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New school year, cell phones top S-O agenda
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Classes for the 2009-2010 school year begin in the Sibley-Ocheyedan school district on August 19th, and the school board spent much of their August 10 meeting discussing how they were getting ready for that occasion.
An audience of eight people, including some teachers, heard superintendent Jeff Herzberg tell the board members that training for teachers and employees has been going on since August 6, and will continue right up to the day before classes begin.
Eight new teachers will be welcomed into the district. They include:
Carissa Janssen - EC/MS special education
Kathy Runia - 4th grade
Lon Bruder - 1st grade
Mike Anderson - 3rd grade
Ryan Wiersma - 7th grade
Craig Parkinson - 8th grade
Jordan Menning - 5th grade
Josh Steinhoff - 6th grade
The board also discussed some serious technology problems that other districts have faced. Herzberg passed along copies of four articles concerning the mis-use of technology. Onc concerned taking photos of other people. Some districts have had students take photos of other students without their knowledge, and have later posted those photos on various social networks, such as 'Facebook', 'MySpace', 'Twitter', etc. This has the potential of serious legal and moral problems. The board agreed that they have to take a pro-active approach to the matter.
In one of the articles, it was recommended that school staff should act as if every one of their conversations is being recorded, and all of their e-mails and social networking are going to be shown on a CNN or Fox News investigative report.
On the topic of photos, the article recommended that coaches/activity sponsors or directors ask students whether they could take a photo of someone else and post it on the Internet without the other person's knowledge. It said this is a good lead-in to how easy it is to face a potential good conduct violation.
Even though cell phones are not allowed in class rooms at any time without the teachers permission, students have been known to use them during lunch hour to send text messages. Since many students have the ability to text with the phone out of sight under a table, the board agreed that it is imperative that teachers and staff be alert to that possibility.
One reason that cell phones are not allowed in the class rooms is that there have been reports in some districts that students would enter test answers into their cell phones and then copy them during the test. Board president Kyle Grimes said he was shocked when he read the article to learn that 23 percent of students say they did not consider that a form of cheating. He added, however, that when he was in college, it was permissible to write test notes on a 5x8 card and have that in the classroom during the test.
The board agreed that it was important to teach the right and wrong way to use technology. For instance, it was suggested that students and/or parents be taught the right and wrong way to set up a Facebook account.
The board also discussed 'cyber-bullying' and the conviction of a Missouri mother for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old neighbor girl who ended up committing suicide. That conviction has tentatively been thrown out by a federal judge.
Also discussed was the subject of 'sexting', the practice of students sharing nude or otherwise sexually provocative photos of themselves or classmates via messages over digital devices. In an article on the subject, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, Daniel A. Domenech said "Children have to be educated about what's wrong with sexting, and that means involving parents to make sure they are monitoring how their children are using cell phones and computers." He went on to say that everything we know about Internet security now applies to cell phones.
The board worked on setting goals for the new year, and will try to finalize them before the next board meeting. One goal that is of major interest is putting into operation the Iowa Core Curriculum, which will be mandatory for the high school in 2012. Herzberg said that this program is going to change the face of education in Iowa.
The only staff recommendation was to hire Janelle Jensen as an elementary associate. That motion was approved by a 5-0 vote.
There were three open enrollment approvals. One was for Tabitha Wendleboe to the 10th grade in Spirit Lake. The other two were incoming students, Kyra Stafford from George Little Rock in the 1st grade, and Brady Anderson from Harris-Lake Park in the 10th grade.
The board again mentioned that school board elections are scheduled for September 8. Three board members are eligible for re-election. They are Jeff Knobloch in district 3, Keith Newman in district 1, and Todd Ackerman in district 4. Neither Knobloch nor Ackerman are going to run again, but Newman's name will be on the ballot.
The next board meeting will be held on September 14 in the board room at 11:30 a.m.
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