Dixon SBDM, parents want additional teacher

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Presentations, public comments, and a discussion with the Dixon Site-Based Decision Making Council kicked off the Webster County Board of Education’s meeting at Dixon Elementary Thursday night. However, several other planned presentations and action items were either tabled or hurried through after the school board took a break to eat that took up more than an hour of the approximately two-hour open session of the meeting.
During their joint discussion with the school board, the Dixon SBDM and several parents who attended the meeting in a show of support urged the board to re-instate a teacher position that had been cut from the budget last year as part of a attendance-based staff-to-student revision across the district last year. The cuts were based roughly on a state formula, though Webster County Assistant Superintendent Rachel Yarbrough said Webster County’s approach to it meant fewer staff positions were cut from each of the schools.
“The state sets the minimum requirements and we try to be as generous as possible,” Yarbrough said.
Those who spoke to the board on Dixon Elementary’s behalf said some students’ grades are slipping because of overcrowding in some of the classrooms. Emily Little told the board she has fourth and seventh grade children.
“The stress level is up here,” she said as she waved her hand above her head.
As the discussion continued, Lisa Hawkins, a teacher at Dixon Elementary, told the board her child, who is a student at the school, has been slipping in his grades due to difficulty in scheduling time in the school’s computer lab. Hawkins suggested the difficulty is tied to the large number of students in her child’s class.
Another parent, Sara Artman, shared her concern about the lack of teachers in the building, and threatened to pull her child out of Dixon Elementary if the board didn’t act.
Webster County Board of Education Chair James Nance said hiring another teacher is difficult because the district’s finances are limited.
“Money is tight,” Nance said. “If you can find the money, we’ll spend it. This board has never failed to spend money for children.”
Others on the board also sympathized with the Dixon SBDM, but agreed with Nance about the district’s finances.
“Dixon is different,” board member E Carolyn Tucker said. “We have a different kind of facility here. There are too many distractions and not enough walls. I’m here to cry with you. I know what you’re going through. I just don’t know how to help.”
Carolyn Tapp then asked the board to work with the SBDM to restore teacher positions.
“You have educators here speaking to you now saying that we may take a step backwards, or even three steps backwards,” Tapp said.
Parents also questioned Dixon school policy regarding parent volunteers. Artman said the school doesn’t allow parents to volunteer in their children’s classrooms, but after some discussion of the topic Dixon Elementary principal Mike Crouse said parents are allowed to volunteer at their children’s school. The issue of whether parents could volunteer in their children’s classroom was never directly discussed by the SBDM or the school board during the meeting.
Nance concluded the discussion with the SBDM by instructing the members to come up with a plan on how to implement another teacher in the building, and invited them to bring such a plan to the school board’s meeting on Monday, Oct. 22. He then called for the previously mentioned break.
When the board returned, Nance immediately tabled two presentations that were on the agenda until the board’s next meeting, one from Yarbrough regarding CATS test results, the other from Tucker regarding efforts in the district’s transportation department to adjust bus schedules so they’re more efficiently run.
Despite her presentation being tabled, Yarbrough quickly reviewed some of the information she planned to present. According to Yarbrough, the Webster County School District moved from 61st place up to 53rd among school districts in Kentucky that took the CATS test, according to actual scores. The district has steadily increased its ranking, according to information she provided the board, and was once listed 111th. She also pointed out that Providence schools “recorded the highest accountability index results since 2000.”
The board then briefly went into closed session to discuss pending litigation stemming from construction work at Slaughters Elementary, but returned with nothing to report. The board has previously refused to pay the construction company that handled the work its final payment, citing several areas of concern about the workmanship on the project.
Earlier in the meeting, before the board’s discussion with Dixon SBDM, several public presentations were offered on varying topics. First to speak was Scott Shoulders, president of the Webster County Dugout Club. Shoulders presented the board a written proposal to build a “press-box” and storage facility at the high school baseball field. The proposal includes several drawings Shoulders said a student designed as well as cost projections for building the facility, approximately $6,700.
Shoulders also told the board he has shared the plans with district architect Tim Townsend.
The board then approved the facility plan, which according to the proposal, carries no financial cost for the district.
Next to speak was Webster County resident Robin Rhea who questioned the board’s plans for renovation and new construction work at Webster County High School. Rhea objected primarily to plans to raze existing structure as part of the overall construction work, and talked with the board about various types of building materials and bricks.
At the end of his presentation, several board members stressed to those attending the meeting that they had already considered most of the issues Rhea brought up. Rhea began to interject, but Nance stopped him.
“You talked a lot,” Nance said. “Now it’s my time. I haven’t seen you here at any of those meetings (where the renovation project was first discussed). The state’s (Kentucky Department of Education) not going to let us do a lot of stuff because they don’t agree with it.”
Board member Tim McCormick agreed with Nance regarding KDE restrictions.
“Tim Townsend talks to the state and then he advises us,” McCormick said. “They (KDE) won’t even come and talk to us.”
Rhea then presented a written list of topics to each board member.
“I’d like to give you a list of stuff that should have been talked about before you started doing this,” Rhea said as he handed out the copies of paper.
Nance was prepared to move on to the next topic on the agenda, but Tucker and board member Lisa Preston insisted on more discussion, after Tucker expressed concern about leaving the matter unaddressed.
“If I were sitting out there... I’d think, ‘isn’t all that true,’” Tucker said. “I’m afraid that’s going to be the feeling everyone will leave with here tonight.”
Nance again said he was ready to move on, but Preston asked for a “brief comment” from Townsend.
Townsend stood up, and explained that Webster County High School is approaching the end of it’s life-span.
“The reason the thing even stood after the tornado was the pipes held the ceiling together,” he said. “The building is designed to stand 40 to 50 years. It’s lived its life.”
At that point, Nance then insisted they proceed to the next item on the agenda, and board members moved to the table where SBDM members were seated to begin the joint discussion.
In other business, the Webster County Board of Education adopted a series of action items by consent, including a trip request for Slaughters Elementary eighth grade class, a second reading of revised board polices regarding graduation, alternative credit options, and athletic insurance for students, payment to a contractor for work on the soccer field, and the declaration of property in Providence as surplus. The board had previously accepted a purchase bid on the property for approximately $5,000.
The board then went into closed session for the purpose of student hearings and returned with nothing to report.