Testing completed in Reading Roadmap program

USD 235 Board of Education members heard a Reading Roadmap update for the school year on Monday evening at the regular monthly meeting.

"Everybody in the (West Bourbon Elementary School) building has been tested with DIBELS," WBE Principal Tracy Smith said. "There are three assessments during the year, one at the beginning, one in December and the end test in April. DIBELS benchmark exams are...required by the Kansas Reading Roadmap for data collection."

Rhonda Hoener, WBE elementary school counselor, administers the test, with the teachers monitoring the student progress.

"The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade," according to the dibels.org website. "They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills."

The DIBELS assessment results have placed students into one of four groupings: accurate and fluent, accurate and slow, inaccurate and slow or inaccurate and fluent, Smith said. Each category has an expected amount of words read correctly and a percentage of accuracy.

From these identifications, students are administered another exam to further diagnose reading deficiencies, then strategies are developed.

"Progress monitoring occurs in the intensive/strategic groups either weekly or bi-weekly," Smith said. "Students must achieve three data points consecutive, the goal target, to be considered to move out of a group. Groupings are fluid throughout the year. The goal is to get everyone accurate and fluent."

"Have we started to see improvements already?" Daniel Johns, board member asked.

Smith said it is too early yet to tell.

The assessments will be valuable for the upcoming parent-teacher conferences on Nov. 5-6, Smith said.

"You'll know exactly where your kid is," he said.

In an unrelated matter, when asked to approve the action item on the agenda "Approve Capital Outlay Resolution," Board President Matt Woods asked Superintendent Randy Rockhold to explain it.

"Our plan is to use local revenue to subsidize the LOB (Local Option Budget) because 75 percent of LOB comes from the state," Rockhold said. "So if we put $25 in LOB from local revenue, it will generate $100. Then we'll reduce our LOB mill rate and increase capital outlay mill rate. Capital outlay mill rate is equalized at 52 percent...It will generate revenue that we can use to maintain our facility. The law changed. If you have a resolution you can use the new authority. You can do things like custodial, maintenance. Things like that, out of capital outlay. Previously, you could not do that. Without a resolution, you can't access that authority. The whole intent is to make sure we don't increase our mill rate, burden our local patrons, but increase our revenue, so we can operate."

The board then approved the resolution.

Rockhold reported the high school band program won a Grand Champion Award at the Pittsburg State University homecoming parade during the weekend.

"Mr. Hundley is a great teacher and the kids were working hard," Rockhold said. "We aren't a huge band, but the sound is fabulous."

In other business, the board also:

* Approved Willie Hathaway as head wrestling coach.

* Approved John Metcalf as assistant wrestling coach.

* Approved the FFA Denver trip to provide a bus, a Suburban car and fuel.

* Heard from Smith that fourth-grade students will travel to Cato on Oct. 17.

* Heard from Smith school picture retakes will be Tuesday, Oct. 21.

* Heard from Smith the class parties for Halloween will be at 2:30 p.m. Oct.31.

* Heard Parent/Teacher Conferences will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 and Thursday, Nov. 6.

* Heard from Smith there will be no school on Friday, Nov. 7.

* Approved Smith, his wife, Teresa who is a first-grade teacher at WBE, along with Hoener and Physical Education Teacher Jackie Hall to attend the National Blue Ribbon Ceremony Nov. 9-12 in Washington, D.C. All are members of the WBE Building Leadership Team and will represent the school in receiving the national recognition.

* Heard from Rockhold that the heating and air conditioning proposal received "is beyond our means. The key is to get a system in place that is adequate and affordable." He said by the next board meeting he would have a roof repair estimate, as well.