Rescue Union School District
Educating for the Future, Together
Board Of Trustees Meeting Highlights - October 9, 2018
We continue our efforts to communicate effectively and in a timely fashion with our families and staffs. We know not every parent, teacher, or staff member can attend our Board meetings, so we will provide a brief update after each Board meeting, sharing highlights and actions taken by the Board. As always, please let us know how to better serve and communicate with you! We want to be partners with you in the educational journey of the children entrusted to us.
- Principal Dustin Haley provided a report on Rescue Elementary School. A representative of Rescue School’s student council shared with the Board some of the things they are doing this year. The student council’s mission is to focus on community service, to help out where needed and to be the best citizens possible.
Mr. Haley went on to highlight the focus on Social Emotional Learning. Schools are looking at this across the state, this idea of how to help kids acquire the skills to manage their emotions and to establish and maintain positive relationships. The level of rigor has continued to climb in regard to what we are asking kids to learn, and emotional and social needs are increasing at an alarming rate. Historically, we have done a very good job of meeting academic needs. The other side of the coin is the behavior/social/emotional piece that we are looking to bring up to par with academics. Mr. Haley presented a handout regarding the RTI model and shared that not only are they working to meet the needs of all children but focusing on the mid-level, or Tier 2 group of students. That mid-level group consists of approximately 15% of struggling learners that don’t have any identifications so they don’t necessarily have any additional supports; but they need it. Rescue School is participating in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) training (as are all schools in the district), to create common procedures, rules and an environment that is conducive for all students. Other activities for Rescue School includes Social Emotional Learning mini professional development sessions (once a month on specific strategies relating to specific concerns), development of Greatness Groups and continuing to utilize the Break-Room/Comfort Corner.
Rescue will be celebrating their 60th anniversary and a party will be held at open house. Former students, and staff will be invited. In addition, they are looking at a couple of murals that span the 60 years of Rescue Elementary and will be working through the process to decide on the final project.
- Difference Makers: Rescue School presented the Difference Maker award to Lynn Scales, Teacher, and Linda Roscoe, Paraeducator. At staff meetings, the Rescue school staff also presents an award to the individual they feel is really making a difference. The front office staff presented the award to RSP Teacher April Kvam.
UPDATES:
- Superintendent Olson reported that it has been another busy, productive month. We held our first PBIS training day provided by the county office staff. All site teams were enthusiastic and working to make the process fit best for their individual sites, so it will look a bit different at each school, but the overall process is the same. PBIS is the foundation for our work this year. It is the base. It will give our sites common language, common rules, expectations for specific areas on campuses and common incentives. The beauty of it also, is that by being the foundation, all our work with Social Emotional Learning, Trauma Informed Practices, Growth Mindset, targeted counseling groups, the use of Comfort Corners, Mindfulness, Self-Care methods, and all the other tools, strategies and methods we are using to meet the diverse needs of our students, all blend together as a cohesive way we operate. It is the way we do business. They are not programs, they help us better meet the needs and also help us take care of ourselves so we have what we need to be able to give to our students. Superintendent Olson went on to give a few examples of how our yard duty supervisors and bus drivers are incorporating the practices on the playgrounds and on their buses.
Our recent EL parent night was a fantastic success! Mrs. Olson thanked Amy Bohren for the taking the lead to orchestrate the event, complete with dinner, activities for children, and classes for parents in navigating the teenage years. She also thanked Karen Alvarado, Rene Buenrostro who helped with translations, Rachelle Blakeslee and Hope Migliaccio for presenting, Todd McGinnis, Laura Hendrix, Graciela Ramirez, Wes Younger and Michelle Winberg for helping set up and tear down and Lori Maurer and her leadership students for serving dinner and entertaining the children during the classes. Over 100 people attended and it was well received.
Assistant Superintendent Dave Scroggins and Teacher, Liz Ulmer facilitated the first China trip meeting this month. Students who participated in the trip last year came and promoted the trip as well. There will be another meeting this month to see how many we can get to commit to the amazing opportunity this spring.
Superintendent Olson and Assistant Superintendent Dave Scroggins attended the Beyond Consequences conference in Sacramento this past week. The organizer and one of the keynote speakers was Heather Forges, the woman who wrote Help for Billy, the book our administrators are reading. Mrs. Olson described the conference as ‘inspiring”. She went on to state that the conference helped to deepened our understanding about the Adverse Childhood Experience Study, mindfulness, and how to foster resilient learners and really put to use the strategies and methods we are learning about. It also helped deepen our understanding of the shift we need to make in our thinking and responses to students with behavior concerns. She stated that we cannot continue to use the practices we were using to respond to society’s smallest and youngest members, many who have changed dramatically over the years. When we know better, we do better, and she was grateful for the opportunity to attend.
Superintendent Olson also shared that last night there was a special ceremony to dedicate the new Marina Village building to Tony DeVille Sr. Everyone appreciated the words given as tribute by Dr. Ed Manansala, County Superintendent, Tagg Neal, Board Member, Assemblyman Kiley and Bigalow and Tony DeVille Jr.
