Manchester Schools Hears About E-Learning
October 12, 2016 at 5:19 p.m.
By Keri Koenig-
The e-learning method is an alternative for making up snow days at the end of the year. There will be at least one test run of the e-learning for this upcoming school year.
An e-learning day will be instated when a third, consecutive snow day occurs. Then, a date will be chosen, a future Saturday, for the e-learning day to take place. Once the day is decided, teachers will create a lesson plan and record themselves teaching so that students may watch a video lesson on the designated e-learning day. The school administrators will approve the lesson by the Wednesday prior to the e-learning day. Teachers must allow a window of time to be contacted by students for any questions they may have. Tech support also must be available for students to access.
Accommodations will be made such as allowing access to computer labs after school and on that Saturday, providing lunch and offering transportation for special needs students. This will allow families without internet access to be able to make arrangements for children to complete the work.
Students may start as early as the Wednesday the e-learning material is posted to complete their work. The homework would also not be due on the Saturday of the e-learning lesson. Students will be given a set amount of time to complete the e-learning schoolwork and plan around conflicting schedules if he or she is a participant in sports or extra curricular activities. Students who do not complete their e-learning day will be considered as absent.
Challenges that the school board expects will be with the younger students of MES, specifically kindergarten through fourth grade. There will have to be extra instructions for what lesson requirements will need to be fulfilled for these younger grade levels.
Overall, the anticipated results should allow a one-on-one learning experience, a transfer of skills with differentiated instructional modules, and an ease with using technology as a tool.
Superintendent Dr. Bill Reichhart is interested to see what percent of students will complete the work early, how many will be marked absent, and how many will utilize the accommodations.
After the first e-learning takes place, there will be a survey to see if teachers, parents and students believe the e-learning system to be effective or not before deciding to consider a second attempt.
The budget and administration salaries were approved for the 2017 school year. There will be a similar rate on the general fund as last year, but there will be 400,000 saved versus the prior year.
Brady Burgess says he feels that this will be a responsible budget. No new buses need to be replaced as of yet this year and the schools may be fine for another year. There is a capital projects fund plan that will account for the school’s basic maintaining needs until 2019. In the future, there may be investments in efficient lighting, flooring, boilers and various aesthetics.
The administration and superintendents also approved their contracts for 2017 as well. Reichhart stated that an average increase for administrators has increased by 1.4 percent.
“Our administrators have been rated either effective or highly effective. I believe our administrators have done a great job and we hope they stay for years to come,” he said.
The sale of the Maple Park property is undergoing new strategies. The amount of land is approximately 1.8 acres.
Al Schlitt looked at the lots, their appraisals, and decided it might be best to split the park into smaller parcels. A total of 10 lots will be divided into four parcels of land. Each lot could then be advertised at a minimum bid. The approximate worth of the land falls between $38,000 and $50,000.
Schlitt and the board still must decide the price of an acceptable minimal bid. Sandy Krouse believed $3,000 for each lot would be too low of a price. Burgess is for the idea of selling the land in sections to allow a buyer to build homes or develop the land. There would also be no cost to tear down the playground equipment. For now the board isn’t locked into any solution and would like to revisit the issue at the next meeting.
The next Manchester Community School Board meeting will be postponed until Nov. 15 due to the presidential election on Nov. 8.
The e-learning method is an alternative for making up snow days at the end of the year. There will be at least one test run of the e-learning for this upcoming school year.
An e-learning day will be instated when a third, consecutive snow day occurs. Then, a date will be chosen, a future Saturday, for the e-learning day to take place. Once the day is decided, teachers will create a lesson plan and record themselves teaching so that students may watch a video lesson on the designated e-learning day. The school administrators will approve the lesson by the Wednesday prior to the e-learning day. Teachers must allow a window of time to be contacted by students for any questions they may have. Tech support also must be available for students to access.
Accommodations will be made such as allowing access to computer labs after school and on that Saturday, providing lunch and offering transportation for special needs students. This will allow families without internet access to be able to make arrangements for children to complete the work.
Students may start as early as the Wednesday the e-learning material is posted to complete their work. The homework would also not be due on the Saturday of the e-learning lesson. Students will be given a set amount of time to complete the e-learning schoolwork and plan around conflicting schedules if he or she is a participant in sports or extra curricular activities. Students who do not complete their e-learning day will be considered as absent.
Challenges that the school board expects will be with the younger students of MES, specifically kindergarten through fourth grade. There will have to be extra instructions for what lesson requirements will need to be fulfilled for these younger grade levels.
Overall, the anticipated results should allow a one-on-one learning experience, a transfer of skills with differentiated instructional modules, and an ease with using technology as a tool.
Superintendent Dr. Bill Reichhart is interested to see what percent of students will complete the work early, how many will be marked absent, and how many will utilize the accommodations.
After the first e-learning takes place, there will be a survey to see if teachers, parents and students believe the e-learning system to be effective or not before deciding to consider a second attempt.
The budget and administration salaries were approved for the 2017 school year. There will be a similar rate on the general fund as last year, but there will be 400,000 saved versus the prior year.
Brady Burgess says he feels that this will be a responsible budget. No new buses need to be replaced as of yet this year and the schools may be fine for another year. There is a capital projects fund plan that will account for the school’s basic maintaining needs until 2019. In the future, there may be investments in efficient lighting, flooring, boilers and various aesthetics.
The administration and superintendents also approved their contracts for 2017 as well. Reichhart stated that an average increase for administrators has increased by 1.4 percent.
“Our administrators have been rated either effective or highly effective. I believe our administrators have done a great job and we hope they stay for years to come,” he said.
The sale of the Maple Park property is undergoing new strategies. The amount of land is approximately 1.8 acres.
Al Schlitt looked at the lots, their appraisals, and decided it might be best to split the park into smaller parcels. A total of 10 lots will be divided into four parcels of land. Each lot could then be advertised at a minimum bid. The approximate worth of the land falls between $38,000 and $50,000.
Schlitt and the board still must decide the price of an acceptable minimal bid. Sandy Krouse believed $3,000 for each lot would be too low of a price. Burgess is for the idea of selling the land in sections to allow a buyer to build homes or develop the land. There would also be no cost to tear down the playground equipment. For now the board isn’t locked into any solution and would like to revisit the issue at the next meeting.
The next Manchester Community School Board meeting will be postponed until Nov. 15 due to the presidential election on Nov. 8.
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