La Jolla High School

Site Governance Committee Meeting Minutes

November 6, 2006

Members present:

Teachers: Claire Summer, Kerry Dill, Melanie Menders and Ken Martin.

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 Manuel Gonzalez, Caroline Kelner and Sue Walsh.

The meeting was called to order by Ms. Ginsberg at 3:30 p.m.

1. Old Business – Principal’s Performance Appraisal – The first order of business was to review the survey results from Spring 2006 regarding the performance of Principal Dana Shelburne (during the first 10 minutes of the meeting prior to his arrival). Ms. Dill shared the survey results, including numeric scores and comments, of representative students, faculty and staff, parents and board members of the La Jolla High School Foundation.

2. Old Business – Additional Site Funds – Mr. Shelburne arrived at the meeting and discussed the allocation of the Discretionary Block Grant that was approved by the LJHS School Site Council on October 16, 2006. He explained that the School Site Council had allocated the $84,470 available as follows:

Mr. Shelburne explained that Mr. Matt Rosenberg agreed to investigate the software component of test scanning equipment.

3. Old Business – Additional Grants – Mr. Shelburne next addressed the State of California grant for counseling. He stated that the $80/student available would fund 1.05 counseling positions for La Jolla High School. He explained that the requirements that would accompany the grant were already incorporated into the La Jolla High School counseling program. The SDUSD is interviewing candidates for counselor positions throughout the district, and a counselor should be assigned to LJHS soon.

Mr. Shelburne also referred to the grant for art, physical education and music equipment, and said that there was no further information on the terms and conditions surrounding that grant.

4. New Business – Standardized Test Results – The next order of business was a discussion of standardized test results at LJHS. Mr. Shelburne announced the excellent results of La Jolla High School students on the State of California High School Exit Exam. 96% of the junior class students passed the math and English sections of the examination, and 85% of the English Learners also passed. Those students who did not pass will be tutored after school as they have multiple opportunities to pass the examination before the end of their senior year. Because of the superior results, the sophomore students at LJHS did not take the all-day practice High School Exit Exam during the past week, instead spending the time in their regular classes. Mr. Shelburne complimented the work of the teachers at Muirlands Middle School in preparing the students for high school. Ms. Ginsberg asked that Mr. Shelburne also share the STAR results at a future meeting.

5. New Business – Placement of Students – The next discussion involved the placement of LJHS students with special needs as covered by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or by an Individualized Education Program. Mr. Shelburne explained that teachers receive information on the needs of affected students, but that placement was personality-neutral. When problems are identified, there is a process of working with the student, parent and teacher to address concerns (which is similar if the student is not covered by either special needs program). He indicated that students covered by an IEP have an advocate provided by the SDUSD who can work with the student’s teachers, but the SDUSD has no funds for assisting Section 504 students; those students are supported by LJHS employees who have received training.

6. New Business – Registrar – Ms. Ginsberg raised an issue from a parent with a concern that transcript requests one year from now might not be efficiently handled. Mr. Shelburne explained that all transcript requests have been processed on-time this year through the use of the Naviance® program, and that he knew of no reason why next year would be any different. There was a discussion regarding the College Planning and Information Guide, which was published earlier this year by the College Protocol Subcommittee of the Site Governance Committee and is now available on the LJHS website. It was recommended that the “counseling” tab appear on the main LJHS menu rather than under the “parents” tab. Ms. Ginsberg volunteered to discuss moving the tab with the LJHS web designer.

7. New Business – Scheduling of Tests – Ms. Ginsberg raised another question submitted by a parent. The question was raised whether teachers consider the major college preparation tests (e.g., SAT and PSAT) when scheduling class tests, and try to avoid scheduling a major class test the day before the administration of a major college preparation test. During the discussion, opinions were expressed that there were multiple college preparation test dates and scheduling could be problematic. In addition, some questioned whether the larger concern might be scheduling a major class test on the Monday immediately after a major college preparation test.

Mr. Shelburne left the meeting due to another commitment.

8. Minutes – Copies of the Minutes from the last meeting of the Site Governance Committee on October 3, 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.

By motion made, seconded and passed, the meeting was extended for an additional 15 minutes.

9. Old Business – Principal’s Performance Appraisal -- The meeting again discussed the survey results regarding Mr. Shelburne’s performance. Ms. Dill and Ms. Ginsberg volunteered to compile overall results with appropriate weighting of the responses to better balance the three main groups and to prepare a summary of dominant themes. They explained that they would share those recommendations with the members of the LJHS Site Governance Committee via e-mail.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 4, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 304.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Michael Briggs, Recorder.