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Leesville, La. —
The Vernon Parish School Board's planned visit from officials from the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) regarding federal funding for construction of a new South Polk Elementary has been postponed until February, according to superintendent Jackie Self.
Officials were expected to come during the week of Jan. 23, Self said at Tuesday's regular school board meeting. The board was notified by the OEA earlier in the week.
When officials do visit, Self said, school board officials would give OEA officials a tour of the current South Polk Elementary School and then present their proposals to the OEA. Officials from the school board and South Polk Elementary would be on hand to answer any questions during the process, Self also said.
"We'll be well-armed up there," he said.
Officials from the school board and Fort Polk traveled to Washington, D.C. in October in an attempt to seek funds for construction of a new building for South Polk Elementary. The school was ranked sixth out of 160 schools on military bases in terms of buildings which needed replacing, according to the Department of Defense; a study by the DOD gave the building a failing rating on its condition and also noted it for being 17 percent over its calculated capacity of 475.
The school board also discussed policy updates to test security and end of course testing administered by the schools at Tuesday's meeting, including clarification of the grading criteria used on the tests.
John Farris, Secondary Director in the board's curriculum department, said that the board was in the process of reminding individual schools of the criteria and requirements for graduation.
"A score of 'needs improvement' has not passed for graduation purposes," Farris said. noting that students needed to achieve a "fair" or better score for graduation. A "fair" score, he said, was equivelent to a "C" grade.
Board members expressed their beliefs that parents should be as informed of the requirements as well as the parish schools.
"Parents just don't understand," board member Beryl Ford (district three) said, suggesting that the parish distribute a letter to parents explaining the grading system. Self said that the district would look into drafting a letter to distribute, potentially with the dispensing of report cards.
The Vernon Parish School Board's planned visit from officials from the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) regarding federal funding for construction of a new South Polk Elementary has been postponed until February, according to superintendent Jackie Self.
Officials were expected to come during the week of Jan. 23, Self said at Tuesday's regular school board meeting. The board was notified by the OEA earlier in the week.
When officials do visit, Self said, school board officials would give OEA officials a tour of the current South Polk Elementary School and then present their proposals to the OEA. Officials from the school board and South Polk Elementary would be on hand to answer any questions during the process, Self also said.
"We'll be well-armed up there," he said.
Officials from the school board and Fort Polk traveled to Washington, D.C. in October in an attempt to seek funds for construction of a new building for South Polk Elementary. The school was ranked sixth out of 160 schools on military bases in terms of buildings which needed replacing, according to the Department of Defense; a study by the DOD gave the building a failing rating on its condition and also noted it for being 17 percent over its calculated capacity of 475.
The school board also discussed policy updates to test security and end of course testing administered by the schools at Tuesday's meeting, including clarification of the grading criteria used on the tests.
John Farris, Secondary Director in the board's curriculum department, said that the board was in the process of reminding individual schools of the criteria and requirements for graduation.
"A score of 'needs improvement' has not passed for graduation purposes," Farris said. noting that students needed to achieve a "fair" or better score for graduation. A "fair" score, he said, was equivelent to a "C" grade.
Board members expressed their beliefs that parents should be as informed of the requirements as well as the parish schools.
"Parents just don't understand," board member Beryl Ford (district three) said, suggesting that the parish distribute a letter to parents explaining the grading system. Self said that the district would look into drafting a letter to distribute, potentially with the dispensing of report cards.
