Rock Hill School Board April Work Session Notes

These are my notes from the Rock Hill School Board April Work session held on Monday, April 9, 2012 at ParentSmart.

There were no action items at the meeting.

• The board heard a report from Cindy Hunt and the ParentSmart staff on their activities.
• The Administration introduced the firm of Greene Finney & Horton as the new external auditors.
• Northwestern High School Principal James Blake and Castle Heights Principal Kelly Kane reported on a recent conference they attended about changing the way grades are calculated. They handed out a form (click here to see the form) and asked the board to give a grade based on the numbers - and this was the evidence to show there were problems with the current grading. Click here to read The Herald's write-up and comments to the article.
• The board heard a report on re-entry for expelled students using interventions and Renaissance Academy.
• The board discussed proposed policy ADF- School Wellness. Click here to see a copy of the model policy from the state and the proposed policy from a district committee. The administration agreed to revise their proposed policy before the April Board Meeting.
• The administration stated why they did not allow booster groups to sell banners for the district football stadiums. After questions from the board, they agreed to meet with each school's Athletic Director to work out a plan where boosters would be able to sell banners.
• The administration stated the new policy for gold apple card and gold card holders for athletic events starting in the 2012-13 season. District employees will have to show their Identification Badge instead of their gold apple card for admittance to athletic events and only teachers from the schools involved in inter-district contests (RH vs NH, NH vs SP, SP vs RH) will be allowed in with an Identification Badge. Those with gold cards (over 65) will be given a Silver 65 card. The athletic directors said there were too many gold and gold apple cards out there (without expiration dates) and they were losing too much money at a time when money was tight.
• The Athletic Director's reported they estimate the number of free passes and season ticket holders and then restrict the number of tickets to be sold, but in spite of this, on several occasions, the Rock Hill Police have either barred access at the gate or stopped ticket sales. On one occasion, they barred access for people who had purchased tickets in advance.  The AD's promised to work better with the Rock Hill Police in the future.
• There was a brief update about revenue for next year and about additions to spending for  possibly mandated salary increases and insurance cost increase. All is a work in progress until the legislature finalizes the state budget.
• The World Changes have made a request to use Rock Hill High School, July 21-28. This will be added to the consent agenda for the April  Business Meeting

The board will hold a retreat on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 to discuss a response to the anti-public education efforts in the state. The meeting will  begin at 8:30 am at the district office. The plan for the meeting can be viewed by clicking here.