TAC Questions and Responses

Question 1

A-honor roll students should receive a trophy over respectful bus riders as it should be a much higher honor and recognition.  They should be able to come shake the hand of the admin.

Response to Question 1

We will discontinue providing trophies for respectful bus riders next year.  We will be exploring other award options (such as ribbons) for next year.  In our efforts to keep assemblies to 30 minutes, we did not have all A-honor roll come to the front.  (There were over 100 students recognized for A-Honor Roll per assembly.)  This is our first year to do recognition assemblies and will be sending out a survey to teachers to determine necessary changes for next year.

Question 2

Assemblies should be for grade level only and once a trimester.  It’s too much on teachers, families, and instruction. 

Response to Question 2

The decision was made to conduct the assemblies monthly because a primary objective was to motivate students. (For example, a student may become motivated to spend more time on DreamBox based on peer recognitions, work toward becoming a millionaire, etc.)  The reason for combining grade levels was to limit the number of assemblies.  This is our first year to do recognition assemblies and will be sending out a survey to teachers to determine necessary changes for next year.

Question 3

Is it necessary to repeat the pledge and Star Spangled Banner after doing it in school? The videos are time consuming with the technical problems each time including the volume.

Response to Question 3

It is important that we model our patriotism at all school events, because our visitors did not participate during morning announcements.

Question 4

Special ed/inclusion team needs to rotate across the board.  More time and assistance needs to be given to those collaboration teams for whatever they need to be successful.

Response to Question 4

There are some teachers that prefer/request to be an inclusion classroom.  We give careful thought and consideration, which includes discussions with teachers, on placement of students to ensure student success.  Schedules were designed so the special education teachers would have the same planning times as the classroom teachers they are working with.  The teachers with inclusion classrooms this year were provided with a professional day per trimester to help with time spent on IEP meetings, etc. 

Question 5

There are constant changes here at Paine that are affecting the unity, foundation, and demeanor for us as a whole.  What does the next year and future look like for us in terms of consistency?  We are a student-focused school, but the teachers have needs too that need to be addressed to be the best us, and in return to meet the needs of students.

Response to Question 5

We are always learning and trying to improve so we can provide our students with the best educational experience possible, and our teachers with a positive work environment.  More information is needed to address this question in more detail.

Question 6

The professional opinions of teachers based on their experience and knowledge of their students are not being valued in regard to collaboration of discipline.  How do you plan to address this?

Response to Question 6

We must follow our district code of conduct and our school procedures for discipline to ensure it is applied consistently and fairly.  We had a discussion at one of our faculty meetings about gathering a team to work on a school-wide behavior expectations plan.  This will be initiated in May.

Question 7

Families are getting high priority over teacher discretion which is sending a clear message on the support of the teachers. How do you plan to address this?

Response to Question 7

Our goal is to work together with all stakeholders (including parents) to ensure we are fostering the learning and growth of our students.  Teacher input is crucial in all student matters; however, we must also apply policies and practices school-wide and some decisions are team decisions (such as retention, etc.).  Situations specific to individual students are resolved on a case by case basis. 

Question 8

Thank you for changing the morning announcements by giving students a minute to quiet down.  That has made a big difference in helping them have self-control and hearing the announcements.  Could the announcement volume be raised?

Response to Question 8

Yes, we will work on raising the volume on announcements.

Question 9

Teachers would like to go back to no duty lunch and students get to go play in the courtyard when they are finished eating.  Can we make this happen again?

Response to Question 9

The majority of our student discipline issues occur at lunch and recess, so it is crucial that students are carefully supervised during this time.  Many schools require teachers to sit with students during this time.  We have a separate lunch table for teachers where they can visit with colleagues, while also supervising students.

Question 10

Would it be possible to have a monthly Meeting schedule so that we have consistency and utilize our meeting times efficiently?  For example: 1^st Monday: Faculty Meeting, 2^nd Monday: Committee Meetings, 3^rd & 4^th Mondays: Training.  We need more consistency to help plan ahead, and this would prevent teachers from having to meet on other afternoons after school.

Response to Question 10

We will try to work on this for next year, factoring in district collaboration Mondays, etc.  There may be an issue if we have a Monday holiday, or if a meeting or training is time sensitive (i.e., testing training, data meetings, etc.).  We also moved a meeting or two to provide teachers with time to work on report cards (based on those deadlines).   When these situations occur, we will need to be flexible. 

Question 11

What is the point of having committees if they never get an opportunity to meet?

Response to Question 11

We will work on incorporating committee meetings into the Monday afternoon schedule for next year.  For example, if we only need a 30 minute faculty meeting, we may have committee meetings following.  There are some committees that do not require regular meetings (community events, EnRICh, Read Across America, etc).  For time sensitive initiatives, a committee meeting may need to be called at any time.

Question 12

Please send all email communication before the end of the school day.  I missed wearing my team colors on Monday due to not receiving the communication.  Please plan to give us at least 24-hours-notice about upcoming events.

Response to Question 12

The majority of faculty information is communicated through the weekly blog updates.  This is completed by Friday night for the upcoming week. 

Question 13

Please avoid scheduling after school meetings, especially if the meeting is scheduled without a seven day notice.  An EnRICh meeting was set with only a four day notice.  We were notified on Monday and the meeting was set for Thursday.

Response to Question 13

We understand there could be conflicts when it comes to after school meetings; inability to attend just needs to be communicated and a colleague can provide any information the following day.  We try to give as much notice as possible, but cannot always schedule meetings seven days in advance.

Question 14

What are we doing about class sizes next year, especially Kindergarten?  If we are supposed to be comparable to the other elementary schools in our district we are not keeping our promise to the community.

Response to Question 14

A similar question was presented through TAC in October.  Please reference the response on the blog.

Question 15

What is being done to address the shortage of subs?  Is there a way to plan professional development and data meetings in such a way that we have enough subs and don’t have to continually pull teachers to cover gaps?

Response to Question 15

We realize the difficulty in securing a group of subs for professional learning, so the majority of PD will be offered on Monday afternoons next year. 

Question 16

Most schools in surrounding areas are hiring part-time interventionists who are specifically trained and familiar with grade level standards.  Why hasn’t Trussville done this to stay competitive and proactive?

Response to Question 16

Our current master schedule has allowed us to utilize our specialist teachers for Tier 3 intervention.  They have been trained on our current Tier 3 intervention program, and additional training will be offered this summer.