La Jolla High School

Site Governance Committee Meeting Minutes

December 4, 2006

Members present:

Teachers: Claire Summer, Kerry Dill, Zane Freiberg, Melanie Menders, Ken Martin and Matt Rosenberg.

Principal: Dana Shelburne.

Classified Staff: Kathleen Doll.

Students: Rachel Pedowitz, Nicole Sparks and Delaney Maher

Parents: Linda Dowley, Jamie Ginsberg, Michael Briggs and Liz Lindenfeld.

LJHS Foundation: Tony Farwell.

Guests present: Parents: Caroline Kelner.

The meeting was called to order by Ms. Ginsberg at 2:30 p.m.

1. Minutes – Copies of the Minutes from the last meeting of the Site Governance Committee on November 6, 2006, were made available. On motion made, seconded and passed, the minutes were approved as submitted. Approved minutes will be posted to the school website.

2. Old Business – Standardized Test Scores at LJHS - The next order of business was a discussion of standardized test results at LJHS, including the STAR results. Mr. Shelburne explained that his presentation would be postponed until the next Site Governance Committee Meeting.

3. New Business – Composition of Site Governance Committee Parents – Ms. Ginsberg explained a parent’s question as to whether a parent representative to the Site Governance Committee should have responsibility for representing students with Special Education needs. Ms. Ginsberg described the process used by the PTA to select parents to serve on the Site Governance Committee, including use of a nominating committee and solicitation of self-nominations. She explained that each parent on the Site Governance Committee had an obligation to represent all of the parents of all of the students, including students with Special Education needs. During the discussion, a point was made that Site Governance Committee meetings are publicized and open to all parents of students at LJHS. Ms. Ginsberg promised to include an article on the Site Governance Committee in an upcoming PTA newsletter.

4. New Business – Cheating in the Classroom at LJHS – Ms. Dowley raised an issue requested by a parent regarding the presence of cheating in classrooms. During the extensive discussion, Mr. Shelburne stated that the subject is discussed annually with the faculty and that the LJHS school behavior packet that goes to parents and students during the first week of school discusses the prohibition on cheating. Mr. Shelburne explained that the first occurrence of cheating results in an “F” on the examination or assignment and the second occurrence by a student results in an “F” and a “U” for the class. Teachers discussed some of the steps that are taken to ensure diligence to prevent and discourage cheating by students. Mr. Shelburne promised to remind the faculty about preventing cheating in the near future. Also, a recommendation was made to include an article on the subject in a future PTA newsletter. The subject was referred to the subcommittee on “Culture of Civic Values.”

5. New Business -- Counselors’ Untimely Absence – Ms. Lindenfeld explained that on the final day in the fall to request transcripts for private college applications, most of the LJHS counselors were absent for the entire day despite several students possibly needing their assistance. During the discussion, it was speculated that the counselors were attending an annual AVID meeting. Further, the date for final transcripts had been extended by two weeks by the Registrar, so it was opined that students should have requested and received counseling prior to the first deadline and, therefore, well in advance of the extended deadline. Mr. Shelburne said that he would alert Ms. Behnke to the parents’ concern.

Roundtable discussion

Mr. Rosenberg explained that he investigated the test score scanning equipment, including software, and learned that purchase of $850 worth of forms would give the school free use of the machine that offered good statistical analysis for the teachers. He stated that an explanatory video and demonstration materials were being shipped to the school.

A question was raised as to whether the LJHS 2005-2006 School Accountability Report Card was available, and the response was that the new report card was not yet available.

Mr. Shelburne discussed the status of the Additional Site Funds that had been approved by the School Site Council. He explained that the purchase of computers would result in 35 new computers in the mathematics lab and 8 in the library, meeting the needs of both locations. He indicated that a reading teacher was being sought, and that San Diego State University and Point Loma Nazarene University had both been contacted to secure the part-time help needed. Further, plans were being finalized for a three-hour-per-day clerk in the Library Media Center. Upon request, Mr. Shelburne agreed to discuss the Algebra scores of LJHS students at the next Site Governance Committee meeting.

Finally, Mr. Shelburne stated that a window had been broken the prior Friday morning at 3:20 a.m., with the incident caught on tape by the security cameras and the alarm being received by the SDUSD security offices.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2007, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 304.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Michael Briggs, Recorder.