Board members, administrators agree national conference was worthwhile

By Lynn Hotaling

"It was the best training I have ever been to," said Jackson County Board of Education Chairman Martha Queen of the National School Boards Association in San Francisco she attended two weeks ago. Others who made the journey were school board member Mary Jane Dillard, Superintendent Mack McCary, Assistant Superintendent Nancy Sherrill, Fairview Principal Sue Nations and Blue Ridge Principal Lib Balcerek.

Cost for the five day trip was estimated by McCary to be about $11,000, money the superintendent said was well spent.

"It was as good as any national meeting I've ever attended," McCary said, adding that the real proof of how worthwhile the expenditure was will come as strategies learned at the conference are implemented locally.

All six described their experiences during the first 90 minutes of the school board's meeting Monday (April 9).

Queen led off the discussion, saying she had been to several valuable training lessons. One thing that especially impressed her, she said, is the need for "results-oriented decision-making." She said she learned that she had often been guilty of "asking the wrong questions" about a new proposal. Instead of focusing on cost and other "process details," Queen said emphasis should be on the program's objectives and how its success is to be measured.

The school board chairman listed such luminaries as Madeline Albright, John Glenn and James Earl Jones among the speakers at the conference.

Balcerek attended sessions on testing as well as one on literacy. Based on what she learned, she said, she now thinks the local school system needs more norm-referenced testing and more diagnostic testing.

Nations told of an innovative alternative learning setting for middle school students whose behavior disrupts the learning environment in the classroom. Offenders are completely isolated from their peers and given training in both social skills and academics in order that they can rejoin their classes and succeed. Parent involvement is key to the program's success, she said. Nations also attended a session that dealt with violence in schools. Despite recent school shootings, she said, participants learned that school deaths have declined over the years.

"School is still the safest place for kids to be," Nations said.

The workshop did cause her to realize that bus drivers need safety plans and staff development because they are faced with having to deal with potentially dangerous situations during which they could be the only adult responsible for the safety of as many as 50 children.

"We never ask teachers to be responsible for so many," Nations said.

Assistant Superintendent Sherrill said she learned of the need for school board members to be more involved with curriculum.

Board member Dillard said the conference speakers were "the best there are," and said she was especially impressed by singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.

Yarrow's presentation centered around using music to teach kids to read, a technique Dillard said she discovered more than 30 years ago during her days as a classroom teacher. When faced with a student who couldn't read but loved music, Dillard said she copied sheet music for many popular folk tunes like "This Land Is Your Land" and played the piano while her students sang. Through music, her non-reader became literate during one summer school session, Dillard said.

Dillard also spoke of the emphasis at the conference on character building and the need for teachers to model desirable traits for their students.

The conference served to reaffirm several things for him, said Superintendent McCary. Many of the California sessions stressed the importance of involving local community members in schools - of having the community share in creating a vision for the school system, he said.

In conversations since he has come to Jackson County, McCary said, he has been struck by how often he's been told that parents want schools to be the place where their children can learn to be productive citizens.

While at the conference, McCary said, he learned of research that documents ways to help students through times of transition, such as the leap from eighth grade to high school. That data should be especially useful locally, the superintendent said, since Smoky Mountain High Principal Kenny Nicholson has identified the transition to high school as an area his school needs to address.

Turning to the action items on their agenda, board members granted conditional approval to a request from Western Carolina University to use two student activity buses to transport volunteers during the Saturday, April 21, Tuckaseigee River Cleanup.

Board member Ray Trine was concerned that the school system's liability insurance might not be adequate, so the request was approved contingent on school board attorney Paul Holt's opinion with regard to proper insurance coverage.

In other business April 9:

- Board members voiced their opposition to efforts in the N.C. Legislature to create a statewide dress code for students and teachers. Rep. Marge Carpenter, R-Haywood, had written to the board to seek input on the matter.

"I'm philosophically opposed," said Chairman Queen. "I don't believe the Legislature should micromanage the school system. It's inappropriate."

"We have our own dress code. I don't like micromanagement from the Legislature," Trine said. "If other school systems want the Legislature to pass this, it's because they don't have the guts to do it themselves."

- Board members tabled a decision on whether to affiliate with the National School Board Association. The local board could do so at a reduced rate this year because the national organization is willing to credit part of fees paid to attend the San Francisco conference toward yearly fees. To join the organization this year, McCary said, the cost would be about $1,000. Annual dues for a district Jackson's size are about $2,900, he said.

Trine said he'd like more information on the benefits membership would bring before reaching a decision.

- Board members took no action after a one-hour closed session to discuss personnel, though the meeting agenda indicated the superintendent might have recommendations with regard to continuation of administrator contracts.

The meeting concluded with a brief discussion of draft policy manuals, which McCary said are available for inspection at all school offices and media centers.

School board members plan a complete overhaul of all policies. Former Superintendent Frank Burrell has contracted with the board to provide the draft revisions at a cost of $1,000 per month.

Revising school system policy is a matter of great importance that cannot be rushed, McCary said.

"Board policy is how we do business," he said. "It's an expression of our core beliefs and values." The superintendent said that, as such, it is important for school system administrators, teachers and staff to have ample time to comment on draft policies before they are implemented.

Monday's meeting was the first to be held since a school board decision to move to two regular meetings per month. The board voted March 28 to meet on the second and fourth Mondays each month. Initial talks centered around having the second Monday meeting include a brief business session to be followed by a work session; however, board members appear poised to eliminate business from that session in order to free up time for discussion.

The school board chairman currently receives $150 per month plus $20 for each special meeting, with other board members paid $100 per month plus $20 per special meeting. At this time, McCary said, board members are being paid $20 per month for the second regular meeting. He is reviewing board compensation as part of the budget process, he said.

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