THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608100098
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: 67 lines
A look at some of the action from Thursday's School Board meeting: Handling violation cases
The board unanimously voted to change the way it handles cases involving disruptive students.
The goal: To reduce the number of cases heard by a board subcommittee and the amount of time offenders must stay out of school while waiting for the subcommittee to hear their cases.
The subcommittee will still decide expulsion cases. In the past, it also decided some other serious cases where students may not have faced expulsion. Now, a district administrative hearing officer will decide all cases ``except those where an actual expulsion is recommended'' by a principal.
The officer will have the power to place students in alternative education programs or return them to their regular schools.
Parents can appeal those decisions to the subcommittee - officially known as the Pupil Personnel Committee.
The administration will give the board monthly updates on the decisions, Superintendent Joyce Trump said. Goals set
The board approved its goals for the upcoming year.
The board discussed the goals - some labeled as ``specific,'' others as ``ongoing'' - at its recent retreat.
A shorthand look at several ``specific'' goals for 1996-97:
Develop a plan for an alternative school, to open in the 1997-98 year.
Form a committee that will come up with ``character traits'' schools will emphasize.
Develop a ``comprehensive evaluation plan'' for licensed employees. The plan will take effect in 1997-98.
Form a committee to review high school guidance offerings and identify ``needs.'' Basic Skills test scores
The board unanimously decided that performance on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills would not be factored into whether first- through eighth-graders passed from one grade to the next during the upcoming year.
The standardized exam - which measures basic reading, math and other skills - is given to fourth- and eighth-graders across Virginia.
Many districts also give the exam to other students to gauge their achievement.
The board's current policy for promoting first- through eighth-grade students calls for ITBS scores to be factored into the decision.
The board has put that practice on hold because the state Education Department will replace the ITBS with another exam next year.
The department also has urged districts not to administer the ITBS to fourth- and eighth-graders next year. Rezoning panel picked
The board set up a nine-person rezoning committee to plan elementary school zone changes for the 1997-98 school year.
Some attendance zones will change because, by that time, Oakland Elementary will be able to serve more students - thus relieving crowding at some other schools.
Oakland, which served about 300 students, is now being renovated.
It will house an additional 250 students when it re-opens next fall.
Those appointed Thursday are all administrators.
Superintendent Trump said the district would hold public hearings on changes once the committee settled on them. by CNB