April 29, 1998

At the April 28, 1998, meeting of the Shaker Heights Board of Education, the Board recognized the following students and staff members:

• Fernway student mediators who won the statewide Youth Leadership Award from the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Commission. Governor George V. Voinovich presented the award honoring Fernway’s peer mediation program, the first in Shaker Heights, for its “commitment to and service in Dr. King’s Six Principles of Non-Violence.” Honored were students Lloyd Brooks, Max Forstag, Jason Immerman, Robin Lew Martin, Geoff Goss, Benjamin Hill, Faith Hudson, Victor Jamison, Alex Math, Nayyir Qutubuddin, Abby Rowlands, Jessica Vaughn, C. J. Hearey, Janet Kamiri, Miriam Mack, Malik Wiggins, and faculty sponsors Debbie Harsa and Jean Reinhold.

The Superintendent reported the following:

• Parents of children who will enter kindergarten in Fall 1998 are being encouraged, via posters placed throughout the community and targeted mailings, to register their children this week. Continuing the district’s efforts to improve “user-friendliness,” the Administration Building conference room has been stocked with puzzles, games, and refreshments to keep small children occupied while their parents complete the registration process. The Board viewed a new video for parents of incoming kindergartners. The video was created for the school district by Fernway parent Thomas Keane, who won a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his video on the Minority Achievement Committee (MAC) Scholars program at Shaker Heights High School.

• A Night for the Red & White 1998 set records for both attendance and proceeds. Almost 800 people attended this year’s event, raising more than $90,000 (net of expenses) to support the use of technology in the Shaker Heights schools. Special thanks are due to the approximately 100 volunteers who staged the benefit for the Friends of the Shaker Schools Foundation; to the nine corporate partners; to the more than 75 faculty and staff members whose Silent Auction contributions made the event unique; and to guest auctioneers Bill Scherer and Gary Raymont. Each of the schools will decide how to spend its share of the proceeds, within broad guidelines established by the Shaker Schools Foundation.

• Shaker Heights High School and its Minority Achievement Committee (MAC) Scholars rated a mention in the March 30, 1998, issue of Newsweek magazine. In an article by Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews, the MAC program was singled out as an exemplary effort to encourage students to stretch themselves academically. Mathews ranked Shaker among the top 100 American high schools, based on the high proportion of students taking Advanced Placement examinations. The Newsweek article prompted several follow-up stories by local print and broadcast media.

• Newly available in reprinted form is another national story on the Shaker Heights schools, Regie Routman’s article “Ready to Read,” from the October 1997 issue of Parents magazine. The article, which describes Shaker’s balanced approach to the teaching of reading, is available from the Office of Communications in the Administration Building.

• Nearly 300 Shaker Heights High School students spent spring vacation soaking up culture in Europe. Approximately 250 members of the marching band, orchestra, and choir traveled to Germany for a celebration of Shaker’s 20-year-old student exchange program with the Ratsgymnasium in Goslar. The event was marked by two band performances in the town square and an evening concert featuring the orchestras and choruses of the two schools. Following four days of staying with families in Goslar, the students and chaperones visited several historical and cultural landmarks, including the Cologne cathedral, the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and, by boat, the castles along the Rhine River. A smaller group of students accompanied English teacher George Harley on a trip to museums and other cultural sites in France and Italy.

• The High School Theatre Arts Department will present “Ship of Dreams,” created and directed by James Thornton, on April 30, May 1, and May 2 at 8:00 p.m. The production will feature the Senior Ensemble, with the Junior and Advanced Ensembles. Tickets are available from the box office, 295-4287. Other upcoming events can be found in the Shakerfest brochure mailed to all households in the district and available in all school buildings.

The Board heard the following:

• A presentation on the kindergarten resource program by Executive Director of Elementary Education Bernice Stokes, kindergarten teacher Karen Sher, and teaching assistant Alice Hampton.

• An update on construction projects and plans for the front entrance to the High School by Executive Director of Business and Personnel Carlton Moody.

• A letter from the Superintendent to all staff concerning recent shootings involving students in Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania.

The Board approved the following:

• A resolution in support of state Issue 1, which will appear on the May primary ballot. Issue 1 permits the State of Ohio to issue general obligation bonds for purposes of school construction and repair. The Board had, at its April 20 special meeting, approved a resolution opposing Issue 2, which would increase the Ohio sales tax by 1 cent, with half the proceeds going to schools and half to property tax relief.

• Personnel items, including appointments, changes in assignment, temporary employees, salary reclassifications, supplemental contracts, special assignments, and resignations for both certified and classified staff. Included were the following retirements: Becky Bunosky, art teacher at Shaker Heights High School (28 years of service), effective July 1; Linda Urban, social studies teacher at Shaker Middle School (28 years of service), effective August 28; and Nancy Jones, secretarial technician at the District Library Media Office (19 years, 10 months of service), effective July 1.

• Granting tenure to the following faculty members: Susan Brown (High School), Heather Case (Woodbury), Jay Curtright (Middle School), Sally Davros (Middle School), Lisa Hardiman(Mercer), Erin Heintzelman (Middle School), Beverly Huckelbridge (Woodbury), Lisa Humphreys (Middle School), Eric Hutchinson (Middle School), Sherri Jarvie (Woodbury), Sondra Martin (High School), Larry Miller (Woodbury), Julie Pilloff (Middle School), Michael Schwenn (Middle School), Hallie Stewart (Mercer), Tara Strachan (Lomond), Chanté Thomas (Woodbury), Valerie Weaver (Middle School), Mary Ann Wonson (High School), and Antonia Wylie (Lomond).

• Placements, tuition, and excess costs for students in the Severe Behavior Handicapped and Hearing Handicapped programs.

• Acceptance of bids for the following items: furniture for the Woodbury library; classroom renovation at the Middle School; science laboratory renovation at the High School; and four projects related to the remodeling of the second floor of the Shaker Heights Public Library.

• Designation of an architectural firm to plan the renovation of the High School gym and adjacent areas.

• Financial statements for March 1998, interim investments, return of advance to the General Fund and transfer of funds.

• Supplemental appropriation resolutions for the ESEA Title I program and the Title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development program.

• Student Activity purpose, goals and budget.