Rock Hill School Board Work Session Notes

The Rock Hill School Board held their August Work Session at the District office on Monday, August 13, 2012. These are my notes from the meeting:

• In the only action taken by the board, the board voted 7-0 to approve the Administration's mid-month personnel recommendations.
• Joel Whitesides and Chris Smith updated the board on efforts to train teachers in the use of IPADS. They referenced a site on their IROCK folder which contains help videos. Joel and Chris used their IPADS flawlessly (and wireless) with the Promethean Board. No other presenter tried to use their IPAD in the night's presentation. Some board members expressed concern about what sites students would be able to go to with their devices , giving justification for the district's continuation of their block on youtube and all the wonderful education information available there. The district still doesn't have a plan on converting libraries to digital or organizing an effort to get the South Carolina Education department to allow districts to use text book money for online resources. Board members were offered the use of an IPAD if they agreed to be trained and several signed up. Read the Rock Hill Herald's write-up of this by clicking here.
• Dr. Harriet Jaworowski presented an overview of the new state report system. The Rock Hill School District score was 89.8, or a B. Individual school scores were as follows:

• The administration asked for input on their effort to apply for a Race To The Top grant with about 12 other districts. They reported the grant to the distict could be up to $3 million dollars. They could not provide the board with information on what they would use the money on, only that it would have to be used for personalized instruction - which recently has been the code phrase for purchasing IPADS. Part of the agreement for applying for the money is to begin 360 feedback for Superintendents, Principals, and teachers and to use performance date for the evaluation as well. Only Vining had an issue with the teacher evaluation portion so the administration will proceed on.
• The district administration asked to get out of their requirement for board approval for overnight field trips because they were having a difficult time getting the information to the board in time. Because this is an administration rule, no vote is necessary if there is not objection from a board member - and there was no objection. Proposed changes are below: