Friday, January 24, 2003

Board of Education has busy week

The Fulton County Board of Education conducted a busy meeting last week. Here are some of the highlights:

Spotlight on Achievement

Superintendent Mike Payne presented the annual State of the System address highlighting accomplishments of 2001-2002.

Information and Community Relations

Oak Knoll, Conley Hills, and Parklane elementary schools ­ honored by the Office of Educational Accountability and Georgia Board of Education for gains made on the 2001-2002 CRCT. The three schools had at least a 10 percent gain in reading, English/language arts, and math scores in all grades tested.

Tri-Cities High Performing Arts Magnet ­ first place at the Georgia High School Association's AAAAA State One-Act Play competition with the musical "Once On This Island."

Milton High Marching Band ­ Grand Champion Award at the 2002 Bronco Marching Classic, a competition among bands in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. The band also received the Susan B. Cotton Award for Musical Excellence.

Geri Collins ­ River Trail Middle School Teacher named the Outstanding Social Studies Educator by the Georgia Council for the Social Studies.

River Eves Elementary ­ Weyerhaeuser School of Excellence Recycling Grant from the Georgia Recycling Coalition.

Roswell Women's Club ­ Friend of Public Education in recognition of more than $11,000 to the Fulton Education Foundation to fund Teacher MiniGrants. Over the past five years, the Roswell Women's Club has donated more than $65,000 to the MiniGrant program.

Instructional Services

First reading. The Board received information on the following for first reading. These items will be voted on at a future meeting.

McNair Middle presented a proposal to convert to a year-round school calendar, beginning with the 2004-2005 year.

The Health Education Advisory Committee made three recommendations for supplemental sex education materials and resources.

Publishers were recommended for K-8 language arts textbook adoption, including support materials for special education. Following extensive review and input from staff and parents, Harcourt textbooks are the recommendation for K-5 language arts and a series produced by Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson is the 6-8 recommendation.

The Curriculum Department proposed two new courses in Family and Consumer Sciences and two courses in Marketing. These would be piloted during the 2003-2004 school year.

Charter school petitions. The Board approved the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter petition. The school plans to open in the fall of 2003, serving grades 5-8. Charter petitions were denied for the Atlanta School of Performing Arts, North Fulton Language Academy, Oxford Academy, and Technical Skills Academy.

Field trips. Student field trips received approval.

Board Matters

Election of Board officers. Katie Reeves was elected to a two-year term as Board President. Zenda Bowie will serve a one-year term as Board Vice President.

Redistricting schedule. Changes were approved to the school attendance zone redistricting schedule. Under the new schedule, community meetings will be held February through April for the Wilson Road elementary, Cogburn Road elementary, Cogburn Road middle, Northpoint Parkway high, and Milton replacement high school sites. The Board will receive zone line recommendations for first reading in May/June with final adoption in September 2003. The new zone lines will be effective Fall 2004.

Attendance zones. The Board received for second reading the proposed 2003-2004 attendance zones for south Fulton elementary schools and north Fulton middle schools. The Board did request staff to make adjustments to both the north and south Fulton lines. These new recommendations are posted at www.fulton.k12.ga.us/aboutfulton/redistricting.

Approved. The monthly purchasing report received approval. Approval was given for a 50-year land lease for the construction of a Sheltering Arms Child Care Center at the Oakley Township elementary school site. As with similar partnerships with Sheltering Arms, school system employees will receive first priority for enrollment and discounted tuition. The Board also approved the monthly Capital Programs Board Action Report detailing construction work at Cogburn Road elementary and middle school sites, Oakley Township elementary school site, Lake Windward and Gullatt elementary schools. Program administration services also were approved to provide assistance to the Capital Programs Department on Needs Assessment II items and the small renovations program.

Executive Session

Acting on Executive Session student matters, the Board upheld the decisions of the hearing officers in two cases, modified the decision in one case, and remanded one case back to the hearing officer. Other Executive Session action included:

Approving the closing of properties for the Freemanville Road high school site,

Accepting a proposed Workers' Compensation settlement offer,

Supporting local legislation to increase the salary of the Board President to $1700 per month and raising the salaries of the other Board members to $1500 per month. In subsequent years, the Board would receive the same percentage salary increase as given to Principals and Assistant Principals.