February 19, 2020 – Minutes

School Community Council—Hillcrest High School

February 19, 2020

In Attendance:

1. Greg Leavitt
2. Brant Thomsen
3. Jan Hansen
4. Suzanne Riches
5. John Olsen
6. Nicole Huff
7. Karen Conder
8. Denise White
9. Jeremy Wright
10. Jason Dong
11. Julie Clulff
12. Mont Millerberg
13. R J Graham

Meeting Notes:

• Brant Thomsen opened the meeting.
• TSSP and Trust Land Plans for 2019-2020.
  • Both plans can be reviewed at the link provided below.
    • https://hillcrest.canyonsdistrict.org/index.php/community/school-community-council
  • Leavitt reviewed the Trust Land Plan 2019-2020 with SCC members.
    • The overarching goal states that HHS will increase the percentage of students who are on track to graduate from 60% to 70%, 2019 and 2020 respectively. (See the Trust Land Plan for specifics.)
    • Expenditures for the plan include the following:
  • Summary of Estimated Expenditures—Land Trust Plan

Funding Estimates                                                                                                                            

• All money will be spent on personnel—teachers, stipends and additional personnel to work directly with students.

TSSP Plan

• Most will be spent on English Language Learners. No budget has yet been attached to the TSSP plan.
• Highlights of the plan include:
  • System 44 reading programs.
  • Basic English and math taught at an appropriate level for the student.
  • A normal attrition rate currently is 68 students out of 600 students.
  • Budget will be voted on in March. This budget will be attached to the TSSP, but expect most of the money to be appropriated to bringing additional personnel into the building, providing stipends, and seeking to reduce class size.
  • RJ asked if ELL students stay at Hillcrest long enough to benefit from ELL programs.
    • Leavitt noted that 68 out of 600 students is the current attrition rate. So many students will benefit.
  • SCC again reviewed the TSSP plan which includes an overarching goal of increasing the graduation rate to 88%. The goal will be measured by scores on the ASPIRE test equal to or greater than state averages for 9th and 10th ACT scores will be equal to or exceed district averages, and a focus on yearly increases in AP/IB/CE course participation will increase.
  • SCC also reviewed the School Climate goals that are a part of the TSSA. Several initiatives are reviewed on the plan, such as use of the APP period, Husky grams and recognition, attendance incentives, electronic hall passes, etc. (See the TSSA plan.)
• Brant Thomsen called for a vote to approve the TSSA plan. The motion was seconded and passed by a unanimous vote.
  • The TSSA does not currently have an attached budget, but the budget should be coming in March.
• School-Wide Disclosure
  • Hillcrest will be the first school in the district to have a common policy across all academic instruction.
  • Students should get the same product across teachers and curriculum.
  • The statement contains policy on PBIS, reward initiatives, etc. as well as academic policy.
  • Questions around the disclosure statement included.
    • Phone Policy
      • One SCC member’s daughter had her phone locked in a Vaults bag.
      • Leavitt explained that teachers must teach the program and then follow-through with it.
      • SCC members agreed that the phone policy is a good one.
    • SCC members asked if parents have the ability to know what their children are doing during APP.
      • Leavitt responded that the Teacher ios software enables us to track where students are during APP. This costs us about $4,000 per year, but provides this ability.
      • SCC Members asked about the 8:00 AM cut off for APP visit requests. Requests for APP visits need to be arranged well in advance.
      • Leavitt said this is so teachers can plan and prepare for APP visits.
    • District surveys were given to SCC members to complete—Parent/Teacher conferences and district search for a new supervisor.
    • Construction and Parking
      • New gym will open on March 16th.
      • The old gym will be knocked down over spring break. It will be noisy, but not unsafe.
      • It will take three to four weeks to get the structures down. There is a lot of cleaning up to do.
      • The entire building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2021.
      • The road coming in off 9th East will also open when the new gym opens.
      • Parking will increase.
    • Other
      • Question about this year’s prom were asked my SCC members.
        • Jeremy asked if the parking lots will be monitored for drugs and alcohol before students enter the prom.
        • Greg said that we don’t own the parking lots so we can’t control that area well.
        • The rule, however, is that no outside drink may be brought into the dance.
        • RJ asked if punishments are discussed with the students ahead of time.
          • Leavitt responded that administration doesn’t do warnings, etc. ahead of time. He believes that publicizing this may lead to increases in the behavior.
          • John suggested that a blurb be put in the Huskie Strong Newsletter.
          • Leavitt said that could be done. We could tell parents to talk to their kids about these problems.
        • Brant moved to close the meeting. The motion was seconded and passed.

Prepared by Suzanne Riches