La Jolla High School Governance Committee
Report on Meeting of September 26, 2005

In Attendance:
Members Present: Valerie Benito, Linda Dowley, Susanna Flaster, Zane Frieberg, Jamie Ginsberg, Jackie Helm, Liz Lindenfeld, Mike Palm, Aaron Quesnell, Claire Summer, Joanne Wainscott.
Guests: Patti Nussbaum, Walter Fairly

Minutes: Jamie Ginsberg moved to approve minutes of the September 14 meeting. It was seconded and the motion carried.

Members were introduced.

Tabled Items from 9/14:

Creation of a Principal’s Evaluation Rubric – Jamie spoke about our Autonomy status, and explained last year’s process of principal evaluation. The need for a meaningful rubric for evaluation was discussed. A subcommittee of Jamie Ginsberg, Susanna Flaster, and Claire Summer will work on a rubric. Kerry Dill, as ASB liaison will be asked if she would like to join; the invitation will be extended to the rest of the teaching staff as well.
Mike Palm will follow up with Carole LeCren regarding last spring’s evaluation which was never delivered to Mr. Shelburne. Jamie Ginsberg and Carole LeCren will present the evaluation to Mr. Shelburne.

Communication Expectations between school and parents – Jamie Ginsberg mentioned parental concerns that surfaced during registration and the first few weeks of school regarding time frame for communication. It was discussed that LJHS has long had a policy that phone calls and/or e-mail messages should be returned/answered within 48 hours- from teachers and counselors (or other staff). It was requested that voice mailboxes be cleared so that new callers don’t reach a full voice mailbox.

Governance Recommendation: That teachers and staff be reminded to return calls and emails within 48 hours.
Micrograde and other forms of grade communication with parents were discussed. Teachers were made aware that parents are extremely enthusiastic about online grade communication (often mentioned in the parent survey). There are departments that rely on project-based learning (such as graphic/photographic arts) that do not easily lend themselves to ongoing grade posting. Additionally, the new “Zangle” program does not allow parents easy interface or access.

Governance Recommendation: Teachers should be encouraged to make online grades (or hard copy communication) available to parents and students.
Students with failing grades - Parents of students doing poorly in a class (at risk of getting a “D” or “F”) should be contacted by the teacher, preferably prior to, but definitely by the six-week mark. Additionally, pink progress reports exist, as a tool to help parents track their student’s progress. Parents can request that teachers fill out pink progress reports weekly or as needed.

Schedule Changes - Allowing a six-week grace period for changing of classes is no longer school policy. Class changes required by students failing a course will still be instituted at the six-week mark, but general schedule change requests will no longer be considered.

The Counseling Position has been posted. The interview procedure was discussed, and a parent from the Governance Team will sit on the interview panel.

Roundtable:
The website is not up to date, and there are many faculty members who do not have a web page, and/or are not listed under the “faculty” section. Mr. Palm will work to contact teachers who do not have current information on the LJHS website.
Mrs. Wainscott reported that math teacher, Matt Olson is in the military and is being called up, so he will be leaving quite soon. His replacement has been hired.
Parents thanked teachers who support home/school communication by putting grades online.

The next meeting date is Monday, October 24, 2005 in the Counseling Conference Room.

Minutes respectfully submitted, Linda Dowley, Secretary.