bullying program. Last month Ms. Smith trained the school's bully prevention team and recently trained teachers. The school still needs to train support staff and complete a climate survey. They have started classroom meetings to get the definition of bullying out to students. They find the power imbalance part of bullying is the toughest one to understand because of the nuances. The staff really appreciated the definition of what power imbalance is so they can really recognize it and intervene more. Staff feels more comfortable in this area now because the definitions are out. 

c.      Dr. Hairston said that the anti-bullying program sometimes needs to stretch beyond students to adults. There can be teachers who are bullying or parents. He said sometimes he stops to examine his actions to look at whether or not he is acting like a bully.  

 

Questions and Answers 

 

Q1: What do you do to prevent bullying? 

A: Dr. Hairston said with Olweus there are four components - the community, classroom, school, and individual. With the individual component, we ask where the hot spots are for bullying. Our students say 33 percent of bullying occurs in the classrooms or in the locker room so we use that information to locate adults in different places in the school. The students identify bullies and victims and we have groups for them. We monitor bullies and often contact parents and say we are noticing these behaviors. They've had presentations from people from the Commonwealth's attorney office or the School Resource Office to discuss the legal and criminal ends of bullying. The survey really drives their actions.  

 

Mrs. Fendley said at Sutherland the goal is for students to feel safe. The school is still in the defining stage and hasn't done the survey but their goal is for students to feel safe and have an adult to go to. They try to make sure every student has a voice and an adult to talk to through their mentor program. 

 

Q2: Once you started talking about bullying, did you find more people reporting issues?

A: Mrs. Fendley said yes and the school reviews each report of bullying on a case-by-case basis. Dr. Hairston said when Burley does assemblies on bullying, the number of reported incidents would increase. That happened for three or four years consistently and then leveled-out. Mrs. Fendley said Sutherland plans to have townhall meetings with each grade level to help get the word out. 

 

Q3: What do you see as primary characteristics in a bully? How can parents work with kids to make sure their kids aren't being the bully? 

A: Dr. Hairston said they know from research that it starts at home by kids emulating behaviors they see at home. It seems to start in elementary and peak in middle. You need to look at the different types of bullying. Social bullies are the most difficult to identify and change. The physical bullies are the easiest to identify and track. Characteristics are hard to define. Last year they included the identification of kids who are popular in school and try to relate that with also being identified as a bully. Sometimes bullying ties into social status and perceived power. Ms. Smith said there are many misconceptions of bullying that include people thinking bullies are those with low self-esteem when it's really the opposite. Bullies also can also get themselves out of situations because they can talk their way out of it with adults. They often are very popular. 

 

In terms of prevention, Dr. Hairston said he's learned over time as an administrator that if there's a conflict with a bully and victim that he should not bring them both in at the same time because it doesn't bring balance. He somehow has to balance the power. He learned from experience that a bully will intimidate a victim even in his office while he's trying to figure out a situation. Sometimes the victim will apologize to the bully in these meetings. He's learned to interview separately and give that person a voice of power. If he needs to have them together, he may invite two or three friends in for the victim to balance the power. 

 

Ms. Smith said it's also important to be aware that peer mediation and conflict resolution are ineffective in resolving bully incidents because of the balance of power issues. 

 

Q4: Will all bus drivers receive training in anti-bullying? 

A: Ms. Smith said eventually all bus drivers at the schools participating in the Olweus model will receive training. Dr. Hairston said it was very difficult to make happen at his school; it took them three years to get there. They have a bus driver on the school's anti-bullying committee but it's difficult because a bus driver's first responsibility is to concentrate on the road and not the back of the bus. We did it this year to educate them and to provide strategies to address bullying through the Olweus model. This program helps to move power from the bully to the victim through the kids around them. With bus drivers, we gave them strategies to deal with kids one-on-one to shift that power with kids to victims. 

 

Q5: It seems that by the end of middle school, kids move into cliques and that some cliques are bullying cliques. Where are the elementary schools on this? 

A: Ms. Smith said we rolled out the program this year because this model said bullying peaks in middle school and that's where we want to address it first. Dr. Hairston said Burley's program has been proactive. He said over the years he's done several programs at different schools and we'll probably see an increase in that because of the legislation changes. Ms. Smith said with only three trainers in the county in this model, it will take longer to get to all schools. Ron Price said this may be something the Parent Council wants to get behind and ask the School Board to fund. 

 

Q6: Does the model take into consideration different approaches for grade levels?

