South county district continues discussion on Missouri School Improvement Accountability Plan

CARDWELL, Mo. -- The Southland Board of Education met on Thursday, Sept. 10, once again discussing its Missouri School Improvement Accountability Plan.

According to Superintendent Raymond Lasley, following a mid-summer meeting with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the district was asked to write an accountability plan to describe how the district will meet the expectations set forth by the state. Lasley said the plan will focus on the concerns set forth by DESE.

According to Lasley, DESE would like to see the concerns grouped by similarities, and a plan on how the district will address those concerns.

Lasley said the concerns the district will be focused on include improving graduation rate and the number of students involved in advanced classes and career education placement.

Lasley said the district met the standard, but DESE said the numbers were not "high enough."

"They want us to address that," Lasley said.

DESE also said the number of graduates scoring at or above the national average is not high enough, according to Lasley.

The plan will also raising scored in communication arts and math. Lasley said in both subjects, some of the grades met the requirements, but the score was "not what [DESE calls] 'high'."

"We got the points but [DESE] didn't think our scores were high enough," Lasley said, adding that the bar goes up each year.

Lasley said for the accountability plan, the district is going to have to write "very detailed" plans and strategies to address concerns and a time line of how they are going to achieve their goal.

Lasley said he has began work on the plan, which must be signed by Board President Derrick Higgins, and will have it submitted by Oct. 1.

In his superintendent report, Lasley the sixth-grade recently purchased smart boards and the sixth-grade science class purchased microscopes for a more "hands on" approach to class. The new items were purchased using stimulus funds.

The sixth-grade communication arts classes wrote letters to the board, thanking them for the new equipment.

"I was pleased with the letters," Lasley said. "I was grateful. It is nice to have the appreciation and it is nice to have the kids take notice."

Also in his report, Lasley said the district's enrollment is down nearly 42 students compared to the end of August 2008. He said the district's enrollment has had "peaks and valleys" before, and he hopes this is just a valley.

After a brief discussion about attendance, the board closed the meeting by adjourning to executive session, in which it hired Vicky Luke to fill a full-time cooking position. Luke had previously been a part-time employee in the school's kitchen.