Wednesday, March 19, 2003
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Wednesday, March 19, 2003 |
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BOE eyes college courses for h.s. seniors By J. FRANK LYNCH
Highly motivated Fayette students could complete their first year of college before ever receiving a high school diploma if a Post-Secondary Options Program is established in the county. Superintendent John DeCotis told school board members at Monday's regular meeting that officials from Georgia Military College, housed on the grounds of the old state capitol in Milledgeville, have inquired about offering the college-level classes at the LaFayette Educational Center. He suggested the Board consider the Post-secondary Options Program, or PSO, as another possible feature of the charter school concept already proposed for the LEC. PSO programs aren't the most accessible. Students must pass a number of criteria for admission, though the majority of tuition is waived. College credits are applied as well to the high school requirements, and the student must still take the state graduation exam to receive a high school diploma. Courses are generally liberal arts, core college classes. Residents are being asked to provide feedback to the charter school, which would combine various vocational, technical and post-secondary type classes for students across the county, at one central location. DeCotis said the PSO proposal seems to fit in well with that concept. "A student could go to college full-time and finish their senior year in high school about the same time," he said. Now, students seeking early admission to colleges must leave the county. Less than a handful of Fayette high school seniors take advantage of the PSO program, DeCotis said, but potentially many more would be interested if the classes were offered closer to home. Board Chairman Terri Smith questioned the quality of the college offerings. DeCotis said his experience had shown most classes were competitive, and that credits transferred to other institutions fairly easily. In addition, he said, the program would come "at no cost to us." While the district would lose funding for each student who opts for early college, "that's one less body we have to instruct." Board agreed to study the proposal further. FOREIGN TONGUES: The board heard an update from Cathy Geis, foreign language and social studies coordinator, on the district's language program. Fayette County is one of the few Georgia school districts that begins exposing students to a foreign language so young in kindergarten. Still, it's not offered at every school and then only 30 minutes a week. And much of the program has more to do with culture than language. "In 30 minutes a week, they're not learning that much of a foreign language," said board member Janet Smola. Seven elementary schools offer languages through third grade; middle school students can take foreign language as part of their "Connections" electives courses; and all high schools offer four full years of three languages: Spanish, French and German. Classes are not offered in fourth or fifth grade, and that concerned board member Marion Key. "What consistency do we have for K-12 in foreign language? And do we want any," Key asked. Geis said there is little consistency in the younger grades, and in fact some of the teachers aren't certified in language and the focus can be different from school to school because of that. But with current budget constraints, adding enough language teachers to offer it daily in each grade with common curriculum is doubtful. Geis said just boosting faculty would cost at least $2.5 million more a year. "And good luck finding certified teachers in all those subjects," said Smith. Geis agreed: "Even if we had the funding, you'd never find that many foreign language teachers in Georgia." 2004-2005 SCHOOL CALENDAR: Juliette Babb, director of pupil personnel services, recommended approval of the proposed calendar for the academic year 2004-05 even though the model it is based on, the upcoming 2003-04 calendar, hasn't been gone through the paces yet. DeCotis said the practice of late has been to wildly adjust the calendar from year to year, based on a variety of factors. The upcoming calendar spreads the 180 required classroom days out still more, from early August to Memorial Day in May, and includes extra vacation breaks in the fall and winter. "How do we really know how well these work if we don't stick with them for more than one year?" he asked. Babb said the calendars are almost identical from year to year, except in 2004-05 there is a planning day before and after the Christmas break. The first semester is short, at 87 days, while the second is longer, at 93 days, but spring semester standardized tests seemed to offset the difference, she said. Babb said Henry County adopted a similar calendar this school year that includes a one-week vacation at the end of each 9-weeks grading period, and it has been met positively by teachers and parents. CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Work is progressing on Whitewater High School despite recent heavy rains, construction Manager Klaus Darnall told the board. The athletic fields are being graded and drainage system has been installed under the football field. Walls are going up in the classroom wings, but it will take 2-3 weeks of dry weather before the gym floor can be poured, he said. Old kitchens have been ripped out to make way for the new at both Fayetteville Intermediate and East Fayette elementaries, Darnall said. Architects are putting the finishing touches on construction blueprints for an auditorium at Sandy Creek High and a new gymnasium at McIntosh High.
In other business, the board: ·Recognized the Sandy Creek High School Model United Nations Competition Team for outstanding performances in events at three Georgia universities this year. ·Adopted changes to several student policies, including rules on contests, records transfer and student support teams.
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