Lastly, the Superintendent reported on our enrollment. Our numbers continue to slowly improve. We are still in declining enrollment but we are above our projected enrollment.
- Laura Hendrix, Director of Student Support Services provided an update on activities within her department. She began with a report on the English Learner Program, that is under the direction of Amy Bohren, EL Coordinator. Currently we have completed 33 initial ELPAC evaluations (ongoing as new students come throughout the year) and our total number of EL students is 180.
Paraeducators at Pleasant Grove are working on effective strategies to assist newcomers and at Green Valley some are taking part in model lessons and observing for key strategies alongside teachers. Our Bilingual Aides are responding to DELAC concerns by making phone calls on behalf of our teachers each week on Wednesday early release days, with a focus on positive feedback on student progress. Each aide will be helping to monitor and ensure communication between home and school is increased. The Federal law requires that recently reclassified EL students’ progress be monitored for 4 years. We have a system in place for doing this and it is working great. We can see the majority of students are doing very well. Also at the middle schools EL Coordinator, Amy Bohren has Individual Learning Plans for each EL student complete with a pizza lunch and review of their goals and how they are progressing. At Green Valley Amy has partnered with Tom Powers, Counselor to do a project on “Being Bilingual is Cool” and “Participation is Our Goal”. At Pleasant Grove two teachers will attend training for 8 days with Woodland Unified on Kinsella Pedagogy. Amy has worked with 3 rd and 4 th grade classes at Green Valley to model lessons and provide professional development before school started and additional days will be scheduled. At Marina Village, Amy is working with the principal and teachers to continue work on the listening band of SBAC and how they can get students to do better in this area.
Director Hendrix also reported on our Community Liaison, Graciela Ramirez who at the beginning of the year checks in with families previously eligible for McKinney-Vento services. This year we have 12 McKinney-Vento students from 9 families. She has developed a good rapport with members of the Spanish speaking community and parents are reaching out to her when they notice their students are struggling academically. In addition, she provides support for parent teacher conferences at both elementary and middle school. The district has applied for a grant that will enable an additional 30 hours to be added to our Community Liaison position for the remainder of the year.
In our Special Education program, including students in programs offered by the County Office of Education, we have 522 students. Professional development continues to focus on dyslexia with staff attending trainings including the use of Sonday program. Paraeducator trainings were provided for middle school staff on Social Emotional Learning and de- escalation techniques and will be repeated in November for elementary staff. Many have also attended or will be attending the paraeducator academy offered by SELPA.
- Director of Transportation, Pat Cahill provided a report for his department. One of the new requirements for this school year is safety alert systems in buses, alerting drivers that students have remained in the vehicle, these were installed in most of our buses over the summer. New buses and our electric bus are already equipped with the safety system. Mr. Cahill reported on our electric bus grants. Last year we applied for a grant for three buses and RUSD was awarded one with two remaining on the waiting list. We have also been awarded the second bus from that grant but are waiting on the paperwork to be processed. This year we applied for the second round of that same grant for three buses and we were awarded the funding for all three. Currently Mr. Cahill is in the process of completing part B of the application.
In addition, we also applied for another grant through the California Energy Commission. The award criteria for this grant is based on the age of the bus and district score for being a disadvantaged community. The list should come out sometime later this month but it still will be hard to determine as it depends on other funding available and how far the grant money will go.
We now also have a choice between Lion and Blue Bird. Our current electric bus is from Lion. The Blue Bird is brand new and just came off the factory floor. Mr. Cahill and one of our mechanics had the opportunity to be flown down to Southern California to see the buses. Infrastructure is the other decision we will need to consider. Additional charging stations will need to be configured; however, PG&E is now involved and may be able to supply 80% to 100% of the infrastructure cost.
ACTION ITEMS:
- The Board approved Resolution #18-20 Week of the School.
- The Board approved Resolution #18-21 Rural School Bus Pilot Grant Program
- The Board approved the LCAP revised plan.
- The Board approved the following Board Policies (updated/revised/reviewed).
- BP 0410 Nondiscrimination in District Programs/Activities
- BP/AR Environmental Safety
- AR 3514.2 Integrated Pest Management
- BP/AR3260 Fees and Charges
- BB 9250 Remuneration, Reimbursement, and Other Benefits
- BP/AR 1240 Volunteer Assistance
- BB 9000 Role of the Board
- The Board approved the Community Advisory Committee Representative appointment.
- The Board approved:
- September 11, 2018 Regular Board Meeting Minutes
- September 17, Special Board Meeting Minutes
- September 25, 2018 Study Session Minutes
- District Expenditure Warrants and Purchase Orders
- Board Policy Updates:
- BB 9130 Board Committees – Reviewed
- BB 9320 Meetings and Notices – Revised
- E 9320 Meetings and Notices – Deleted
- BB 9323 Meeting Conduct - Revised
- Williams Act Uniform Complaint Procedure Quarterly Report
- Personnel Actions
- Overnight Field Trip Marina Village – Disneyland Magic Music Days
- Donations
NEXT MEETING: Regular Board Meeting, November 13, 2018.
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