Board Report

November 1999

A Message from the Board President
Magnet Status Approved for Howenstine High
1998-1999 Quality Schools Recognized at Board Meeting
History of American Education Week
TUSD Celebrates Fourth Year of Disability Awareness Week
SCPC: Helping Parents and Schools Work Together
TUSD Welcomes Three New Administrators
Movie Ticket Winner

A Message from the Board President

At the last Governing Board meeting we asked district administrators to come up with some new and different ways to recruit and retain substitute teachers. We are very much aware of the shortage of substitute teachers and the additional burden it places on all of our teachers when no substitute is available.

The Board is looking forward to a report from staff at the December meeting addressing this situation. We anticipate that some creative solutions will be presented that can be enacted to relieve the shortage during the spring semester.

This month, the board also voted to designate Howenstine High School as a magnet school. We're excited about the opportunities that will be made available to more students at Howenstine.

The emphasis on service learning is no where more evident than in the newest project the school has undertaken. Earlier this month, students broke ground on a Habitat for Humanity unit where disabled students will be working with non-disabled students

Also at the last meeting, the Board took action to adopt earth science textbooks. A presentation by Dr. Jeffrey Lockwood, secondary science specialist, summarized the hard work done by the adoption committee:

Lillian Fox, Cholla
Josh Hall, Palo Verde
John Moore, Pueblo
Tom Riley, Pueblo
Eileen Haney, Sabino
Sharon Maroon, Sahuaro
Jorge Romero, Santa Rita
Tom Gillespie, TAPP

These individuals dedicated many hours to ensure the district would adopt textbook packages that will provide a hands-on, multimedia approach to earth science teaching and learning. Both programs adopted cover the gamut of the local, state and national standards.

In addition, a sexism and diversity summary was written for each of the texts considered for adoption. The texts are considered to be the most equitable in their portrayal of minorities and females.

Furthermore, we would like to acknowledge the wonderful work of everyone involved during TUSD's disAbility Awareness Week. The activities and performances were celebrations of diversity in TUSD.

Lastly, our thanks to the 4th R Board of Directors and the 4th R office for putting together the first-ever School Community Forum on High School Students in the Work Place. We sincerely appreciate their time and commitment to preparing students for the 21st century.

Mary Belle McCorkle, Ed.D

More articles in this month's report...