The Hickman Mills C-1 school district has laid down a path towards full accreditation in 2014.
The
C-1 administration unveiled eight priorities, complete with achievable goals,
in the freshly minted one-year blueprint they presented to the Board of Education
during a Tuesday, September 10 work session.
The
district garnered just 51.8% of the possible points under the first year of
MSIP 5, the state of Missouri’s updated standards for accreditation. The
district would need to garner 70% of the points to earn fully accredited status.
The one-year blueprint, and the action items within it, was designed to serve as
a living document that could help keep
the
district focused on obtaining their goals over the next year. The district
blueprint will also serve as a guideline for developing subsequent plans at each
of the district’s individual buildings.
“Once
this blueprint is approved, then the buildings will be in charge of developing
a system that mirrors that,” said C-1 superintendent Dr. Dennis Carpenter. “We’re
trying to operate as a school system.”
The
priorities outlined in the blueprint have been broken down into eight distinct
categories, each with its own action items and goals. Among the eight
priorities, the district has resolved to (1) ensure full accreditation, (2)
increase
academic achievement, (3) improve student attendance, (4) improve faculty and
staff attendance, (5) improve safety and discipline, (6) attract, retain, and ensure
the professional development of highly qualified teachers and staff, committed
to increased student achievement and
more effective teaching, (7) develop and coordinate capital improvement plans
in the areas of facilities and technology that support continuous improvement,
and
lastly, (8) to ensure the funding of priorities through an ongoing, coordinated
approach to district budgeting.
Carpenter
encouraged any feedback from the board during the presentation, with the hope that
he and his staff could make the requisite adjustments to the blueprint in time
to be approved at the Thursday, September 19 regular Board of Education work
session. The board obliged, especially when the topic came to the district’s
stated priority to ‘improve safety and discipline’ during the school year.
In
the wake of a September 5 attack by a parent against a kindergarten teacher at
Truman Elementary, board members displayed grave concerns about the safety
practices used within the district. Board member Shawn
Kirkwood
noted that in the previous few weeks, he had been able to get into various district
buildings easily, without identifying himself as a member of the school board.
“I’m
being let in the school blindly,” said Kirkwood. “On a day-by-day basis, the
protocols aren’t being kept.”
One
of the goals described within the safety portion of the one-year blueprint,
presented by C-1 Executive Director of Operations Steven Meyers, revealed that
the district had already planned to put together a Safety Committee headed by
Director of Security Sgt. Russ Dykstra. Dykstra would work with administrators
to raise safety awareness and develop new safety strategies. Meyers added that
the committee’s first step would be to investigate “the processes of dealing
with angry parents.”
But board member Darrell Curls said that he
wasn’t willing to wait for a committee to come up with an acceptable
solution.
“I
want to know what we have done, and what we are doing immediately,” said Curls.
“I want something brought to this board ASAP. We have to take care of our
buildings and our people. If we don’t, shame on us, because somebody is going
to be tremendously injured next time.”
Board
member Breman Anderson Jr. expressed a similar sentiment.
“We’re
all very concerned about situations that have taken place in the recent past,
especially as it relates to last week,” said Anderson. “We have to have some
type of plan that really encompasses the whole school in general.”
Superintendent
Carpenter acknowledged that the issue was serious, but maintained that the
district’s safety protocols
weren’t
overlooked on the day of the incident.
“I
will tell you on that particular afternoon, every protocol that we have was followed,”
said Carpenter. “I just want you to know that this is serious business for us.
On this particular day, there was no gap.”
Among
some of the other stated district goals for the next year are to institute
Mathematics and English Language Arts benchmarking, to begin taking part in
Truancy Court, to increase retention of certified and non-certified staff by
3%, and to earn ten out of ten MSIP 5 district attendance points after earning
zero in the first year of the MSIP 5 cycle.
“The
way Missouri looks at (attendance) is minute by minute by minute,” explained Associate
Superintendent
of
School Improvement and Accountability Casey Klapmeyer. “Anytime they’re gone,
those minutes accumulate. Our goal this year is 82% of our students at 90%
attendance or better. That would get us to six status points, and in terms of
what we would get in terms of progress, that will get us to ten out of ten.”
Although
the blueprint is not expected to be finalized until the regular board session
of September 19, board Vice President Dan Osman thanked the administration for
their efforts in compiling the district’s priorities for the coming year.
“Thank
you Dr. Carpenter, thank you administration, and thank you to staff for helping
out with this,”
said Osman. “This is the first time in two and a half years that I have seen
measurable goals for the district.”
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