Tuesday's Internet Edition, September 07, 2010.
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News editor - The Copperas Cove Independent School District school board upheld an administrator's decision to remove a teen from the high school cheerleading program during Tuesday night’s meeting before a full house in the administration building.
The school board convened for a lengthy meeting to hear several Level 3 appeals in executive session and take action on Sunset Review recommendations.
The board meeting opened to a crowded room, with not even standing room left. Most of those present were there for the Level 3 appeals on the discipline of a high school student associated with the high school cheerleading program.
After a more than two-hour executive session, the board reconvened. Of the appeal on the discipline of a high school student, board member Kathi Nauert said, “Our job as board members is not to determine the ultimate guilt or innocence in an underlying criminal matter.”
She continued, “Our job is to determine whether the administration acted reasonably in making this decision under the circumstances, given the information available to it. I move that the administration’s decision in this matter be upheld.”
Nauert moved to uphold the administration’s decision. Six of the seven board members voted to approve Nauert’s motion. Board member James Mickan did not vote.
The appeal stems from the removal of teens from the high school cheerleading teams. The teens were removed after administrators decided they had violated the organization’s constitution. The two cheerleaders were found guilty of minor-in-possession violations in Bell County in late January.
The board also took action on the appeal concerning the high school cheerleading team. Members of the board approved the motion to investigate James Lyon’s allegations of harassment Mickan abstained from the vote.
Two officers from the Copperas Cove Police Department were present at the school board meeting. Butch Ronne and Lorraine Palmer, the CCPD officers assigned to the high school, said the board asked them to make sporadic appearances at school board meetings.
Their attendance at this particular meeting may have been appropriate since two parents of Copperas Cove High School students had a verbal altercation in the parking lot after the meeting.
In executive session, the board discussed the proposed termination and placement of a high school teacher on leave without pay. The board voted to terminate the employment of Adam Tindol at the end of his contract and place him on leave without pay until his contract expires.
Board members Jim Copeland and Lynn Wessels did not vote. Tindol is a coach of the football freshman team at CCHS.
Board members also took action on the Sunset Review recommendations. The committee’s recommendations were to maintain utilization of the modified A/B block schedule and return to compliance with district adopted staffing ratio of 23 students to one teacher, in six out of eight periods through employee attrition.
The committee also recommended the continuation of training to current and new teachers in regard to effective teaching strategies to utilize on the modified A/B block schedule and incorporation of various 90-minute training sessions into the normal school day, which would eliminate the need for substitutes in certain situations.
The administrative recommendations were to accept the committees recommendations with the stipulation that compliance with the one teacher to 23 staffing ratio be achieved to at least 80 percent of the 2003-04 school year and 100 percent by the 2004-05 school year.
The Sunset committee’s recommendation on academic teaming was to retain the program. The administration accepted the recommendation with the stipulation that junior highs be staffed one teacher to 24 students for six out of eight periods and that the intermediate schools be staffed at one teacher for 25 students for six out of eight periods.
The committee that reviewed the Central Library Office recommended the program’s retention in its current format. The administration agreed with the stipulation that the office be staffed with one director and two aides, with the CLO personnel also handling the Avenue E library.
The Sunset committee recommended that content mastery be eliminated and replaced with a new program, Target, which will serve a select population of students at all levels. The administration accepted the recommendations and asked the committee chairperson to report back to the board in January of 2004.
The committee’s recommendation on the gifted and talented program was to retain the program and the administration agreed, saying that the program will be continuously reviewed for improvement.
The Sunset committee’s recommendations for the Writing to Read program were to continue the program at Hollie Parsons, Miss Jewell and J.L. Williams and eliminate it on the other four elementary campuses. The committee asked that the older computers from the four eliminated programs be reserved to keep the other three programs running for as long as possible.
The committee said that Writing to Read will end when the older computers die since the software is incompatible with newer computers and has not been updated. The committee will continue to look for new, comparable software. The administration accepted the committee’s recommendations.
Acker said the school board will conduct a Sunset Review every year. “It allows us to look at programs to make sure they are efficient and effective,” he said.