A: Dr. Hairston said the model is designed to allow a great deal of flexibility for schools. For example, a standard for the model is you'll use the survey and do it twice a year. The model does not provide curriculum for you - there's a few sample lesson plans - so as a school, you would have to develop lesson plans. A few years ago Burley did a lesson on tattling and used it at sixth grade but it wouldn't work for eighth grade. Ms. Smith said for the first year, we will follow our schools' progress to see how the program is working or not working and how the results are related to the fidelity to the plan. There has to be established time during the day that is there if kids need to talk about bullying issues. How they do it is up to the school. There are some guidelines and certain standards every school can follow but there is room to customize. Dr. Hairston said there's a price to this program. 

 

Q7: Is this an example of an unfunded mandate? 

A: Dr. Hairston said the law doesn't require you to use or create this program. Ms. Smith said what the law says is that the inappropriateness of bullying must be addressed through character education - that's it. But character education is not funded by the state. This approach as well as community service is to be integrated into our curriculum - it shouldn't be an add-on that becomes something else that a teacher has to teach. Debbie Stollings, who teaches at Agnor-Hurt, said if you use these strategies in a classroom, even just the class meeting strategy alone, it really changes the atmosphere in a good way. 

 

Q8: At our school our social worker meets with kids every two weeks and it seems at our school that ever since kindergarten it's been put-downs. Our school has zero tolerance and I never feel we're adrift but it is important to have something of this caliber. 

A: Ms. Smith said some  schools have something in place to deal with these issues and that Olweus is one model.  

 

Q9: Do the high schools or other places have troupes that could come into the schools and give performances on this? It might be something our middle schools could do to get the word out to elementary schools. 

A: Dr. Hairston said Burley has done this. Ms. Smith said one of the most effective assemblies she had seen was at Burley with a former student who came back and talked about how it was for him to be bullied when he was in middle school. Sutherland has held drama performances for the elementary schools in its feeder pattern. The programs are out there. Ms. Smith said there's a lot to be said for doing one program because it creates a series of experts speaking the same language. Dr. Hairston said there was resistance when he started putting these programs in from students who thought they couldn't stop it. It's just now turning a corner after four years. It's the same with teachers. 

 

Q10: How do you get information to parents? 

A: Dr. Hairston said the best tool we have to educate parents is through the students. Kids know what to tell you. Our best source is doing a good job with kids at school and they will talk about it in the home. Ms. Smith said she is available to do trainings for staff or parent groups on bullying. 

 

Q11: Does the county intervene if something is going on in after-school sports or after-school programs?

A: Dr. Hairston said those situations must be put in context. If they see something after school then they need to report it to the school or the appropriate program. 

 

5. Idea Exchange: Cultural Arts and Assemblies - Parent Council Representatives

·        The Greer cultural arts coordinator asked to pass a list around to collect e-mails for other coordinators at the various schools. Meredith Noble is now finding that there are many programs that are cheaper when one school can partner with another school. There are many free opportunities.  For example, at Albemarle High they're doing a production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and are offering sneak previews during the day.  All you have to do is arrange transportation for your students to attend. Meredith's focus is on exposure and getting kids to experience a variety of things they might not see outside of school. 

·        At Woodbrook, they used leftover funds from the previous year and this year brought the mobile aquarium that's $750 a day. The feedback Monica Pawinski gets from faculty is to give a little bit of science, fine arts, and language arts that might pull in the Standards of Learning (SOL). School assemblies can be a big racket and big business and she gets a ton of junk mail. It's hard to know what's good or bad and she would like to have an exchange among Parent Council members to find out which groups work well and which ones don't. Just about all assemblies show SOL links in their marketing materials.  

·        Most schools reported that their assemblies have a connection to the curriculum although sometimes they are just for fun. Most run the assembly ideas through the principal for approval. 

·        Does anyone use the Virginia Discovery Museum Star Lab? Some said it's good for small groups. One parent said he sat in on the 10-15 minute program and it was nice.  

·        Cale reported it is partnering with Brownsville for a Young Audiences of Virginia assembly. By doing one at one school in the morning and the second at another school in the afternoon, they're getting a discount. The organization said it has an agreement with a county in North Carolina where it writes a grant to cover the bulk of costs so it becomes a low-cost cultural event for that division's schools. "Hoofing Across America" is really looking to partner with counties but it would need a point person in the county system who could look out a year ahead and determine in 2006-07 if schools would participate. It ends up being a contract with the county and we would need to have a point person. Because they do all the grant writing, it seems to be a win-win. The Kim and Jimbo Cary World Music Program was recommended. Hoofing across America is two performances for $750. 

