Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw Community Schools may soon be an accredited school system in the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.
Currently, all Warsaw schools are accredited individually by NCA, and NCA representative Greg Ulm told the school board Monday that a system-wide approach allows school districts to improve and sustain student performance over a period of time.
Superintendent Dr. David McGuire said becoming accredited as a school system is a continuous process. The school corporation must pay to become accredited (estimates ranged from $160 to $300), but if the schools are accredited as an entire school system instead of individually, they will be entitled to a discount, McGuire said.
He also said Public Law 221 and the No Child Left Behind Act require schools to belong to accreditation associations, and NCA includes more than 10,000 schools, including most of the high schools in the Kosciusko County area.
The school board also saw a presentation by Washington Elementary second-graders, who explained how they used reading, writing and speaking skills while learning about explorers Lewis and Clark.
The Washington students demonstrated their speaking skills and got board members and the audience involved in the program. The board gave the students a standing ovation for the program.
The board also:
• Had the first reading of revised board policies on board policy development, attendance policies for grades seven through 12, disclosure of student lists, reporting absences to the health department and the use and rental of school buses.
The board also is considering a new policy on school vending machines to address childhood obesity. The recommended policy is for vending machines in elementary schools to offer only healthy beverages or foods; that those in locations available to students in middle schools "shall not offer foods or beverages of minimal nutritional value;" and machines in high schools must offer at least 50 percent healthy beverages and foods.
Board member Ron Yeiter asked why the requirements for high school students aren't as high as those for elementary and middle schools, and McGuire said it's because the students are older and are making more decisions on their own.
"But we still want to give them the option of making good decisions," he said.
• Heard that enrollment in Warsaw schools is a total of 6,617 students, compared to 6,509 at the same time last year.
• Heard that Dr. Suellen Reed, state superintendent of schools, will give the keynote address at the Education Summit. The summit is scheduled for 7 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 18 at 2517 Restaurant, and the public is invited, though preregistration is necessary.
School board members are: Craig Allebach, Larry Chamberlain, Gene England, Cathy Folk, Jim Folk, Mark Minatel and Ron Yeiter. The board meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month in the administration building.
