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Nov 2004 :::

LT Community Advisory Council Minutes

November 17, 2004

LTHS Extra Curricular Activity Report - Part II

All members are encouraged to use email to contact LTCAC. The email address is: LTCAC@lths.net . Please contact administration and faculty at LTHS using email, as well. The nomenclature for email addresses follows: (first initial of first name)(entire surname)@lths.net

LTCAC Call to Order (7:00 pm)
Superintendent Report – Dr. Dennis Kelly (7:10 PM)
School Board Member Report - Allen Polich (7:20 PM)
LTHS Extra Curricular Activity Presentation and Review – Director of Student Activities - Kris Costopoulos) (7:26 PM)
Question & Answer Session (7:50 PM)
Small Group Round Table Discussion-Recommendations for Improving the Extra curricular Activities Program (8:12 PM)
Harriet VerGowe called the meeting to order.
Minutes
1. The members in attendance unanimously accepted the minutes as written for the October 20, 2004 meeting. Minutes will be posted on the website each month at: http://www.lths.net/Organizations/LTCAC/Minutes.htm
Administrative Process Review
1. Harriet reviewed the process to follow for the LTCAC members
  1. Members Sign-in
  2. Wear your name tags during the meeting
  3. Table assignments change with each meeting
  4. Predetermined topics are presented and discussed
  5. Recommendations for the School Board are formulated through the small round table discussion groups
    1. Each table turns their written recommendations over to the Secretary at the end of the meeting for inclusion in the meeting minutes
  6. These recommendations will be presented to the School Board throughout the year
  7. Forming a Recommendation Committee has been suggested as a way to formalize the LTCAC recommendations for presentation to the School Board (The Planning Committee will perform this function until a Recommendation Committee is formed.)
  8. A representative from the Recommendations Committee would attend the School Boards meetings to present the LTCAC recommendations
  9. LTCAC membership is highly encouraged to attend the School Board Meetings
Harriet requested assistance for the Planning Committee in order to develop the Agenda for the January and February 2005 meetings. These meetings will address the topic of technology in the school system. There will be a minimum of two planning meetings for the agenda development. Any help, particularly qualified in regard to technology, is welcome. The Planning Committee meeting dates will be established in the next two weeks.
Tom Kokontis distributed his LTCAC membership photo roster. Thanks for the great medium to help us identify each other!
Parent Teacher Conferences Format Changes
1. 3 Goals for Reform
  1. Make it easier for parents by changing the physical arrangement of the meetings
  2. Make more staff available to parent interaction through more effective scheduling
  3. Add an additional PT conference for second semester
Facilities Update
1. Cost estimator Ragnar Benson was hired to look at the various project numbers and give advice on ways to cut costs, if possible. While cost savings were identified, they were not large enough to make a substantial difference in overall budget shortfalls.
2. Bids will go out for all three projects (Theater, Pool and Field House-all South Campus) on December 20, 2004; Bids are due back on January 21, 2005; School Board will review bids at the February 2005 Meeting; At this time the numbers will probably dictate that the Board will approve the Theater and Pool projects and postpone the Field House project for a later date.
3. Spring weather in 2005 will mark groundbreaking for the projects that are approved.
4. Some of the parking area and the driver’s Ed range will be used for equipment staging for the projects and temporary accommodations will be made to adjust for this need of space during the construction phase at South Campus.
5. The pool will be located in the green space in front of the two gyms at South Campus.
School Board approved 2 part-time and 1 full time faculty positions and 1 full time administrative position for the Special Ed department. Special Ed enrollment has increased from 283 to 417 students.
A textbook fee reduction from $125 to $95 was approved for all students.
Twenty-three (23) new teachers were recently hired and the first meeting with this group was very gratifying. Dr. Kelly thinks they are a smart group with good values.
The English department is going through extensive curriculum changes. Course focus is shifting to semester mode and away from full year mode. Many faculty workshops are scheduled in the upcoming months to help finalize the curricular changes and develop ways to implement them. Al requested that any suggestions from the LTCAC membership be directed to him
The Aviation course is switching to a semester schedule mode, as well. Meteorology and traffic control studies will be included in the curriculum. There will be more flexibility in scheduling due to the implementation of Flight Simulation software use for classes in addition to actual air flight time for the students.
Curriculum redevelopment/change occurs in this way:
1. Change is put forth by the teachers and/or division chair
2. Curriculum Committee (division chairs, students and faculty) discuss the changes
3. The change is presented (current curriculum, proposed curriculum and cost of change) to the School Board at the "First Reading" by the Curricular Chair
4. The School Board reviews the changes and at their next meeting a "Second Reading" of the changes takes place.
5. The School Board votes on whether to approve or deny the proposed changes to curriculum.
6. The moratorium was lifted on student activities for the 2003-2004 school year.
7. New/reinstated clubs: German Club, Computer Club, Sign Language Club, Girls’ Lacrosse Intramural
8. Some staff members volunteer as non-formal club sponsors
9. Clubs can only be formed if 50 students come forth to request its formation. Then the club goes before the Stipend Committee for approval.
10. Many requests by students allow Kris to redirect interest for a new club to existing (but unknown) clubs.
11. The club sponsors review all clubs at the end of each school year.
12. Two campus system does mean that the activity bus must leave promptly from its respective campus
13. North Campus access/desirability for Corral is an issue
  1. Band Nights for garage bands as an attraction
  2. Relay for Life uses Corral as a fund raising venue
14. Relay for Life has been very successful and wonderfully received by students and the community
  1. first year: 23 teams, raised $35,000
  2. second year: 45 teams, raised $53,000
  3. American Cancer Society presented the National Heart of the Relay award to LT for their participation in the Relay for Life
15. Minority student involvement
  1. Latino dance troupe
  2. Steppers (predominantly African American)
16. Students cannot be encouraged by the LT faculty to participate in activities outside of the high school sanctioned programs.
17. Student extracurricular "resumes" are being developed through tapping into the student database and will be available to students in the 2005-2006 school year. The resume will reflect Extra Curricular involvement, student council participation, awards, etc. This will help with scholarship application.
18. Kris is promoting the activity sponsors to use Edline for the Co-curricular postings.
19. Kris admitted that the website is not up-to-date and stated that it is a priority to update it.
20. Student over involvement in the Co-Curricular activities forces them to learn time management. If a student’s academic performance suffers because of over involvement in extra curricular activities, their advisors are brought into play to help evaluate the situation.
21. Any Club gets a two-semester review period before it is disbanded. The sponsors are aware of the attendance issues (primary reason that a club is dissolved) and are advised to encourage attendance/enrollment.
22. Stipend Committee consists of the Personnel Director, 2 staff members, and a School Board Member.
23. Stipend Committee Approval Process
  1. Can the student request/interest be met elsewhere?
  2. Is the request reasonable/sound?
  3. Can the space requirements for the club be met?
24. Informal Clubs could be made more "formal" through the use of bulletin boards for announcements, posters placed about the campuses, etc. Students are responsible for these promotions.
25. Informal clubs do not have "permission" from the School Board to meet on campus because of various liability issues. Community participation on a volunteer basis involves background checks, etc. which have attached costs. The School Board is "aware" that these informal groups meet on campus. Meetings are announced and they do get coverage in the Lion, but the informal clubs are not represented in the yearbook.
26. It has been requested that the co-curricular announcements be made during more than just the third period or the announcements be rotated to different periods.
27. It was suggested that the Co-Curricular announcements be read out loud during Advisory Period
28. The "Second Wave" club marketing push was requested and Kris agreed that it was a good idea.
29. Model UN Club was approved for Spring 2005.
30. Sponsors don’t have to be filled by a certified staff member, but they have first right to apply for the position.
31. Edline posts a list of co-curricular activity changes.
32. Skateboarding as a club was not approved because of liability issues.
33. Kris uses the all school assembly to allow students to get recognition for activities that are not part of the formal Co-Curricular program.
34. There is no formal evaluation process for sponsors or coaches. Mike Morris is responsible for the coaching staff.
35. In order to encourage students who do not make "cut" sport teams/clubs to participate, LT should provide competency levels for clubs so that no one trying out for a sport gets turned away. Fun levels as well as professional levels could be made available.
36. If budget was not an issue (and she won’t see a new Field House at South Campus for a while) Kris said she’d like three all school assemblies (one per season) to be used for uniting the two campuses and showcasing as many students as possible. Her feeling is that as the average student is boosted up, the fringe students rise along with them. It’s a win-win situation for the students.
37. Feedback and Table Recommendations

