SBDM Meeting Notes: January 2022

Hello LPAS Families and Friends! Below are my notes from January 18 2022 meeting.

My notes here are brief as we are back to being in-person. See the agendas and official minutes for more details.

Note: I’m one of two parent reprensentatives, so my notes are slanted towards parent/family topics. As far as notes go, they are probably incomplete, and are definitely not “official”. Official agendas and approved minutes are posted on the LPAS SBDM page and JCPS SBDM Council and Standing Committee Minutes site.

January 18, 2022

January 18, 2022 Agenda & Docs

Good News!

• NTI going well - very high attendance. First week was higher than normal in-person.

• Device handout went very well. Deliveries were made to those who couldn’t pick up. All families were reached.

• Ms. Jones-Smalley our Family Resource Coordinator (FRYSC) addressed us regarding the grant she is working on with the state. It comes up every two years and helps FRSC provide any help to combat “non-academic barriers” like clothing, utilities, healtcare, etc. It’s due February 22. Honestly I had no frame of reference for this grant (our admins, do, obviously) - so I asked for details, which will be provided later. Also - she needs another parent for their advisory council, which helps with grant and purchase approvals.

• Backpack Defenses, March 28-30 2022. Likely to be in-person at LPAS. Sign up here!

• Staffing update: Our ECE position is still out there, waiting to be filled. Very few teachers available.

• Student achievement: Last meeting, we heard that initial MAP scores indicated that there has been considerable growth since last year, notably in reading. However… our Fall 2021-Winter 2022 MAP report indicated that it was not quite the growth we expected. Overall we saw growth in both areas - but we didn’t reach our reading goals 1st thru 4th grade, but did hit them for math goals K-5.

For the above: if the purple bar is above the orange diamond, we outperformed our expected growth. If it’s below, we didn’t (though we still showed growth). See Fall 2021-Winter 2022 MAP report for more details.

Teachers use this sort of growth rate data to adjust their lesson plans - which are tailored to their class, but which should be aligned with LPAS’ Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) goals. Personally, I know teachers really appreciate and use MAP scores (versus, say, KPREP) so we’ll be seeing the impact soon, I’m sure. Also: Ms. Case indicated she is a “huge nerd about this sort of stuff”.

• Budget Stuff: We were previously using general fund money to up our Kindergarten team allocaton from 3 1/2 people to 4, but we were given 4 by JCPS, so we can effectively “sell” that extra .5. (Both a teacher and an instructional assistant)

Policy Reviews

Student & Family Resources. We determined that the FRSC committee established by this policy exists, but not necessarily under the SBDM. The admin team is working on clarifying this.

Diversity & Equity

An important policy for one of the most diverse elementary schools in the district. We discussed a lot, but the big win for me today was this:

Our current policy covers the basics that “we will ensure that each and every student”:

• Is able to achieve at high academic levels.
• Feels safe, welcome, and valued at our school.
• Receives a full, fair share of the opportunities our school has to offer.
• Knows and honors the achievements of his or her ethnicity, cultural identity, perspectives, and tradition.
• Knows and honors the achievements of other cultural traditions he or she may encounter in our community and later in life.
• Respects and understands that different life experiences lead to different perspectives.
• Allows/Encourages equal access to all programs.

…and also requires a Racial Equity Committee to be established (it is, and has been since at least 2018).

My input here was that in my understanding JCPS’ definition of Equity and Diversity applies well beyond race and culture. I asked the council what we might be missing. I was very happy to hear Ms. Case and Ms. Jones mention gender and LGBTQ equity and diversity - I was going to bring up if they had not. I know many former LPAS students who experienced (and sometimes struggled with) gender issues during their elementary school careers - and some families wished that the school had established ways to help their students with these. I’ve requested that we seek guidance from the district as to committees or policies that are established elsewhere. So, we’ll see where that goes. At the end of the day - I hope that we too make all students feel comfortable at LPAS, and recognizing these sorts of challenges before they become “problems” is key. Stay tuned!

See you in February!