A letter was received by the Watervliet school board with 34 signatures containing parents, students and teachers, asking to table the vote for the new math curriculum. Stating that not enough input, and or not communicating well with all staff, students and parents, and also due to resignations, early retirement. There are some concerns they feel are not being addressed. Board of Education President Bill Spaulding responded that the board felt confident in the committee’s knowledge and expertise, of the changes in the curriculum, and would not table discussion or vote on the curriculum during the school board meeting on May 13, 2024.
Curriculum
Brandon Waggoner, Director of Curriculum, presented new curriculum that will be using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and a variety of integrated studies rather than just rote learning, a memorization technique based on repetition. Some of those topics would be basic office computer, food science, biochemistry, and nutrition for middle/high school. Middle school will offer Coding and AI: using it effectively.
Sixth grade would get basic computer and coding. Seventh and eighth grades would have nutrition food science. Eighth grade will offer SAT pre-testing, ESL (English as a second language), grammar mechanics of writing, and neuropsychology (study of the brain, how it works, emotions are handled). These are all nine week courses. Social Studies will be coming up for review.
Other courses are AP English involving research, solutions to problems; AP Government - above and beyond government and civics courses; and algebra more of a supplemental help safety net.
Added to sex education will be cyber bullying and sexting, to inform students that posting a photo under the age of 16 is a criminal charge. Also discussed was that the North School is an “opt out,” middle school is an “opt in,” and high school is an “opt out.” The curriculum committee wants to make all three schools “opt out,” to be consistent across the board.
Reveal Math will be a K-12 alignment instead of rote learning and just remembering facts. By encouraging curiosity, exploration, and a growth mindset, Reveal Math allows students to see math as a dynamic set of problem-solving strategies related to real life. Other programs considered were “Unique” and “You and Me”. The curriculum committee felt the “You and Me” curriculum was not fully developed yet and Unique and Reveal were somewhat equal but Reveal had a stronger basis. There are also parent letters to be sent home, so the parent knows what is expected in the math subject being taught.
The whole board supported the new curriculum.
Social Media
Per Superintendent Ric Seager, it was found by a student that the athletic Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) social media accounts had an inappropriate “follow site”. The athletic department site was used for updates, information and photos. The site was immediately shut down.
This account had multiple administrators and no cleans ups and not monitored thoroughly. They are taking steps and implementing policies and procedures to avoid future issues. There is an investigation ongoing by RESA to find the IP address that allowed the inappropriate “follow site” on to the account.
Watervliet Athletics does have VNN, a sports management platform, to push through and publish articles (a high schools sports page); this will keep it in a protective bubble. They will put stops in place. There will be an Administrator for that department and Administrator at the school and Administrator at RESA along with the policy and procedures.
When asked how many “twitter accounts” are with-in the school departments, Seager said he is not sure at this time. When asked how long this has been going on, he was not sure, it may have been years. There is an investigation that is ongoing and parents/students are to use the website of www.watervlietps.org for information for athletics.
Counselors are available if a student saw this following and needs assistance. Seager did state that it did not target a student or students, but no other information could be shared due to the investigation.
Board seats
The board has received six qualified applications for the board seat vacated by Eric Laws. There is also the possibility of another member leaving the board. If this person does leave there will be two seats to be filled.
School of Choice openings
The Watervliet board approved the number of School of Choice openings that will be available for the next school year. The numbers will be coming out soon via school information.
Awards/Recognitions
Athletic Director Ken Dietz was honored by MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) for his 20 years of service. He was given a plaque.
Students in the elective wood working class under the direction of Allen Steele entered into a regional MITES (Michigan Industrial & Technology Education Society) Symposium of their woodwork projects. Of the six projects entered, five of them received a first place. These students went on to the State competition with 15,000 entries and 1,000 entries per category. Sadly they did not come home with a state win.
Jennifer Hollandsworth, the Band Director, was awarded the “Teacher of the Year” from MSBOA Flight VI. Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Flight VI serves the schools in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties. This award was voted on by her colleagues in the 6th District.
The qualifications for the award include fundamental musicianship of the highest caliber, service to students, service to the community, service to the profession, and consistency in all categories for several years. Hollandsworth has served for many years on the executive board in multiple positions including President of District Six. She has earned high ratings with all of her ensembles and she has created a stable and successful environment at Watervliet Public Schools. The MSBOA will now submit to the state executive board for consideration of the MSBOA 2024 Band Teacher of the Year.
Budget
The board adopted the BRESA (Berrien Regional Education Service Agency) budget resolution and special education budget.
The Shell station has a pump by I-94 that says Watervliet Panthers and a portion of sales at that pump comes to the school. One check came in at $677.00 and the second check came in at $771.80.
Retires/Resignations/Hires
Director of Special Education Daniel Bartz submitted a resignation effective at the end of the school year. Soccer coach, Doug Bornas has also resigned his position.
Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Dan Hoff has announced his retirement. Additionally, Athletic Director Ken Dietz is retiring at the end of the school year.
Other staff changes include Paraprofessional Shelby Eastburn moving out of state and the counselor from middle school, Sarah Keener is leaving. Zack Linderman who teaches social studies has taken the position of basketball coach.
All employees will be invited to a luau cookout on June 6, including board members.
Guests
One guest requested the board find a better option than Google to do surveys. They said responses can be traced back to the person and parents and students do not answer truthfully because of possible retaliation. They asked that a third party be used, so people will give more honest answers.
Another guest asked a question regarding the new math curriculum. Did the board compare and see this and other programs? They stated they did, but could not give specifics at that time.
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