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| 5/27/2009 11:36:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Less time with principal
Students spending more time in class under program
By Debra Rawlings
Rantoul Press reporter
Revamping the discipline referral program at Pleasant Acres Primary Grade Level Center has kept more students out of the principal's office and in class, Principal Cliff Englishharden told the RCS board Thursday.
From September through March, 241 students were given office discipline referrals compared to 715 last year for a 66 percent reduction.
Englishharden said that added up to 26 student-days that were spent in the classroom instead of the office.
"The more kids are in the classroom, the more opportunity they have to get the information that will help them meet the standards," he said. "Behavior and academics go together."
What made the difference, Englishharden said, was empowering teachers to deal with minor discipline problems in the classroom.
Pleasant Acres, like other RCS schools, uses the Positive Behavior Incentive System to manage student behavior. At Pleasant Acres, the system is made up of six components - creed, expectations, incentives, lunch behavior program, celebrations and weekly lessons based on the expectations.
In the morning, students assemble in the gym to recite the school creed, "I'm ready; I'm respectful; I'm responsible." Throughout the day, they are rewarded for meeting behavioral expectations with tickets redeemable at the school store.
At the beginning of the school year, the store was stocked with pencils, crayons and lots of small trinkets appealing to children in kindergarten through third grade. Englishharden also promised the store would have bicycles and compact disc players available for students who saved enough tickets, which proved to be more popular than he had expected.
"We had no idea so many kids would be so invested in those tickets," he said.
The board also heard a third-quarter analysis of the SOAR program, an intensive tutoring and mentoring pilot program at J.W. Eater Junior High School.
The goal that Director Regina Crider and Academic Coordinator Cheryl Blackburn set was for students to maintain or achieve a 70-point goal in science, reading, math, social studies and language arts.
An analysis by University of Illinois graduate student Mona Taylor showed that on average, the students met or exceeded the goal in reading and improved to or stayed near the goal in the other subjects.
Originally, the program had been intended to serve six to eight sixth-graders, but ended up serving 10 students in sixth through eighth grade.
Crider said the same students will be enrolled in the program next year, but it will be expanded to reach additional children in all three grades.
Parents have been pulled in through personal contact from Crider. She hopes to take that to a new level next year.
"This year, we engaged them with homework; next year we hope to get them involved with the school through PTO (and other avenues)," Crider said.
Superintendent Bill Trankina said money set aside for Freedom School, which will not be held this year due to unrelated funding issues, will be funneled into SOAR instead. He said he and Crider have also discussed applying for Lumpkin Family Fund grants for the program.
Also at the meeting, the board dealt with union matters.
A five-year contract with transportation workers was ratified, one day after it was ratified by the union.
The contract is the first with Teamsters Local 26. It was reached May 19 after negotiations had continued for more than a year and will be retroactive to the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. Additional details were not available at press time.
The board also offered dates to the teachers union for beginning negotiations. The current contract expires in July.
In other business, the board set annual fees for the 2009-2010 school year as follows:
Materials fees K-8 - $44
Paper and computer-related fees for Eater students - $28
Locks for seventh and eighth grade - $7
Hall locks for sixth grade - $4
Separate votes to rescind letters of resignation effective at the end of the school year from Eater teachers Craig Swanson and Nicole DesJardins resulted in 3-3 ties. Voting in favor were board members John Brotherton, Bill Sweat and Mark Keyes. Opposing the motions were board members Teresa Turner, Saundra Uhlott and Kevin McCallister. Board member Kevin Modglin was absent.
The board accepted the resignations at an April 2 special meeting on a 5-0 vote by board members Turner, Uhlott, McCallister, Brotherton and Jeff Seegmiller. Sweat was absent.
Because of the tied vote, the motion to rescind will be brought before the board in a future meeting, board President Sweat said.
drawling@rantoulpress.com
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