Present: Sarah O'Keefe, Jane McLaughlin, Gail Heckemeyer, Gail Cooluris, Whitney Carlton, Midori W., Amanda E., Rachel P., Patrick McGrew, Tom McHale, Heidi Loper, Guests: Rikki Davenport, Patrick Donlon, Pam Mari, Ann Costello

Meeting called to order at 3:05 p.m.

In order to accommodate guest speakers with other commitments, the items on the agenda were discussed in the following order:

1. Guest speaker, teacher Rikki Davenport on the After School Program.
   Rikki Davenport reported on the purpose and goals of the After School Program at DHS. It was started four years ago in order to give after school assistance to students who were academically at risk. The program operates for one hour after school on Mondays through Thursdays. Two teachers work with approximately 30 to 32 students on homework, preparation for tests and organization of binders. The teachers involved take turns participating in the program. One purpose of the program is to give the students one on one contact with a teacher.

   The program works best when students are there voluntarily. It is open to all grade levels, and many of the same students return to the program year after year. Students receive 2.5 units of credit per quarter for attending the after school program, but if they have more than 3 unexcused absences, no credit is given.

   The students receive a snack during each afternoon session and the cost of the snacks has impacted the budget for the program. The budget is approximately $3 per student and this amount generally covers the salaries of the participating teachers. It does not cover snacks and materials needed for the program. It was noted that when snacks were introduced as part of the program, the level and quality of student participation increased greatly.

   Each student in the program prepares a weekly goals sheet that is reviewed by the teachers to be sure goals are being met. Also, the teachers meet with each student to discuss progress reports each quarter.

   Pam Mari reported that the DHS administration is so impressed with the success of the program that it would like to create a similar program for ELL. The plan is to bring in Latino and African American students from UCD to work with some of these students. Spanish Immersion students have also volunteered to help with such a program.

   The DHS PTA has already offered some monetary support for the program, but the site council is also being asked to help fund snacks and aides for the program. Tom McHale suggested that staff members who cannot help in the program itself may be willing to provide snacks to support the program.
   
   

2. Guest speaker, Vice Principal Patrick Donlon on Attendance.
   Patrick Donlon reported on improvements to the recording process for attendance. All teachers are now asked to take attendance the same period that they have a class via the SASI system. If the office has not received a report by the end of the day, the teacher receives a notification by the next morning. Also, each week all teachers receive a copy of the ATP-17 report which shows weekly attendance in their classes. (This is the report prepared for the state auditors.)

   Reporting to parents has also been improved. A computer generated letter is sent to the parent of any student who has accumulated 21 periods of unexcused absences. An absence goes down as unexcused if it is not cleared within 10 days. Counselors get a copy of the letter and call the student in to discuss the absences. If 42 periods of unexcused absences accumulate, the student’s parents are called to a meeting which is also attended by the student, counselor, vice principal, student supervisor and, in some cases, the police. If 63 periods of unexcused absences accumulate, the police and the county probation office get involved, and it is possible the student’s driver’s license will be withheld and/or s/he will be assigned to a weekend work crew.

   The work and attention that have been given to improving attendance have paid off. Last year the usual ADA ranged in the area of 94-95%. So far this year, the ADA report is over 97% at all three grade levels. The administration is trying to come up with positive incentives to reward students who have perfect attendance records.
   
   

3. Guest speaker, Vice Principal Pam Mari on ELL (English Language Learners).
   Pam Mari reported that the ELL program works with approximately 150 students whose English language skills range from extremely proficient to nonexistent. Because ELLs and Hispanic students as a group are not achieving at expected levels, the administration prepared a school wide action plan to deal with the problem. Because of time constraints, the plan was completed quickly but was far too general. Since then, the staff working on the ELL program has implemented a number of specific measures to tackle the low achievement problem, including:
   • Having every ELL student in an appropriate class level by Oct. 1 (in years past this usually didn’t happen until sometime in November).
   • Having every ELL student complete at the beginning of the school year an assessment test in his/her primary language to be sure no learning disabilities are involved.
   • Providing teachers with the information they need to interpret the test results for their ELL students.
   • Setting up parent meetings in such a way that the students explain procedures and elicit questions and concerns from the parents.
   • Attempting to establish ILP’s (Independent Learning Plans) for ELL students. Because this has not worked in the past, the program is asking teachers to help find the best way to get the ILP’s to work for the students.
     
     

   Pam would like very much to set up a special Friendship Day that focuses on Spanish speaking ELLs. The problems with doing this include replacing an already scheduled Friendship Day with this one, and funding it in the amount of $500. Pam seeks site council help with the funding issue.

   Ann Costello was asked whether site council funds could legitimately be used for such funding and she confirmed that they could. She also stated in response to a question from Sarah O’Keefe that site council funding could be used to buy the After School Program’s consumable supplies.
   
   

4. Guest speaker, Ann Costello from the District Office on Budget and School Site Plan.
   Ann Costello distributed the 2003-2004 School Site Council Handbook to all members present. She asked that all members read the “green pages” which include changes in state law governing site councils. The purpose of the site council is to develop the new school site plan and to work on increasing student achievement. All funding decisions must be made with this latter purpose in mind.

   Our budget this year, due to SIP funding cutbacks, will be 70% of what it normally would be. The amount will be approximately $67,000. We will receive an exact figure as soon as it is received from the state sometime between Nov. 7 and 10. Site council also has carryover funds in the amount of $50,000 from the last two years.

   Our school site plan can use the information in the WASC accreditation documents. The goals in our plan should be based on information from student data worksheets which show where work is needed to increase student achievement.
   
   

5. Sarah O’Keefe raised the question of whether the site council should call for fall proposals that directly affect ELL, at risk, or other similarly challenged students. Site council has between $32,000 and $50,000 in carryover funds which can be disbursed at any time. After discussion, Sarah (as site council coordinator) was directed to prepare and distribute such proposals as soon as possible so that they could be considered at the next site council meeting. Because the next scheduled meeting on November 20 is a joint meeting with the C & I Committee, it was decided that site council would meet on Wednesday, November 19 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the fall proposals.

   As there was not a quorum available to approve the site council minutes from April 30, 2003 and September 25, 2003, these minutes will be reviewed and approved at the November 19, 2003 meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Minutes submitted by

Gail Heckemeyer
Recorder pro tem