USD 234 looks over Career Pathways program

Sunday, May 6, 2007

By Brett Dalton

Herald-Tribune

Fort Scott, Kan. -- A variety of issues make up the agenda for Monday's USD 234 Board of Education meeting. The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the BOE building, 424 S. Main St.

After approving the official agenda and the consent agenda, the board will formally recognize Fort Scott High School math teacher Morgan Croan as the recipient of the PSU Outstanding Educator Award for 2007. Croan, a recent graduate of FSHS and a 2003 PSU graduate, received the award from her alma mater last month. Croan was nominated for the award by her fellow teachers. She was officially presented the award from PSU's College of Education during Thursday's Clyde U. Phillips Awards and Scholarship Ceremony.

The board will then hear from FSHS Principal Bob Beckham, who will discuss the school's Career Pathways program. FSHS Associate Principal Todd Ferguson said the Career Pathways allows seniors, during their second semester, to replace some elective classes with such things as a paying job, taking college courses, a work study program, among others. Ferguson said anything the student elects to replace high school electives with must be organized through the school, and the student will receive school credit for participating in the replacement programs or activities. Ferguson said the Career Pathways program enables students to participate in things they need rather than sit through classes they may not want to be in.

"There are some classes that students, as seniors, have to take," Ferguson said, "such as microeconomics, Ameri-can history, those sorts of things. But then there are electives some students will take that may not be interested in. This program allows those students to substitute those electives with something they are more likely to enjoy and succeed in."

Ferguson said that by allowing students to hold part-time jobs during that time, they are hoping the program decreases the number of dropouts.

"We have a number of kids who drop out because they can't afford it," he said. "They feel they need to have a job to make money more than they need some classes. So, by allowing them to have a part-time job during the actual school day, we're hoping to keep more kids in school."

Also on the agenda is an update on the Kansas State Setoff Program to be presented by district USD 234 Business Manager Alan Drake. The program, Drake said, is aimed at collecting delinquent fees of various kinds. Drake said the program through the state allows the school district to contact the state to help collect the fees, should attempts made by the district fail. If the district reports a delinquent fee to the state, through this program, the state will take several steps to collect the fee for the school district. Drake said that could eventually involve taking the fees out of the state income tax refund the person would receive.

Also on Monday, the board will consider a contract for Parents as Teachers, a program run by the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Greenbush. According to the SKESC Web site, the Parents as Teachers program is an early learning program for parents of young children, prenatal to age three. The program helps parents learn how to prepare their young children for their future school days.

The board will also consider a request from the Cato Club to use some of the old chalkboards in the old Fort Scott Middle School building, 412 S. National Ave., in the Cato School building, located in northeast Crawford County. Drake said that because the district is trying to sell the former FSMS building on National Avenue, the board will have to consider whether they can approve the request for the chalkboards and whether removing the chalkboards would affect the sale of the building in any way.

Also on Monday, the board will:

* Hear an update on the sale of the old FSMS building.

* Consider approval of contract for the Winfield Scott Elementary School HVAC project.

* Consider result of bids.

* Consider KASB dues and legal assistance fees.

* Consider approval of summer camps.

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