IDr. Mandie Hammer submitted that Northside Early Learning Center added nine new students and one new teacher during December, bringing enrollment to 126 students.
Kimi Melendy reported on the many engagement activities at Lahontan Elementary and the school performance plan. She also mentioned the daily challenge of access to the limited number of substitutes for teachers and aides, resulting in canceled P.E. or music classes. Often, the P.E. and music teachers are asked to cover other courses because subs are not available, and then P.E. and music are canceled.
From E.C. Best, the board members heard that teachers are focusing on school goals set in September based on needs in reading and math. In Reading, the winter goal for second grade is to increase proficiency by 9% for a total of 51%, and by spring, another 9% for 60%. The third-grade winter reading goal is 62%, and the spring is 68% proficiency. In math, the second-grade winter goal is to increase proficiency by 13% for a total of 58%, and by spring, increase an additional 14% for a total of 72% proficiency. The third-grade math goal for winter is 61%, and by spring, 67% proficiency. To achieve these goals, teachers will be utilizing iReady curricula, Learner-Centered framework, and math facts practice in 90-minute blocks.
Instructional Coaches have recently been hired at Numa Elementary, and principal Shawn Purrell is concerned about the poor attendance of many students, implementing parent/guardian contact as a primary strategy to help improve attendance. Purrell also reported that as of the fall assessment, 50% of all 4th and 5th grade students are at or below the 40th percentile in Math and Reading, having a median percentile score of 45%. Numa teachers have set a goal to increase the math and reading Median Percentile score by 5% by the end of the year.
Robbie Wickware reported from the Middle School on the school Performance Plan, including goals of increasing proficiency rates for all grade levels, conducting structured Professional Learning Communities opportunities with staff, reducing disruptive student behaviors in classrooms, and reducing chronic absenteeism by 10%. The Behavior Update covering the period from November 10 to December 8 included 16 events of Disruption of School Activities by 21 students, 81 events of Insubordination by 54 students, three events of Violence to Students by four students, and one event of Bullying/Harassment by two students.
According to Wickware’s written report, the middle school faces the critical challenge of covering teacher leave with limited substitutes. Teachers, safe school professionals, and counselors work their preps almost daily to cover or combine classes. The cost of paying teachers to work on their preps is very high. During September, there were 111 paid preps; in October, 192, and in November, 216.
Trustee Whitaker questioned Wickware about this issue during the meeting, saying she was “alarmed by the number of teachers on leave in November. That seems more like a teacher problem than a substitute problem. I’m more concerned with why so many teachers are gone rather than not having enough subs.”
Wickware responded, “I don’t see it as a teacher issue; teachers are going to have absences; teachers have days and absences afforded them in the contract. This is a daily issue for the middle school. Typically, during the year, we have five regular subs at our school, but this year, we are closer to none. A number of the subs who traditionally are with us are now COSAs. There has been a massive decline in the resources we have available when teachers are absent.”
Superintendent Derild Parson explained the role of a COSA as “Classified on Special Assignment.” “Basically, we were struggling to fill our teaching positions. We have some classified staff who are preparing to become teachers but could not afford to leave their job and long-term sub because of the loss of benefits. This allows them to do this, maintain union representation, and work in a classroom as essentially a long-term sub. They need to have a substitute license. This is proving to be very helpful in growing our own teachers. It also helped us to put people in classrooms when we do not have enough licensed teachers.”
Moving substitutes into these COSA positions means fewer subs are available to fill in during teacher absences.
At Churchill County High School, school goals include increasing the proficiency scores in math and English by 10% and increasing the science score by 15%. Currently, the high school proficiency rate in math is 27.9%, English is 55.3%, and science is 19.09%. For the Class of 2024, the goal is to increase the graduation rate by 3.5 points from 86.5% to 90%.
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