LAWRENCE: School board re-examines its goals

By Jennifer Bradley, Packet Media Group
   The Lawrence Township Board of Education re-examined its goals for the district during a special meeting on Wednesday, June 27.
   During a retreat portion of the meeting, the board did a SWOT analysis of their goals that examined the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of each goal.
   The board’s goals at the start of the retreat were fiscal responsibility, academic excellence and equity, community engagement and future technology.
   Most of the meeting was focused on the rewording or elimination of the future technology goal and the incorporation or creation of a goal to develop the total child.
   Board members Jo Ann Groeger and Kevin Van Hise are part of the ad hoc committee developing the idea of the total child.
   According to Ms. Groeger and Mr. Van Hise, the total child is an individual who is well-rounded and provided with not only academic opportunities, but also extra curricular activities such as athletics and music. The ad hoc committee has been engaging in discussion and aiming to ensure that students in the school district have these extra curricular opportunities.
   According to Mr. Van Hise, there are two main areas of discussion within this goal: personnel and facilities. Mr. Van Hise used the example of athletics and said the district should aim to have coaches and other leaders who help athletes with confidence, character building, dealing with losing games and transitioning into college level athletics. Athletes should also have the proper area to practice and compete.
   He also said the difference between gym class and after-school athletic practices and games is degree. In after -chool practices, students learn to be independent and responsible because they have to make sure they are on the field in time since it is not a required part of their schedule, he said. They also are around people of their skill level, rather than being around people of different abilities in gym class.Board member Leon Kaplan raised the concern that focusing more on extra curricular activities might in some way take away from academics.
   ”We have a finite amount of time every day, so to some degree (extra curriculars) will direct students away from academics,” he said.
   ”I don’t think it’s black and white in that if we dedicate resources to this we automatically take away from something else,” said Mr. Van Hise.
   Mr. Van Hise recommended increasing their revenue stream or coming closer to their budget cap to combat this potential issue.
   Superintendent Crystal Lovell said she thinks the biggest problem is transportation. If extra curricular activities are held before or after the school day, the school needs to make sure transportation to and from activities is arranged.
   Ultimately the board seemed receptive to the idea of the total child and agreed it is an important step that needs to be integrated into their goals.
   ”We cannot just be myopic about academics, but we also need to look at developing more well-rounded children,” said board President Laura Waters.
   ”The fact that these issues are coming up is a compliment to everything we have done,” said Mr. Kaplan.
   He said if the Lawrence school district did not already have an outstanding academic program, the board and community could not be discussing extra curricular activities at length.
   Other goals emphasized at the meeting were making the non-college track respectable and ensuring that Lawrence High School caters toward those who do not plan to attend college as well as ensuring that the district schools are portrayed as a desirable place to work for teachers and administrators.
   Another idea mentioned was to foster parental involvement in the lives of students. According to board member Michael Horan, parental involvement seems to dwindle as students get older.
   ”We need to be building a sense of community for the (high) school as a whole, not just rallying around the football team,” he said. “It’s all about encompassing the community as a whole, just like everyone takes pride in living in Lawrence.”The future technology goal was ultimately decided to be in a separate dimension from the other starting goals, but was still seen as a necessary integration.
   ”We want to shift this more in the direction of thinking of technology as a tool that a well-rounded student would use,” said Ms. Waters. “We need to make the goal less about the tool and more about the well-rounded student.”To accommodate all of these goals, Mr. Kaplan proposed a different model to address goals that is categorized by different levels. The top tier will be what Mr. Kaplan called core values. Objectives will branch off of the core values, strategies will branch off of the objectives, and implementation plans will be the last level. Mr. Kaplan thinks this model will be more comprehensive and effective.
   Ms. Waters recommended that Mr. Kaplan hold a meeting to explain the new model so the board can decide if they want to officially adopt it.