MENTONE – Monday’s Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting was its first since the Indiana Department of Education released school grades statewide Oct. 31.
The meeting gave the board and Superintendent Brett Boggs an opportunity to discuss the grading system.
Valley schools’ grades this year included a “C” for Akron Elementary, down from an “A” last year; an “A” for the high school, up from a “D”; a “C” for Mentone Elementary, up from a “D”; and a “C” for the middle school, up from an “F” last year.
Boggs reported the grades calculated for high schools was based on math and English/language arts testing performance, improvement, graduation rates and college and career readiness.
For middle schools and elementary schools, grades are based on performance and improvement, growth, participation in testing and other items, Boggs said.
The board discussed how the grading system wasn’t “logical” because if a school continually does well, but improvement doesn’t increase every year, a school’s grade can drop.
Overall, Boggs said, Tippecanoe Valley’s grade from IDOE was a “C”, or 2.9 points out of 4.
For just the elementary and middle school, its grade also was a “C”. In English and language arts, 715 out of 921 students were proficient. In math, about 76 percent were proficient, he said.
At the high school, Boggs said 4 points were earned in English and language arts, while 3.5 points were earned in math. The graduation rate earned Valley 3 points, while college and career readiness earned 4 points.
“I’m glad you went through this because I went through this at home and I wasn’t making heads or tails of it,” Mark Wise, board president, said after the half-hour discussion. “I’m not sure I agree with it. It seems like the system is flawed when you can go from, like Akron, a D to an A to a C. If schools can bound around that much, it’s not reflecting accuracy.”
With major changes at the IDOE after the Nov. 6 election, Boggs said the board can expect some major changes.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett, Republican, was defeated by Democrat Glenda Ritz, who advocated for a change from Bennett’s policies.
In other business: • Administrative salaries for 2012-13 were approved. Salaries for Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Principal Blaine Conley, Akron Elementary School Principal Chrissy Mills, and assistant principals Scott Backus, Meagan Wilks and Jon Hutton were established for 2012-13 when the individuals were approved in their new positions. For 2012-13, an $800 increase in salary was recommended for Angie Miller (base salary of $70,500) and Kirk Doehrmann ($91,453). A $500 phone allowance was recommended for Boggs. Base salaries for Boggs ($108,630), Assistant Superintendent Dr. Dan Kramer ($97,075), Athletic Director Duane Burkhart ($71,960), Assistant Athletic Director Doug Heinold ($6,084), boys varsity basketball coach Bill Patrick ($12,164), varsity football coach Jeff Shriver ($11,248) and girls varsity basketball coach Chris Kindig ($7,400) will remain the same for 2012-13 as 2011-12. • Janet Hackworth was reappointed to the Akron Carnegie Public Library Board. • Upcoming board meetings are: Dec. 10, Mentone Elementary; Jan. 21, Burket Education Center; and Feb. 11, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School. All meetings are at 7:30 p.m. • The board recognized the Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Spell Bowl Team and the Tippecanoe Valley High School yearbook staff. Free videos of the recognitions are available on the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com
