BOARD CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2006

 

 

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, June 19, 2006, at 6:15 p.m. in the Education Center Dining Room. Present were Curriculum Committee Member Richard Agretto, director of special education; and Board Members Rosario Amato, Dr. Craig Haytmanek, William Heske, Charlene Koch, Loretta Leeson, and Diane Rowe. Also in attendance were: Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, superintendent of schools; Robert Gross, assistant superintendent for human resources; Robin Lutcher, director of information technologies; Stanley J. Majewski, Jr., assistant to the superintendent for finance and administration; Thomas Washington, director of student services; George VanDoren, coordinator of English language arts; Joseph Rahs, principal, Fountain Hill Elementary School; and representatives of the press.

 

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR TO VISITORS (15 minutes allowed)

 

1.     Mr. Stephen Antalics read a letter concerning the actions of board members and concerns over the dismissal of Mrs. Leeson as committee chairperson.

 

2.     Mr. Paul Becker of 905 Pennsylvania Avenue, stated that his property was adjacent to the Rosemont building, and he had concerns regarding the removal of the trailers located at this site. Dr. Lewis replied that the district will be meeting with the City of Bethlehem soon to discuss this situation.

 

3.     Mr. Robert Haas of 1928 Kenmore Avenue, stated that he lives near the Rosemont building, and he presented the board with a list of concerns regarding the Career Academy being located at this site. The appropriate administrators will review the questions and respond to his concerns.

 

CAREER ACADEMY UPDATE

 

Mr. VanDoren and Mr. Rahs presented a PowerPoint presentation on the status of the Career Academy. It was noted that the Pathways Academy would accommodate students in grades four through six and the Career Academy would accommodate all secondary students.

 

Mr. Amato requested clarification for entrance into the new program. He stated that he misunderstood the application process and the fact that parents will not have the option to determine whether or not their children will be placed into this program. It was suggested that Mr. Amato review the qualification form and see how the administration is choosing students to attend this new program.

 

The administration also noted that an open house will be held on Thursday, July 20, 2006, at the Career Academy, 815 Pennsylvania Avenue, Bethlehem, PA, beginning at 7:00 p.m. for all parents and students who will be attending the new program.

 

Mrs. Leeson stated that she has concerns with the structure of the program.

 

Mr. Heske was concerned that the district has tried three similar programs before, and they have failed after two or three years. He suggested we go slow and evaluate the results after one year. He feels that if we even save one-third of the students, we are making progress.

 

Mrs. Koch suggested the district evaluate individual students not the entire group. She suggested the district also have students examined for visual/health problems. Mr. VanDoren noted that the district has already taken steps to have the health van as part of the new program.

 

The administration has already assigned the following students in the new program:

            125 students – Career Academy

            130 students – Regional Academic Standards Academy

            22 students – Pathways Academy

 

Mrs. Rowe thanked the committee members for all the work they have done on this project.

 

TRACKING UPDATE

 

Dr. Lewis reviewed an update on tracking. He presented a summary of the meetings being planned, and a review of the meetings held to date by the six secondary schools with parents regarding their plans to group students for the coming year. He noted that the district is not disassembling the current procedures, but they are looking at a better way to assess students and assign them to appropriate tracks.

 

Mr. Amato noted that the press states that the district is eliminating tracking, and this is not true. The district still has A, B, and C tracking. The building principals are given leeway to place students in different tracks. He also noted that at East Hills Middle School it appears that they have combined the A and B tracks. He did not object moving an individual student up a level, he objected to combining A and B tracks.

 

DROPOUT REPORT

 

Mr. Washington presented on update on the Dropout Rate Analysis. He noted that the data over the past three years illustrates that Bethlehem Area School District has a dropout rate that ranges from a low of 3.8 percent to a high of 4.8 percent. The higher dropout rate coincides with the higher enrollment school years.

 

 

 

 

OPEN FORUM

 

Mr. Heske distributed material he wanted to share concerning “Living in the New Flat World” by Thomas Friedman.

 

OTHER – Nothing to report

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

 

Minutes Prepared By:

 

 

 

 

Charlotte L. Zimmerman

Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction