Administration

The regular meeting of the school based council was called to order by Tom Purcell, Principal, at 4:00 p.m. Members present: Tom Purcell, Scott Kuegel, Buzz Backstrom, James Morgan, Melissa Morris, Tim Taylor, Sue Krampe and Jim Gilles. Presenters were Catherine Shelton and Kelly Cecil. A motion was made by James Morgan to begin the meeting. Melissa Morris seconded the motion and there was consensus.

Approve December Agenda - A motion was made by Scott Kuegel to approve the December agenda with the following additions:

Graves County Visit Report - Mr. Tim Taylor
Ruby Payne Update

James Gilles seconded the motion and there was consensus.

Approve November Minutes - A motion was made by James Morgan to approve the November minutes. Tim Taylor seconded the motion and there was consensus.

Personnel Update - The following positions are open:

Boys Head Soccer Coach
Assistant Softball Coach
Beacon Bus Supervisor

Budget Update - Mr. Purcell reported that there is $13,399 dollars remaining in the Professional Development budget. He also reported that the 02-03 travel reimbursement of $2,489 plus a 7/1/03 budget revision of $1525 and the second month attendance adjustment of $4,265 total $8,280 added back in to our S.E.E.K. budget which offsets the 02 - 03 carryover deficit of -$8,011.

CATS/Assessment - Mr. Purcell distributed the list for testing groups during CATS testing, April 10 th through April 30 th . Mr. Purcell stated that the goal is to run a normal school day, as much as possible. More detailed information will follow after the 1 st of the year.

Curriculum Committee Report - Mr. Taylor presented the following curriculum changes to the council for the 2004 - 2005 school year:

• Academic intern - Academic intern course will be offered for the 2004-2005 school year. The academic intern be a ½ credit course that will meet every other day for one semester. It will be offered in conjunction with community involvement, currently supervised by Mrs. Skeens. She has agreed to take on the additional responsibility of supervising the academic intern course with possible assistance from Mrs. Sue Krampe.

• Foreign Language Course Sequence - The committee recommends the creation of the following courses to the site-based council:Honors French I; Honors Spanish I; Honors French II; Honors Spanish II. Students who completed Spanish I in middle school and who are planning to pursue either the IB, Commonwealth, or Honors diploma, will receive an elective credit for their middle school Spanish course and will take Honors Spanish I as freshmen. Currently, students who completed Spanish I in middle school go on to Spanish II in the 9 th grade, while honors students who did not have Spanish in middle school begin with Spanish I in the 9 th grade. This is problematic because when these students take the IB or AP courses during their junior and senior years, they are at different levels of competency. If the proposed courses are created, every student in the honors program will start in the same class during their freshman year, eliminating the problem that currently exists.

• Theory of Knowledge/government/ecnomics - The committee recommends that IB diploma candidates schedule a year-long theory of knowledge course for both their junior and senior years. Two semesters of that course will cover the content of economics and government, so students will still fulfill AHS's graduation requirements. These courses are not required for college admission, so it is not necessary that the courses appear on a student's transcript. Furthermore, if a student chooses not to pursue the IB diploma after the first semester of her junior year, he/she will earn an accelerated government credit that will appear on his/her transcript in place of TOK.

Buzz Backstrom made a motion to approve the recommendations of the curriculum committee for the 2004- 2005 school year. Scott Kuegel seconded the motion and there was consensus.

SLC Update - Kelly Cecil - Kelly Cecil handed out to the council members information explaining the SLC Grant timeline that Apollo currently faces. Highlights are:

Spring 2004:
Freshman Academy
8 th Grade Transition Plan
GRREC In - Service
Faculty Awareness

Summer 2004:
P.D. for faculty focusing on freshman teachers
Planning for implementation of 10-th grade academies

2004-2005
P.D. for sophomore teachers on academies and team teaching.
Finish planning and begin implementation of sophomore academies.

2005-2006
P.D. continues on small learning committee's assigned on need/issue primarily upper class teachers.
All SLCs and learning strategies are in place.

Other -

Visit to Graves County - Tim Taylor - Mr. Taylor commented on one practice of Graves County regarding credits issued for year long classes. Graves County does not issue a ½ credit at the end of the 1 st semester. A whole credit is issued at the end of the school year when the course is completed. If a student struggles 1 st semester, he/she still have a whole other semester to bring their grade up and earn a credit. They do not feel the defeat of failure of the 1 st semester ½ credit. Students are issued a mid-term exam.

Another policy Graves County has is that mid-term and final exam grades can not hurt a student's grade, they can only help.

Ruby Payne Training Update - Mr. Purcell looked into trying to get Ruby Payne to come to Apollo for a PD day for all staff. He is still looking in to engaging her for the 2005-2006 year. Mr. Purcell and Mrs. Krampe are going to be certified as trainers for the program this summer.

The date for the next SBDC meeting is Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 4:00 p.m. in the conference room.

There being no further business a motion was made by Melissa Morris to adjourn at 5:20 p.m. Mr. Kuegel seconded the motion and there was consensus.

Respectfully submitted,

Becki Burton