PARKERSBURG - The Wood County Board of Education meets Tuesday to discuss gifted programs and planned delays in the start of select school days.
The board meets in regular session at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wood County Schools' 13th and Plum streets offices. The meeting is open to the public.
The school board will receive an update on the district's gifted education program, which has come under scrutiny in recent months, particularly at the middle school level.
The presentation will be given by Mike Winland, director of secondary education, and Yvonne Santine, director of special education.
Superintendent Pat Law said the presentation will cover all gifted programs, "but we have seemed to have had more comments and concerns about the middle school gifted program, so it will concentrate on that."
Middle school gifted programs and Edison Middle School's program in particular have been a source of debate for the school board in recent months. Officials said families at Edison were encouraged to opt out of the program and those that remained spent only 20 minutes a week playing board games as part of a special topics class.
Fact Box
Meeting Info
What: Regular meeting.
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Wood County Schools offices, 13th and Plum streets in Parkersburg.
The meeting is open to the public
District officials say the situation already has been rectified at the school, but board members asked for an update on what steps have been taken to improve the program.
The board also will receive information on planned delays for the beginning of four school days this year. These two-hour delays will be used to give teachers time to collaborate and discuss student achievement.
"The intent is to provide teachers with additional time to meet within professional learning communities," Law said. "It is providing teachers with time to meet with each other to review and digest data about students and to come up with strategies to improve instruction."
Law said a complaint often heard from teachers is a lack of time to review, understand and find ways to implement new standards. Law said the delay days will give teachers that time without adding additional paid hours to their contracts or the school year.
"We will have a format for them to follow and we will have a product we will expect to receive from them," Law said. "We feel it will be helpful in teachers improving student academic results."
The board will be asked to approved two-hour delays to the start of school for Dec. 5, Jan. 30, March 6 and May 1.
The school board will meet in a closed door session Tuesday to set goals for the superintendent for the 2012-13 school year. Law said the board has attempted several times to meet and discuss his goals, but those efforts have been delayed for various reasons.
"The purpose of this meeting is to set my goals," Law said.
