Agenda - 03-11-1998 - 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 $27,000 was budgeted for planning for year -round schools under the assumption that a year -round school would open in 1998 -99. No school has plans to convert to a year -round schedule next year; however, it is quite likely that the Southern Village elementary school will have a different schedule in 1999 -00. None of these funds have yet been expended, but they still are available for planning purposes, even for the new elementary school. $5,000 was budgeted for screening volunteers' driver licenses and criminal records. This is required by Board policy for volunteers who participate in higher risk activities. $83,200 was budgeted to employ half -time enrichment teachers in four elementary schools. This is the second year of a three -year plan for phasing in expanded enrichment services. At this time two of the four positions have been filled. We are now able to serve students in the lower grades and support teachers in their efforts to differentiate in the regular classroom. $52,300 was budgeted to begin an alternative school for students who have had severe behavior problems. This was to be a joint effort with Orange County Schools. The OCS, subsequently, informed us that they had not budgeted funds for this purpose and, therefore, could not support a school this year. Furthermore, OCS indicated that it was interested in locating the school north of Hillsborough. Consequently, our plans were changed to open a school on our own. The alternative school will operate this year at Lincoln Center for the second semester. We are just beginning to screen students. We expect that this program will help prevent students from dropping out and will enhance the climate in our existing high schools and middle schools. Increased Support for Teachers, Administrators, and Other Staff Several items in this section were intended to improve working conditions for staff and correct inequities in the allocation of personnel. These include a half- time foreign language teacher allocated to McDougle Elementary due to it being under - allocated the first year; increasing support for elementary science specialist positions to half -time; extending secretaries', counselors', and exceptional education coordinators' contracts into or through the summer in recognition of the time required of these personnel; raising the minimum local teacher supplement to 5 %; reducing the pupil teacher ratio slightly at the high schools; and adjusting the formula for allocating cultural arts funds. A study of administrative salaries is underway and will be completed by the end of March, 1998. An additional position was created in the Human Resources Office to recruit and support teachers. This was the first professional level position added to that department in ten years. During that time, the number of staff has increased by more than 50 %. $15,000 also was allocated to employ an assistant bus foreman on a part -time basis. Transportation is another area that has grown by leaps and bounds. We opened the year with the best transportation services in our history although we are experiencing problems now due to illnesses and resignations.