Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott School Board reorganized

There were two major events at the October meeting of the Prescott School Board.

First, the Board elected officers for the next year. Pat Blake will be president, Shane Meador is the vice president, with Sandra Tatum the secretary.

The second major event was the districts annual report to the public, presented by Hyacinth Deon, superintendent.

The district and state, she said, have set high academic standards for every child, and hold the staff accountable for student performance.

The districts vision, she said, is for all graduates to be prepared for the 21st Century as responsible, caring and productive citizens.

All three schools in the district are fully accredited, with a 1:13 student/teacher ratio. The average teacher salary is $37.713 a year.

At this time, she said, the districts finances are healthy but with the loss of students, coupled with increases in the cost of utilities and unfunded mandates, there are no guarantees. Part of the problem with the utility bills is the fuel adjustment costs. In Sept. 2004, these costs were $1,234. This year, the figure rose to $4,676. For Oct. 2004, the fuel adjustment costs were $715, rising to $5,115 this year. This doesnt include the 18 percent hike in January, she said.

On top of this, Deon said, diesel costs have tripled since last year.

In talking about the facilities repair program, Deon said the state will help, but the district must come up with 40 percent of the costs. The district has until Sept. 1, 2006, to make sure the repairs are done. The overall cost of the repairs will be $550,503, with the district responsible for $223,891.12.

Additionally, the district will have to have its 10-year plan ready by Feb. 6, 2006.

The smart core curriculum is the districts default curriculum, Deon said. Students are given their choice of core curriculum in the seventh grade. Should they choose something other than the smart core, they can change their mind later on. However, under the smart core curriculum, special attention is paid to math credits.

Beginning in the seventh grade, students can start working on their math credits with six options to choose from.

Cooperation, Deon said, is required for student to succeed. Students should get support for achieving high standards from both their families and the district, and they need to be serious about academics.

Teachers are required to use research-based instructional strategies to help students achieve high standards, and the schools must pay attention to the need of every child. This is done, at times, through different interventions, such as the individual education plan (IEP) the individual reading instruction (IRI), for grades K-2, and AIP for those who did poorly on the Benchmark exams.

Parents, she said, need to stay engaged in the education process, knowing what the school expects and expecting a lot from their children as well. Parents need to establish a working relationship with their childrens teachers and check on their children during school days.