CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield school board voted, 6-1, to approve its new graduation requirements during Monday night’s committee and board meeting.
Board members Mary Anne Jackson, Larry Putt, Tim Morgan, Gail Ralston, Phil Carr and Dr. Michael Spencer voted in favor. Board member Susan Mikesell opposed the same.
Board members Rodney Rishel and Jennifer Wallace were absent from the committee and board meeting.
Effective for the class of 2017, students will be required to take six credits in English/literature; four credits each in social studies, mathematics and science; two credits in physical education/health; a half-credit in computer technology; and a quarter-credit each for driver’s education theory and Life 101.
Students will be required to take seven credits of electives. Of those students must complete two credits in the arts and humanities.
Students will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Algebra I, biology and literature through passing the Keystone Exams or an alternative state-approved method, said Superintendent Terry Struble.
Effective for the class of 2019, students must complete (pass) at least one course that is considered dual enrollment. Struble explained students will not be required to make it dual enrollment and pay for the college credits.
Also, effective for the class of 2019, the computer technology requirement will increase to one credit.
Mikesell said the district has been encouraging and pushing students to take advantage of the dual enrollment program over the past few years. She said that she “didn’t see why it needed to be a requirement on paper.”
Ralston expressed concern that it may possibly make learning frustrating for the district’s special education students. Mikesell concurred and added that students who may not be interested in a dual enrollment class and forced to take one may become disruptive in the classroom.
So far as the district’s special needs students, Struble said he wanted them to feel that the staff members are as confident in their abilities as the regular students. He said the district could also adapt the requirements to individual students’ goals if necessary.
Struble said the district has the facilities and resources available and wants students to take advantage of them. Bruce Nicolls, director of curriculum and development, said Clearfield has one of the most extensive dual enrollment programs.
Principal Tim Janocko said the school’s administration will continue to look for additional courses to make eligible for dual enrollment. Jamie Quick, director of professional development, pointed out that the district has so many students who are dual enrollment success stories. Quick said students are capable of completing these college level courses and are up to the challenge.
Carr asked if career and technology students who take dual-enrolled courses there can use them toward their graduation requirements. Janocko confirmed students will be able to do so.
Mikesell said she wasn’t against the dual enrollment program. However, she believed it was an educational choice that should be left up to the parents and the students, not the district.
During the public comment session, former Elementary Librarian Peggy Barton addressed the board regarding the elementary research teacher position. She asked the board if it had developed qualifications for the position.
Struble said the administration had worked out the specifications. He said the district will require an elementary certification, K-6; if mid-level or grades 4-8, it will require that certification, along with the English enhancement. Struble said the administration decided to leave the school librarian certification as a preference but not a requirement.
According to Struble, a library certification stops with the research component. He said it wasn’t a position that would take students into the creating, combining and presenting of research materials. In order to take research and create with it, Struble said there’s another certification necessary with that.
Barton said she knows many certified librarians who are skilled in those areas. She said librarians teach students how to analyze and work with material, as well as how to manipulate and present it. “Librarians are specialists and highly qualified to teach these necessary skills,” said Barton.
She added that, “I’m glad the district is moving forward with this. It is a void that needs to be corrected. I really hope that a certified school librarian will be the choice.”
Ralston said when she voted last month to create the position it was for it to be filled with a certified school librarian. “It was listed as an elementary research teacher, and to me that says librarian,” she said.
According to Ralston, the district has spent millions to consolidate and update its educational facilities. She said it’s spent vast sums on artificial turf and athletic upgrades. Ralston said it has improved computer and technology services and now has the chance to offer library services to all students in K-6.
She said that access to a certified school librarian will give these students the opportunity to develop and enhance critical thinking skills and help them become life-long learners.
“We need to offer our students the teachers with specialized skills to help them fully realize their potential,” said Ralston. “We’re not just getting students ready for tests and graduation.”
For her, she said a certified school librarian will deliver the biggest bang for the district’s buck and most importantly for their students’ education.
Struble said the district has considered this as a research position from the very beginning. However, he said the administration would like a teacher who can bring research projects into the form of some type of presentation.
Struble said a librarian can only guide but not instruct, and the administration wants both pieces of the puzzle. Ralston asked if it would be possible for a school librarian to collaborate with general education teachers.
Struble said he doesn’t want students to have separated but instead a full and combined research experience. Ralston said the district is currently using general education teachers to instruct these skills, and it should want to enhance it with a school librarian for this position.
“We may have to move out of our pool of staff,” she said. “But the gains and benefits could be so tremendous with that asset. A library certification should trump everything else; the qualifications of a librarian are a major part of the position. No one knows research materials better than a librarian.”
Ralston requested that the district’s administration make a school librarian certification one of the requirements for the elementary research teacher position. She said the district shouldn’t settle for better when it can go for the best.
No action was taken by the board on the elementary research teacher position.