Austin High School

Campus Advisory Council (CAC)

Monday, December 14, 2015 5:30 PM in the Library

Present:

Amy Taylor, John Dagar, Barbara Knaggs, Drew Calver, Kerri Ault, Craig Bennett, Lisa Christian, Diane Harrison, Amy Moore, Jill Scott, Jeanette Smiecinski, Greta Gonzales, Martin Lizarraga, Lilly Hagen, Lucy Gift, Esther Jouckey, Debra Windham, Linda Gregory, Deena Telley, Amy Allen, LaShawn Thompson-Tanksley.

Call to Order:

Barbara Knaggs made a motion to approve the minutes from 11/02/2015. Jeanette Smiecinski seconded the motion. All approved.

Public Comments

None

Student Council Report:

Lilly Hagen updated committee members about recent Student Council projects, including Keep Austin Beautiful and updating the Student Council bulletin board. She discussed the new off-campus policy affecting lunch. Lucy Gift commented on long lines at lunch time. To compensate for long lunch lines, AHS will open a concession stand called Grab N’ Go. Prom is being finalized now.

New Business:

Hall of Honor – Debra Windham and Esther Joucken have revised the application and selection process for the Maroon Society for this school year. Students will now be required to complete an application and an interview. The application is open to all seniors. Those that apply must demonstrate how they have served AHS and how AHS has influenced them. Applications will be scored based on a rubric that takes into account essays, interview, citizenship, and academics. Diane Harrison asked how students will find out about the application. Isabelle Salazar stated that it will be announced through various Austin High School (AHS) channels, including video announcement and the school newspaper. Kerri Ault made a motion to approve the new application process. Amy Allen seconded. All approved. Amy Taylor thanked Ms. Windham and Ms. Joucke for revising this process to make it more transparent.

School Safety

Kerri Ault presented an update on the new security kiosks at the East and West entrances to AHS.

Standing Items:

Principal’s Report

School Safety

Ms. Taylor discussed lunchtime duty for teachers in the cafeteria and stated that there will be duty out at the parking lot for assistant principals as well. Ms. Ault asked for two-way radios. Ms. Taylor said at first we are going to see how many individuals we need to determine how many radios would be necessary. Currently, the Austin High Alliance is paying for parking attendants in the parking lot. One idea to generate funds to pay for parking attendants is to meter the road in front of the school. AHS would receive a percentage from the meters. Also, Ms. Taylor has requested a third security guard now that the other two security guards are at the east and west entrances to the school. She expects AISD to pay for the cost of the third security guard.

21st Century Learning

Twenty-eight teachers are obtaining designation as high-tech “early adopters”. They will be working in the Spring and Fall to create demonstration sites. Ms. Taylor said that AHS has applied for a grant to redesign the library. Greta Gonzales asked about application process for early adopters. All teachers that applied were awarded early adopter status.

Ms. Taylor discussed her visit to High Tech High in California. She noted that at a recent meeting, the AISD board did not approve the South Austin initiative. However, there is a still a desire to create a “LASA” South. There is also talk about a charter high school that will locate in South Austin and target STEM. AHS is moving in the right direction to make our school competitive. Craig Bennett asked about the timeline for the implementation of the new academies at AHS. Ms. Taylor responded that staff voted on making the start date 2017-2018. Jeanette Smiecinski and Greta Gonzales commented about the need for academies from a student perspective for current students.

Ms. Taylor next discussed MAPS, a study skills course offered to certain ninth grade students at AHS who did not take Algebra in the eighth grade. Ms. Taylor is recommending that all ninth graders take the course. The curriculum for the course includes social emotional learning. She proposed that this class be offered in the first semester instead of the second semester. The instructor for this class has designed it as a one-year course. For now it is one semester. Jeanette Smiecinski and Greta Gonzales stated that maybe it should be marketed to all students, not just those that didn’t take Algebra. Ms. Ault asked about AVID students. AVID students will not take this course. Ms. Ault stated that as a freshman instructor it is not always clear which students need it. Deena Telley said she once observed a similar class and she supports what she saw. She believes it should be a requirement for all freshmen. Ms. Taylor would like to obtain CAC approval to explore whether the course could fit into the schedules for all ninth grade students. Ms. Ault stated that the course should be taught by an instructor who appreciates the content. She also recommended that the current instructor should be the trainer for the new teacher. Diane Harrison asked whether students could opt out. Amy responded that a family should have the final decision. Ms. Harrison stated that students in a sport should be able to participate and Ms. Taylor confirmed that this would be possible. Mr. Bennett stated that this should be a practical class instead of a class only dealing with stress, or only dealing with anxiety. Although she does not have a proposal today, Ms. Taylor restated that she just seeks CAC approval to explore the possibility of offering the course at this time. Ms. Smiecinski made a motion for CAC to support expanding the MAPS program to a year-long program as a required freshman elective with an opt-out for students who do not wish to take the course or cannot fit it in their schedules. Amy Moore seconded. All approved.

Unfinished Business:

Ranking vs. Non-Ranking

Barbara Knaggs provided an update regarding the meetings to explain the CAC recommendation to move to not ranking students. Attendance has been somewhat low, with about 30 parents at the meeting in December and about 10 or 12 at each meeting in November. Most parents have been excited about the benefits of moving to not ranking students below the top 10 percent. John Dagar stated that we could add this discussion to the January agenda. Ms. Knaggs asked that the CAC discuss the parent survey timing at the next meeting of the CAC.

Some discussion about how we want to proceed with the budget process in March.

New Business:

(Covered at the beginning of the meeting, see above).

Set Agenda Items for December 14, 2015 Meeting:

Agenda Items.

Class Ranking

Safety Grant

Budget Process Discussion

Ms. Knaggs moved that we adjourn the meeting. Ms. Smiecinski seconded. All approved.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.