Board OKs freshmen plan

Orientation

session set for ninth-graders on first day of school

By RACHEL WEDDIG

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The freshmen transition plan was approved Thursday 6-1 by the District 88 School Board. It voted to try the plan for three years. Board member Susan Nierengarten cast the opposing vote.

The plan, which was discussed at the board's July 26 meeting, is designed to ease the transition for freshmen into high school. According to figures from Senior High Principal Dick LaPatka 20 percent of all freshmen fail one class per semester.

The plan calls for only ninth-graders to report to the high school on , Tuesday, Sept. 4, to attend orientation sessions about curriculum and policies as well as the challenges from the transition from middle school to high school. Grades 10, 11, and 12 will start on Sept. 5.

Freshmen will be given a student planner to help them keep track of activities and homework assignments. On the first day of school, Bob Carty, a representative from Premier Planners, will teach the students how to use their planner effectively. The planners will be paid through a first-time program grant.

Before approving the plan, board members debated its positive and negative aspects and questioned LaPatka.

"This is our fourth year of bringing freshmen over to the high school," LaPatka said. "There's no doubt in my mind that the kids are in need of this."

Before the vote, board member Gene Forstner made a motion to expand the time frame of the plan from one to three years.

This proposal stirred debate among board members.

Board member Brian Wieland supported Forstner's proposal and said this type of transition plan may take a few years to evolve and results to be produced.

Chair Sue Ullery disagreed with the idea of locking the school into the plan for three years, and said she supports the plan, but would like to keep it on a year-to-year basis.

"We're still always dealing with a new freshmen class each year," Ullery said. "If it doesn't work the first year, how will it work during the next years?"

Board member Sheldon Rieke shared the same thoughts as Ullery.

"I like the idea of a plan but would like to be able to have some flexibility with the plan and be able to change it for next year," Rieke said. "I don't like the idea of getting locked into it for the next three years."

On a 4-3 decision, the board decided to vote on the the transition plan for the three years. Nierengarten, Rieke and Ullery cast the opposing votes.

Nierengarten agreed that something should be done to ease the transition for freshmen into high school, and she applauded LaPatka's efforts. However, she disagreed with the proposal because it eliminated a school day for sophomores, juniors and seniors.

"I think things could be done without cancelling school for everyone else," Nierengarten said. "There are so many other activities and events that takes kids out of school ... and we can assume and hope that there are some benefits to the activities they are participating in, but clearly this has no educational value to the tenth through twelfth graders."

Nierengarten felt the plan would give students the wrong idea about the importance of attending school.

"If we don't believe that every school day is important, how can we expect students to take attendance seriously?" Nierengarten said. "I don't criticize the notion of helping the ninth-graders, but think we are doing a disservice to the other students in the building."

Board member Mark Wiger questioned LaPatka on the idea of opening the plan to upperclassmen who still weren't doing well in school after their freshmen year.

LaPatka said he would be open to the idea and said the school could perhaps send letters to the parents of the upperclassmen who weren't doing well and invite them to attend the orientation session.

But LaPatka said the supplies have already been ordered and if upperclassmen did show interest, they wouldn't have planners available on the first day.

No decisions were made on this proposal, and Wiger said he would talk to LaPatka at a later time.

After the motion carried to approve the freshmen transition plan for three years, Nierengarten made a motion that would require the principals and staff to report to the school board twice a year on how the plan is being implemented and in June on the failure rate of the freshmen class.

Wieland did not approve of the reporting proposal. He said principals and staff have always reported to the board when asked to provide information. He said if the board makes a motion now to ask the staff to report on the progress of the plan, it would be forced to make a motion every time information was requested.

The motion for the board to ask the staff report to them on the progress of the plan failed 3-4 with Rieke, Ullery, Wieland and Forstner casting opposing votes.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2001 at 7 p.m. in the board room of the Annex building.