DeKALB – The DeKalb District 428 school board voted to approve a weekly early dismissal, as well as selected new board officers on Tuesday.
The board also set the graduation date as August 1 for the Class of 2020, leaving open the possibility for an in-person ceremony if allowed by health guidelines.
The school board also accepted a $25,000 grant from No Kid Hungry to aid with the district’s food distribution program.
At the last board meeting in April, the board heard from Superintendent Jamie Craven about creating professional learning communities, designed for teachers and educators to come together and collaborate on ideas, gather data on student engagement, and have an otherwise uninterrupted time to develop classroom strategies.
The board on Tuesday voted to approve the measure.
The creation of the PLCs would necessitate letting students out an hour early every Thursday. The seven scheduled collaboration half days would not be affected. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tim Vincent said the new plan would allow better communication between teachers in a department to make sure classes are taught the same way.
Because of the Thursday transportation staff layover as part of the learning community plan, the financial obligation to pay drivers and monitors would be $90,000, documents show.
“The idea is not focused on struggling students or remediation,” Vincent said, “It encompasses all across the continuum.”
The board also voted on a new president, electing Sarah Moses president by a 4-3 vote over Jeromy Olson. Moses was serving as secretary. She was nominated by Valerie Pena-Hernandez.
Pena-Hernandez was voted vicre president and Samantha McDavid, the current president, was voted secretary. Both ran unopposed.
Source: The Daily Chronicle