Warsaw middle school students now may take more advanced math classes than were offered in the past, school board members were told Monday.

Edgewood principal JoElla Smyth said the previous math curriculum was not meeting state standards because the standards had changed more recently than the math textbooks. Now that algebra and geometry are offered at Lakeview and Edgewood middle schools, students will have an advantage when taking high school math and the state Graduation Qualifying Exam.

She said the schools have reduced the number of basic math classes and have added more advanced algebra and geometry courses, including honors classes, and the students have responded.

The failure rate in math classes at the high school is dropping, Smyth said, because students are taking advanced math at the middle school level.

"We're finding that the majority of students can handle a more difficult curriculum," she said.

In response to a question from board member Gene England, Smyth said the advanced classes do require more homework, and tutorial services are offered by the schools and by Warsaw Community Public Library.

Assistant superintendent Sandra Hess said curriculum was one of the factors considered last week in the North Central Association accreditation process when teams visited all 10 elementary schools.

She said Warsaw Community Schools focuses on prioritizing curriculum to help teachers confirm that what they're teaching meets state standards.

"We have worked on curriculum all through the '90s and we expect to be working on it through this decade," said superintendent Dr. David McGuire. "We will be learning better and better how to refine our curriculum so all kids can be successful."

In other business:

• England suggested the portable classrooms be moved to Claypool Elementary and that Silver Lake students be bused next year to Claypool instead of to Washington Elementary, as proposed with the resolution to close Claypool, Silver Lake and Atwood elementaries.

"Wouldn't it be practical and more sensible now to put the portables at Claypool ...," he said, stressing that this action would prevent overcrowding at Washington when the Silver Lake students are moved next year.

He said he had already discussed the idea with McGuire, "and he had a 100 reasons why it wouldn't work."

"No, actually I only had one," McGuire said, and that is that England's suggestion would not generate the required savings.

• Silver Lake resident Angela Fulton asked board member Mark Minatel, who was absent from the September meeting when the board voted to close the schools, how he would have voted.

Minatel said he would have voted to close the schools, but he remains deeply concerned that "there is no hard plan in place for the area that's going to grow," meaning the northern part of the school corporation where schools are most crowded.

• Board member Larry Chamberlain reminded the board that Education Summit X is scheduled for 7 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 13 at 2517 Wagon Wheel. The theme this year will be "A Celebration of Learning," and the keynote speaker will be Dr. Roger Thornton, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.

The Summit is free and open to the public.

• Mary Green, of Silver Lake, said a state legislator told her he would support WCS if the corporation asked for permission to move money from another fund to the general fund, and asked why the board has not yet done that.

McGuire said, "It may be something that we end up looking at. ... We're looking at all of our options, we haven't discussed anything at this point."

• Work already has begun on adding the technology center to the administration building, McGuire said, and bids for the high school projects will be read at the November meeting and awarded at the December meeting.

• Enrollment in all schools is 6,509 students, McGuire said, up 53 students from the same time last year.

School board members are Craig Allebach, Larry Chamberlain, Gene England, Cathy Folk, James Folk, Mark Minatel and Ron Yeiter. Allebach was absent Monday. The board meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month in the administration building. [[In-content Ad]]