Board Report – October 1, 2013
Administrative Reports
Charlene Lui, director of Educational Equity, gave a report on the Tumaini Transition Center the to the board.
Curriculum & Instruction specialists Sheri Sorensen, Angie Osness and Dee Rigdon gave a report on math investigation centers to the board.
Board Meeting
Recognition
The board recognized October 21-25 as Principals’ Week. The board read an official proclamation and watched a video presentation prepared by Ben Horsley, director of Communications.
Purchases
- Cars for Driver’s Education Program, Young Chevrolet, $74,863.20, Driver’s Education Program
- Vans for carpentry shop, Young Chevrolet, $59,825.40, Transportation budget
- Reading classic van service bodies, Semi Service, Inc., $51,055.64, Transportation budget
- Check point security system for Information Systems Department, DirSec, Inc., $53,685.21, Information Systems Department, Capital Outlay Equipment budget
- Alignment equipment for Granger High School, Mohawk Resources, $57,962.02, New School Equipment budget
Contracts
- Professional development services for Granger High School, Conditions 4 Learning, not to exceed $120,000.00 annually, Title I-A funds
First Reading
Doug Larson, director of Policy & Legal Services, presented a first reading on the Jury Duty policy to the board.
Action Item
The board approved the Salt Lake County Magna Community Development Resolution.
Brandon Peterson says
Where can I get more information on the Salt Lake County Magna Community Development Resolution?
Steven Powell says
The representative from Salt Lake County who spoke about the resolution at board meeting is Paul Bringhurst. He can be reached at pbringhurst@slco.org
Anne Monsen says
Hello, I never received a response on who I should talk to about a new way of doing parent/teacher conferences. I really think parents and teachers have been very supportive on an idea the government implemented. Their idea was great wanting teachers and parents to communicate yet there has to be a better and more economical way to bring this about. Having our teachers spend two evenings; 3hours each and then having a day off of school shouldn’t we ask them to see what they think would work? Thank you
anne
Ben Horsley says
email us at communications@graniteschools.org and we will forward the information to the parent/employee calendar committee. Thanks,
Anne Monsen says
As a mother of 5 and a former teacher, I would like to know if you plan, in the future, to change the format of Parent/teacher conferences? I feel the conferences have become a check list for both the parent and teacher. It seems more beneficial for the teacher to address those parents personally for poor grades. For those parents who want to touch base with the teacher,even though their children are doing great could be done where they’re not standing in line for 30 minutes to spend less then a minute on their child’s grade. Thank you
Anne Monsen
Ben Horsley says
We are always looking at ways to improve these meetings. Ongoing communication with parents above and beyond SEP’s is critical and we encourage this. If your child is doing well, and your questions have been answered alternatively to the SEP, you certainly are not required to stand in line to speak with the teacher. Thanks for your comments.
Anne Monsen says
Ben.
Thank you for your response. The challenge is teachers are encouraging parent support by giving extra credit, which we know usually are those students who don’t need it but do it anyway and are the ones who the teacher doesn’t need to see. Also, my son, who is a senior knows I am going so he looks forward to my report. Luckily, I am among those parents who stay within the topic and time frame. I notice it isn’t the fault of the teacher or parent but really the administration needs to come down on the time limit. I remember, as a teacher I would try to stay within the 3 minutes but parents wanted to chat and there wasn’t anything I can do. I realize this is my last child and feel I need to speak up for those parents who are frustrated but don’t want to cause embarassement for their child. Where would you recommend I go to start the change to happen? thanks again for your time.
Anne Monsen
Mary says
Anne,
As a parent of a Sophomore, I thank you! I have the same problem and even though my daughter is a great student, she loves for me to attend conferences. It helps when she is reporting on her day if I have some idea of what the teacher is like and What their thought process may be like. I am better prepared for this if I have had even a brief meeting with the teacher. I do think the structure supports someone like me, and not those who have serious issues to discuss. Those should be an individual appt. It seems that the student is usually with both parents at these more intense meetings, and that makes it go even longer. Then, I had the experience of a couple of teachers wanting to tell me all about their own children and experiences. Very nice and even interesting, but not the time and place with a big line!
I don’t want to be frustrated with this, and I am determined to keep going. I appreciate the conversation to look at taking care of this situation. An enforced time limit would be a great place to start!
Anne Monsen says
Mary,
Thank you for your response and again I am reminded how willing parents and teachers are in wanting to work together. The challenge with enforcing the time limit is who is going to actually do this? I remember, as a teacher, we had timers at our desk and once the timer stopped we were to stop. This was so frustrating for me as the teacher trying to do both. I know principals make signs and encourgage teachers to please keep within the time frame. One year, we as teachers, set up appointments with parents and then met in our classroom. Again, this is adding to the teacher’s load. I really believe the time has come for the monies spent on these conferences be allocated. Give teachers the monies to apply to their time to call parents and even meet with them in groups. I am hoping someone in the District will let me know where I can go to get this off the ground. I have been in the system for 31 years and think a change is necessary. I know our school system moves slowly yet if there are enough teachers and students behind this, they will listen.
Ben Horsley says
I have received an email on the topic and have forwarded it to the calendaring committee (which includes parents) for their review. You can send additional communications on any topics to communications@graniteschools.org. Thanks!
Anne Monsen says
Ben,
Thank you and would you recommend I attend this meeting to further address this issue of changing the format of Parent/Teacher conferences?
Anne
Juliana Bernal says
I will like to know,where and when are the board meetings held .It seems that are private meetings,and not for the community and or for the parents
Ben Horsley says
Juliana,
All board meeting information (agendas and minutes) is available directly off of our district homepage which is also linked from each school website. Meetings are generally held the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at the GEC. Here is a direct link – https://www.graniteschools.org/depart/board/Pages/default.aspx. On the contrary, we would love more participation from parents and the community as a whole. Every patron recently received a postcard with the link to this information as well. If there is a better way to get the word out on our meetings, we are open to additional suggestions. Thanks,
Anne Monsen says
Juiliana,
I appreciate your question because I wasn’t aware of the meeting until I received an email there was a meeting. When Ben said generally the meetings are held Tuesday and I find something comes up and the location is inconvient. Maybe, they could come to our individual schools once a month?
Anne Monsen