School refund to save $1.6M

Piper Jaffrey was one of five bids and came in with the low bid of 1.5057%, saving the school district $1.6 million in interest payments.

“This is great news for taxpayers,” said Gary Olson, of Ehlers and Associates.

The bonds were originally sold to raise funds to build Liberty Elementary School. The new bonds will be repaid in six years and the move reduces the amount property owners pay.

The board approved the 2016 preliminary levy certification at maximum.

The board set Dec. 17 as the date for the Truth in Taxation meeting. The meeting will be held immediately prior to the scheduled school board meeting in the community room at Independence Elementary School. The levy can go down and not up, except for the voter levy referendum.

Technology

Technology Manager John Beach presented an update on the situation in the school district. 

A teacher from each building, Media Specialist Gwen Toppe and Director of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Crystal Thorson, formed a team to study what the district has in the way of technology and how it is used, and if there is funding for staff development.

“We are looking at where we are and where we want to go,” said Beach. “We are forming a technology plan and we are looking for a steering committee.”

Anyone interested in helping to form a steering committee or an advisory committee for the school technology plan should contact Beach.

There is plenty to consider, including an updated phone system, safety and security, wireless coverage, bandwidth, the ability to cover state testing requirements, multiple computer labs and standards to help teachers.

“We need to decide what standard of technology should be taught at each grade level,” Supt. Westerberg said.

Independence

Independence Elementary Principals Darren Kern and Andy Sawatzke gave a report on their school and what is being done to help improve test scores for certain groups, such as special education.

“Special Ed. test scores were not where they need to be,” Principal Kern said. “We realized these kids were getting pulled out of general education classes for reading and math, which means they miss what is going on in class.”

A child’s self-esteem takes a hit when they are pulled out of the classroom for extra help, Kern said.

“What we have started doing is co-teaching,” he said. “We started it last year because the law requires students be educated in the least restrictive environment possible.”

While co-teaching can take a number of different forms, both teachers in the classroom are equal and share responsibility. One might teach and the other observe, providing an extra pair of eyes in the classroom. 

Both might take turns teaching part of a lesson.  Each teacher might take a group to work with  separately in the same classroom. Whatever style of teaching is chosen, it does require teachers to be able to work cooperatively with each other and it is helpful if they have similar teaching styles. It also requires more planning and preparation.

Co-Teaching

Special Education Teacher Carol Oltmanns said she had been co-teaching with Jolie Skoog last year and every one of their students showed growth in math at the end of the year.

“Beyond that, their level of self-confidence increased when their grades went up,” she said. “And there was more interest in helping other students succeed.”

This year Oltmanns and Skoog have a class of 35 with a number of special education students.

“We are dedicated to making sure every one of these kids is successful,” Skoog said. “Parents were concerned about the large number of kids in the group but we have found it prepares them better for sixth grade where classes are larger.”

Karen Priest is a second grade teacher who co-taught with Special Education Teacher Bonnie Meissen last year.

“It was a very positive environment for the students,” she said. “And I get to see all of my students every day for reading. Bonnie and I have similar teaching styles and the kids love it. They have two of us to ask questions.”

Miessen said co-teaching was not a new experience for her but that it was always a positive one.

“It allows me to see what my special ed. students are exposed to in the general education classroom. They stay in the classroom as much as possible,” she said.

Having special education students in a classroom helps build a feeling of community and acceptance, while they can break into smaller groups for things like guided reading. “We can fine tune what they need,” Miessen said. “And I become just another teacher in the classroom, not a special ed teacher.”

Special Education Teacher Denise Thompson said she co-taught with Jennifer Elness in fourth grade.

“It is a good, positive thing, “ she said. “We could meet daily to provide for their needs in their grade level.”

Elness said she liked it because she got to meet with every student every day.

“It was amazing,” she said. “The kids really enjoyed it. It was really effective on all levels.”

The hardest part was finding time for lesson planning,  she said.

High School

Principal Bob Dockendorf and Assistant Principal Angie Folch have been working together for five years now and began in 2011-12 with the theme Be The Best. This was the year Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), were started as part of the  response-to-intervention, building a common language and learning a new approach to discipline designed to keep kids in the classroom.

Unprecedented new access to data allowed teachers to see where lessons were lacking. Literacy tools were introduced and the staff learned by doing. 

“We were learning along with everyone else,” Principal Dockendorf said.

“We spent some time studying what the most rapidly improving schools were doing,” Ms. Folch said. “Not those with the best test scores but those who were improving.”

“In 2012-13, the theme was Finding Our Greatness,”Dockendorf said. “That was the year of the schedule change from semesters to trimesters. The change to trimesters wasn’t that drastic in retrospect, but it was a sort of housecleaning.”

Teachers were asked to consider why they teaching the lessons they were teaching as every class was revaluated for contnet and relevance. 

“Some of the answers we got were, ‘That is the way we have always done it,’ or, ‘I am really good at teaching that.’Now we can laugh about it,” Dockendorf said.

Thay also started talking about team teaching and Ms. Folch piloted their program.

The following year, the theme was stolen from the Olympics as the staff were encouraged to go from Good to Great. One-time trimester classes were offered, classes were aligned and pacing guides produced to keep every class on the same page.

The theme for 2013-14 year was Be Awesome, with the focus placed on using common assessments of student performance, rigor and relevance of classes and formal versus informal teaching, and as a response to intervention, a focus on behavior, consistency and attendance.

“The staff were told, if you don’t think the kids can do well, don’t be here,” Dockendorf said.

New behavior interventions were focused on keeping students in the classroom, teacher consistency and expectations and student attendance.

“The team teaching plan was introduced and a few teachers took the training,” Dockendorf said. “It was offered to people and several stepped forward. Now we have many teams and it has been good.”

“For the students, every day is a fresh start,” he said “They are unconditionally  welcome. It is their school.We thank them for being there,” said Dockendorf. “It all plays into attendance as well. After all, it is their school.”

The school offered 31 new elective classes and 27 of them went on to become part of the curriculum as 1,068 students registered for them. Another 74 students signed up for online classes, up from 20-24 students when online courses were first offered.

The high school gymnasium has a new floor and some improvements made to the track and the wrestling room.

“We are not adding anything new to the playbook this year,” Ms. Folch said. “Our objectives haven’t really changed. Our focus is on teacher evaluations and student personal learning plans. Last year everyone had to take the ACT. This year, they don’t.”

In 2015-16, the focus is on accountability with a commitment to literacy, PLCs and professional growth.

“Teachers must bring evidence or artifacts to show how they are implementing literacy and rigor   into their lessons,” Dockendorf said. “We ask them how do you know the students are learning?”