·        Jim Weiss is a local performer who was recommended by Woodbrook and Crozet representatives.  

·        There are some free opportunities: The Tuesday evening concert series from UVa; the Wednesday morning concert at Charlottesville High School that's open to whoever signs up first; the UVa symphonic preludes group will bring professional musicians into your schools. The first one is free and after that it's very minimal cost. Contact the UVa music department for more information.  

·        How do you know whether something is coordinated with SOLs? At Agnor-Hurt, there is not a cultural arts coordinator. Teachers get the information and complete a form they turn into the PTO to request funds. Teachers make sure it's appropriate for their audience. 

·        Dr. Moran said she hears the need for working with division staff to bring some systemic focus to channel information and give access, whether it's to share programs or knowing what's available so it doesn't have to be recreated. 

·        Kathy Osvath suggested organizing a "blog" on the Parent Council website where everyone could put down their comments and give reviews of the different events schools have and provide a list of upcoming potential events. It could be a really interactive site. Mr. Deale said this is a good topic for the team that's working on a redesign of the Parent Council website. 

·        One parent said there are many problems with transportation for events. She chaperoned an Albemarle High field trip to see Hamlet in Staunton and had to wait until 9:45 a.m. for the bus to arrive and then had to leave the event at 1 p.m.  As a result, the buses ran late for elementary and middle school. This issue forces us to bring assemblies to schools and not go out because it's not easy to make things happen within that small timeframe. 

·        At Yancey, because of their location, they always try to think of things they can bring to the school. A third grade drawing project was conducted recently and the kids were invited to bring adults and it turned into a mini-Family Day. Stefanie Newman said the school is trying to partner with high school students to form sketch buddies with the kids.

·        Dr. Moran reminded parents that the Festival of the Book is coming up and it's a good time to ask what's coming because the organizers really try to push people into the schools. Sometimes there are fees involved. 

 

5.      School Division Report - Dr. Pam Moran, acting superintendent; Mr. Bruce Benson, executive director of curriculum, instruction and technology, and Mr. Richard Wharam, coordinator of adult education and driver's education 

a.      Dr.  Moran said she sees the Parent Council as a place for parents to give feedback to staff and for staff to keep parents in the loop on items that are going to the School Board. We should make it a formal part of what we do as we're often asked if we've collected parent feedback when we take items to the School Board. We would want to bring information about moderate and significant changes in schools so you can inform the process as it moves along rather than at the end. There are two items tonight we will share that have to do with potential changes. 

b.      Middle School Program Guide

                                                              i.      Mr. Benson said we're in the process of developing a new draft of the middle school program guide. It was created in 1997 and is out of date and doesn't reflect what our program offerings look like in middle school today. We're working through a process to update the guide through all the content areas, including exploratories. A steering committee is leading the project. The project will help to set a baseline for expectations across all five middle schools. 

                                                            ii.      We have established a middle school program website as a new way for us to collect some feedback. If you visit the website, you can view the old document and the draft of the revision. The website address is www.k12albemarle.org/middleschool. On the website, there is a Feedback Message Board people can post comments to. It is a moderated board which means Mr. Benson has to clear the message but all he's checking for is a valid e-mail address so we don't allow anonymous posts so there is an opportunity to reply. Dr. Moran said the school division feels this is a way to make the work of the committee more transparent to the greater community of Albemarle. She thinks this will be a model for some other areas to get people to get involved and put input in at a time that may cause people to approach tasks differently. She encourages parent groups to include the link in their newsletters so people know it's available. 

 

Questions and Answers: 

 

Q1: This has been going on for a while. Why is it being pushed out now, not earlier? 

A: Mr. Benson said there were some subcommittees working over summer. There was a need for people working in specific program areas to examine offerings. We still have some subcommittee recommendations that need to be submitted. It's not on our ideal timeline but it's moving along. 

 

Q2: Last year, when changes were made at the middle school, it was like people were in the dark until the decision was to be made and we read about it in the Daily Progress. Is this along the same lines?

A: Mr. Benson said last year there were a number of middle school reports that were made that involved a lot of input from people but never reached the point of implementation. Dr. Moran said that what's different with the middle school program guide is that people wouldn't see the draft as it evolved if we were operating like we did in the past. 