Transportation Issues for movement between campuses
1. Perform a "traffic study" to better determine campus to campus transportation issues
2. Can shuttle buses wait a few minutes longer before leaving their respective campuses?
3. Hire extra buses during peak usage periods?
4. Assign bus(es) for the Activity routes only
5. Privatize the activity bus service
Communication and Marketing of Activities
1. Rotate or change the time/period of the day when the co-curricular announcements are made
2. Provide paper copies of announcements for students in advisory, in cafeteria, in main office, etc.
3. Publish sponsor names and contact information in association with their respective clubs wherever co-curricular information is posted/distributed
4. Edline/Website/LTTV utilization for announcements
  1. Develop an administrative position exclusive to the process of keeping the website and Edline up-to-date
  2. Engage the computer club or LTech members to take on the responsibility of keeping electronic updates/announcements current
  3. Mandate sponsor responsibilities to include Edline/Website participation
5. Use of scrolling announcement boards in classrooms and common areas
6. Use cable to connect all the classroom TVs into a school-wide communication medium.
7. Encourage student recruitment through club member incentive programs
Second Wave for club recruitment
1. Use quarterly rather than yearly membership mentality in organizing clubs/activities
2. Promotion of clubs/activities should be quarterly
3. Promotion of clubs/activities should not be exclusive to freshmen
4. Use advisory period to encourage club participation especially in regard to shy, fringe, quiet students
5. Allocate a segment of the all school Assembly to promote co-curricular activities
6. Request funding for additional All School Assemblies each year
Provide more "no cut"/intramural activities to accommodate the large number of students turned away from sports with try-outs and limited resources for membership
1. Develop non-competitive dance squads
2. Seasonal "short term" clubs
3. Intramural Lacrosse
4. Address the lack of activities for girls in this category
Sponsor Review
1. Elect an independent review board to assist with sponsor selection
2. Use review board to assist with sponsor efficacy issues
3. Use sponsor review board to evaluate sponsors
4. Develop and encourage the use of an anonymous student survey for sponsor evaluation
Support the development of the database providing electronic access of Student Activity/Accomplishment "resumes"
Make better use of the student co-curricular participation survey
1. Make sure that students get feedback from the survey

Reinforce the sponsor-potential club member connection

VII. Adjournment (9:00 PM)