MEMO Friday, September 1, 2017
To: Charleroi School Board Members
Upcoming Meetings
Monday, September 11- Buildings & Grounds Committee Meeting-Community Room-10:00 am
Tuesday, September 19- Informational Board Meeting-Community Room
Tuesday, September 26- Regular Board Meeting-Community Room
Phillips Defibrulator Purchased for Stadium Concession Stand
Marie Ripepi, Middle/High School nurse, has graciously volunteered to use her $1500 grant to purchase an additional AED for our district.
We have decided to purchase the Heartstart FRx AED from Phillips. This is a state of the art defibrillator that comes with an 8-year manufacturer’s warranty. This unique model is the only one on the market with an optional infant/child key, which you can use with adult pads for pediatric patients.
PA charter schools spend millions of public dollars in advertising to attract students
REACH For Schools Grant Aquired by Charleroi Area Middle School Teacher Howard Johnson
Mr. Johnson successfully obtained a REACH 4Schools grant program developed by 3RQ to enhance our monitoring of area streams. PA Department Environmental Protection provided a grant to fund this project. Charleroi Area School District is 1 of 5 schools selected for this program in the tri-state area.
We are very proud of Mr. Johnson and his students commitment and the recognition their Stream Stewardship program has received from the 3RQ group.
Career and Technical students and Keystone Assessments - House Bill 202
Our Career and Technical students must participate in the Keystone Exams by the end of grade 11 for federal accountability. Participation is what counts, not what the student scores on the exams for graduation purposes. They do not need to pass the Keystone assessments as a graduation requirement.
82%
Battling Truancy
A new state law on chronic absenteeism aims to keep students in the classroom, requires schools to develop plans, gives judges flexibility and makes imprisonment a last resort.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed the truancy legislation into law in November, and those changes take effect at the start of the 2017-18 school years.
What does the law say?
The purpose of the law is to improve school attendance and deter truancy “through a comprehensive approach to consistently identify and address attendance issues as early as possible with credible intervention techniques,” according to the Philadelphia-based Educational Law Center.
What does truant mean?
Students are truant when they have three or more school days of unexcused absences during the current school year. Students are habitually truant when they have six or more unexcused absences during the year. The absences do not need to run consecutively.
What are some of the changes?
For students who attend a charter school or cyber charter school, the responsibility for their attendance shifts from school districts to the charter school.
The charter schools must establish attendance policies, report absences and file citations with district courts or local children and youth services agencies. Previously, the law required charters to inform the student’s district of residence about the unexcused absences. The district then had the obligation to file a citation.
The new law also creates procedural requirements districts must follow while children are truant or habitually truant. Before school officials refer a habitually truant child to magisterial district court or CYS, the school must prove it held a student attendance improvement conference and created an individualized attendance improvement plan.
How can the courts discipline students and parents?
Schools cannot impose discipline for truant behavior that excludes the student from the classroom, including out-of-school suspension.
The law also provides discretion to local magistrates to choose the appropriate punishment, which could include increased fines and reduced jail time for the parents of habitually truant children. Fines can be as high as $750 per citation, not the number of unexcused absences in the citation.
Jail time is reduced to three days from five days and adds safeguards so that poor families are not jailed for their inability to pay. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation may also suspend a student’s driver’s license for truancy, but the students may apply for a special license to drive to and from work and school, according to the Education Law Center.
State Budget
SEPTEMBER 13 - MIDDLE SCHOOL/HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE FROM 6:00 PM-8:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 14- ELEMENTARY OPEN HOUSE FROM 6:00 PM-8:00 PM
Charleroi School District Harvest Bounty Team Being Recognized for Community Service Award
SUPERINTENDENT'S MEETINGS
MEETINGS THIS WEEK
MONDAY AUGUST 28
10:00 AM – SCOTT MARTIN – IU1
TUESDAY AUGUST 29
11:45 AM –HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK MEETING
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30
10:00 AM – MARK JOSWICK
4:00 PM – CHUCKIE MAHONEY SPONSORSHIP MEETING
THURSDAY AUGUST 31
8:15 AM – ELEMENTARY TEACHER & SCHOOL NURSE
9:30 AM – FALLOWFIELD TOWNSHIP FIRE CHIEF
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1 – 1 HOUR EARLY DISMISSAL
12:30 PM – PAC MEETING AT VO-TECH
7:00 PM – FOOTBALL@WASHINGTON
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 4
NO SCHOOL – LABOR DAY
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 5
9:00 AM – BUILDINGS & GROUNDS AGENDA MEETING
10:00 AM – PICK UP FOUNDATION BRICKS
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 6
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 7
9:00 AM – BOARD AGENDA MEETING
12:00 PM – BRICK INSTALLATION
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 8
1:00 PM – IU#1 SOCIAL WORKER MEETING
7:00 PM – FOOTBALL GAME HOME/SOUTHMORELAND