2009-04-17 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON Friday, April 17, 2009 AT 12:00 noon IN THE Basement Conference Room. THE PROPOSED AGENDA IS AS FOLLOWS: Luncheon meeting with School Board BY ORDER OF THE MAYOR BY Jeanne Cox BASEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM – April 17, 2009 Council met in special session on this date with the following members present: Ms. Edwards, Mr. Huja, Mr. Norris, Mr. Taliaferro. Absent: Dr. Brown. Dr. Rosa Atkins, Superintendent of Schools, said the topic of the meeting will be graduation/drop out rates and intervention. She said this is the first year of the cohort calculation. Ms. Beth Baptist, Director of Special Education and Student Services, said this is the first year of the new calculation and therefore there is no trend data. She said the th graduation rate for those students starting in 9 grade is 74.6%, and the completion rate is th 80.3%, which includes GED students. She said the drop out rate, looking at 9 graders as they move through high school, is 13.2%. She provided information on city-wide and individual SOL pass rates. Dr. Atkins said that African American students are most impacted, but noted that there is improvement at the elementary and middle school levels. Mr. Norris said that the increases made are impressive. Mr. Jim Henderson, Assistant Superintendent of Administration, said that at Charlottesville High School efforts are being made to see what can be done to help students graduate on time and what can be done to help them beyond graduation. He described the Work Achieves Lasting Knowledge (WORK) Program which has three components: WALK Day Program, which is a small non-traditional high school within a high school currently serving 40 to 50 students; WALK Evening Program, which provides an education setting often on a one-on-one basis, which has helped six students graduate; and WALK Summer Program. Ms. Edwards asked if there is a correlation between students that are held back in kindergarten and those that are struggling. Mr. Henderson said holding students back helps most catch up initially, but it is found to not work later because they are not with their peers. Ms. Gertrude Ivory, Associate Superintendent of Schools, said that she finds it depends on the individual students. She said it helps some developmentally. Responding to a question from Ms. Edwards, Dr. Atkins said some say it takes three to five years before there is significant change in achievement, and others say it takes five to seven years. Dr. Atkins said there is a new community organization, 100 Black Men, which includes City and County residents and involvement by the University of Virginia, that is lending community support to improve graduation rates. Mr. Huja asked if each high school student has a counselor or mentor, and Dr. Atkins said they are all assigned guidance counselors, but not mentors. Ms. Ivory said that the principal at CHS is working on providing mentors for th approximately 40 9 graders.