La Jolla High School Governance Committee
Report on Meeting of February 27, 2006

Members present: Kerry Dill, Michael Palm, Tim Rush, Dana Shelburne, Pat Spire, Claire Summer, Joanne Wainscott, Linda Dowley, Susanna Flaster, Jamie Ginsberg, Jackie Helm, Joan Hiser, Liz Lindenfeld and Abi Bock.

Guests: Patti Nussbaum and Michael Briggs

The meeting was called to order by Liz Lindenfeld. Susanna Flaster moved to approve January minutes with minor changes. It was seconded and approved. Approved minutes will be posted to the school website.

1. Cell Phone Update – Mr. Shelburne has not yet brought the issue of cell phone cheating to staff. He will do so and report back to Governance. In the mean time, current policy is still in effect – cell phones are to be used only during non-instructional time (before school, after school, lunch and passing periods) and will be confiscated if seen in use at other times.

2. Mid-Year Transcripts – Many seniors needed mid-year transcripts sent to colleges The district was unable to generate transcripts and class rank prior to the February 15 college deadline. Most were sent out by February 17, but with Monday the 20 th being a holiday, these transcripts were certainly late. Jamie Ginsberg has sent a letter to the school board and discussed the issue of the late calendar with Dr. Cohn, as this same problem will exist again next year. At LJHS, a letter was produced by the counseling department that parents could copy and send to school explaining the reason for the missed deadline. Susanna Flaster will follow up with various colleges to see what their reaction was, and Dana will ask other principals what they did about this issue. Jamie Ginsberg will contact other PTA presidents to gather voices to see what can be done at the district level.

3. College Application Protocol Committee – Michelle Ganon is working on drafting a handbook/pamphlet which will be given to seniors, outlining protocol for processing application information at LJHS. Once the booklet is complete, the committee will reconvene to review the process between counseling and the registrar’s office and forward any suggested changes to Governance.

4. Principal’s Evaluation Committee – The committee met with Mr. Shelburne to outline the review process for the coming year. It will be a similar process to last year’s, with the change that each group (Staff, Foundation, PTA, students) will receive equal weighting instead of each survey respondent receiving equal weighting.

5. Categorical Funds/Budget – Mr. Shelburne gave a budget update. Each site is required to submit to the district a possible 2.5% budget reduction. At LJHS, that would amount to $140,000. The school is relying more than ever on the ongoing support of the Foundation to keep services in place. We should know after the May “revise” whether the 2.5% cut will be a necessity. It was reported that Library Media Teacher, Steve Grant, wanted to make sure that any Categorical library funds get spent on the library.

6. Policy on Counting Calculus Readiness test or other standardized testing in student grades – The Calculus readiness test is given in March to pre-calculus students. It is a trigonometry test that is counted into student grades, as the material tested has been covered in the class. Other standardized tests (CAT 6) are not used to determine student grades.

7. Grading Consistency – Mr. Shelburne reported that this is an issue that is being discussed by the staff on an ongoing basis, and will be the focus of the next minimum day staff development. It is hoped that through ongoing work and communication, teachers will hold similar standards for the same class.

8. LJHS Public Relations – Joan Hiser asked if we have an outreach to local media or are proactive about reporting exceptional things done by LJHS students. Mr. Shelburne noted that the school district does do some student recognition. It was suggested that we enlist the help of the PTA public relations person and the ASB Public Relations Commissioner to communicate with the local media. Kerry Dill will follow up with the ASB student, who will communicate with Pat Spire for information.

9. Laptop needed – It was noted that the school needs a PC laptop to interface with and update the marquee. Jamie Ginsberg will eblast this message to the PTA list.

10. Update on last year’s flood damage – Classrooms flooded last year are in a state of limbo in terms of repairs, due to a feud between the district, the city of San Diego and the food company Cisco (whose truck broke the water pipe that flooded the auditorium) about who is culpable and should bear the cost of repairs. There are 8 classrooms, the auditorium, storage room and orchestra pit which are affected. It was suggested that we contact city councilman Scott Peters or TV personality Turko to generate some interest and move the situation along.

11. Update on Security Cameras – Tony Farwell of the Foundation is working on the issue of non-working security cameras, but the company which supported the software for the cameras has gone out of business. If/when we can get the cameras operational, the cameras should be able to interface with the district.

12. Track Resurfacing – Deterioration of the track was discussed. Wear is uneven with inside lanes wearing down significantly more than outside lanes. Signs will be posted asking community members to use outside lane, and to keep skateboards, cars and dogs off the tract. The cost to completely resurface the track is $60,000, and while complete resurfacing is not needed at this time, the high cost is a concern.

Roundtable –

Jamie noted that there are parents who have brought a formal complaint against a coach. The parents wished that Governance be informed of the situation.

Kerry Dill noted that students are still being dropped off in teacher parking lots, both by the pool and by the gym. Parents confronted by administrators are rude. The pool parking lot can be used by the community after school hours. There are other drop off spots available and parents should again be informed not to use teacher parking lots.

Joan Hiser moved to extend the meeting for 15 minutes. It was seconded and the vote was affirmative.

Dana – SPARC (a counseling self assessment along the lines of WASC) has been completed and there is a possibility that we will win an award.

Claire Summer noted that she had come up with a plan to renovate the teacher’s parking lot by the pool to allow for parent drop off, but there is no money to make any changes.

Patti Nussbaum commented on the problem of many seniors not showing up for their Senior Exhibitions. This seems to be a new problem, and the administration is debating consequences for not showing up.

Susanna Flaster mentioned that the Valedictorian, if they do not chose to speak at graduation, their name should be noted in the program and perhaps graduate first. Kerry Dill will follow up.

Dana Shelburne noted that several LJHS teams have been doing amazing things: Nobeche won their recent stuff and is headed to national competition in LA; NOSB won their recent competition and heads to Monterey for nationals and Academic League won and heads to Chicago for national competition! The Girls’ basketball team also won CIF’s – these are the types of things we would love to see published in the local media.

Joanne Wainscott mentioned about parents dropping in, instead of setting up an appointment for a conference. It was suggested that we post on the website the method for making appointments with teachers. It will also be announced at the PTA meeting on Friday. Additionally, parents should bring complaints to teachers before going to vice principals or talking to other parents. Many problems could be solved through direct communication.

Joan Hiser noted the school grounds look nice and thanked the staff and volunteer groundskeepers. The lunch trash situation is still not good, and some parents may volunteer to help.

The second show of airband was complimented – it was a success adding an earlier show.

Students who have a convergence of many tests on one day should bring the issue to the teacher instead of complaining to parents.

The meeting was dismissed at 3:45 p.m. The next meeting will be on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in the Counseling Conference Room.