 

Q3: Every middle school has a parent on the steering committee and that's of value but why not more - is it too difficult logistically? 

A: Dr. Moran said what we're trying to do by putting it in front of this group, because it represents all parents in the county, is to get people into the loop at a point where they can still have some influence. We would like parent representatives to take this information back to their schools and share it. If we find we need to get to things a bit deeper, then we think the Board would say to take the time needed to do right.

 

Q4: How were parents chosen for the steering committee? 

A: Mr. Benson said Principals were asked to find a parent organization representative. Paul Hutchins said he was asked to be on the Cale design committee and found it very difficult to come up with a working subcommittee. He said there are some of us who want a whole pile of people involved in the process but then the challenge is you can't get any work done. He said he thinks having one parent involved from each school makes sure there's at the least a voice from all the people involved. He said he appreciates what Dr. Moran said and believes the most important thing is for Parent Council representatives to take the information back to their schools and make sure anyone who has feedback on this issue gets on the website and plugs it in. That's our responsibility. Mr. Benson said there have been many people involved in this and now there's an opportunity to put it out there and ask people what they think. 

 

c.      Proposed New Driver's Education Requirement 

                                                              i.      Mr. Wharam will present recommendations to the School Board on October 27, 2005 for changes to the driver's education requirements that he believes can help lower crash rates for teens in Albemarle County. 

                                                            ii.      The recommended change will be to require parents to attend a two-hour seminar before students can take the driver's education behind-the-wheel. He said he's run a "teaching your child to drive" program since 2001 and it usually draws only 6-12 parents and we train about 700 students a year. 

                                                          iii.      This program is modeled after one in a northern Virginia county which saw 15 student deaths in car crashes within a few months. Since they implemented this program, they haven't had any crashes. In Virginia, the statistics show that in 2003, 15 percent of first-year drivers were involved in crashes. In Albemarle County, the statistics are 16 for Albemarle High, 18 for Western Albemarle High, and 20 for Monticello High in 2003. 

                                                          iv.      The program would be organized to offer one parent seminar at all three comprehensive high schools each month. Parents would receive a certificate that they submit when signing up their students for the behind-the-wheel program. State law requires parents to supervise their child's driving for 40 hours; typically parents do 16 hours and send students to a driver's education program for the remainder. 

                                                            v.      A national organization for driver education has shown that driver's education only impacts students for six months and then they begin to emulate the behaviors they see on the road. This seminar will help parents realize they're being modeled, it will provide statistics, review requirements, and provide tips for parents to increase their comfort level with training and having a young driver. The seminar would also involve insurance representatives to show parents what policies look like and cost for clear driver records as well as when points or crashes are involved. 

d. Redistricting

                                            i.            Dr. Moran said the School Board approved the superintendent's original redistricting proposal at its October 10, 2005 meeting. She said we know it's a difficult thing for people to go through. The School Board has said it wants to improve the process. Dr. Moran said she would like the Parent Council to inform the process. She provided a handout related to proposed policy changes on capacity triggers but she thinks what the more important part of making it different in the future is in the process for engaging community in a way that's not about people feeling they have to defend turf or compete with each other, but look at a process to go through this as a community from beginning to end. She shared the capacity trigger proposals but there is not a process behind them yet; that's the work the School Board will do this fall. She said she shared an idea with Mr. Deale to involve the Parent Council as a whole or through a subgroup to have a voice in the process. 

 

Questions and Answers

 

Q1: Do you think the triggers start too late?

A: Dr. Moran said that's the type of information we need to collect from people. 

 

Q2: The last time we met, we were told the decision would be made on October 27, 2005 and it wasn't, why?

A: Dr. Moran said at the School Board meeting after the Parent Council met in September, Board members felt they had the information they needed and if they could, would make decision on October 10, 2005 but push it out to the 27th if needed. Mrs. McKeel said what the School Board will do on the policy changes in November is one of the most important tasks because we will redistrict again although we don't know when. The process is critical and we need to really figure this out as a community. We really want your help in getting this process right. 

 

Q3: Although the answers aren't needed now, at some point we would like to know what it means to say a school is at 95 or 100 percent of capacity. We'd like to know the capacity of all the schools, is that information easily accessible? Does capacity have a relationship between student balance, etc.? 

A. Dr. Moran said the information would be provided. 

 

 

6. The next Parent Council meeting will be November 1, 2005 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 320 of the Albemarle County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, in Charlottesville. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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