Bluffton High School English teacher Chad Grieser demonstrates to the members of the school board how he uses his iPad in his classroom. School board members also discussed a reduction-in-force policy, enrollment, the 2013 board schedule and more at their Monday, Oct. 15, meeting. Learn more in the Tuesday, Oct. 16, News-Banner. (Video by Chet Baumgartner)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Reduction-in-Force policy to change at Bluffton-Harrison district
Because of state law, public-school districts can no longer lay off the least-experienced teachers with a common license, such as elementary education. Now officials must base their decisions on merit.
To abide by the law, members of the Bluffton-Harrison school board discussed the following policy, though it is not necessarily final. Learn more in the Tuesday, Oct. 16, News-Banner.
To abide by the law, members of the Bluffton-Harrison school board discussed the following policy, though it is not necessarily final. Learn more in the Tuesday, Oct. 16, News-Banner.
Reduction in Force (RIF) Procedure and Recall Professional Staff
RIF Procedure
The following guidelines will replace and supersede all previous guidelines and past practices.
The cancellation of a teacher’s contract due to a decrease in the number of teaching positions shall be determined on the basis of performance on the teacher evaluation rubric. In the teaching content area to be reduced, a teacher certificated in the area who is rated less effective will be subject to non-continuance or cancellation before a teacher rated more effective will be subject to the same. The order of effectiveness from least to greatest is as follows:
• Ineffective
• Improvement Necessary
• Effective
• Highly Effective
Teacher effectiveness will be considered over a time frame of the past three consecutive years. If three years of evaluative data is not available, two years or one year of data will be used. All evaluation data will be data collected while a teacher at Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District.
In cases where the teachers’ effectiveness categories are the same, the Administration will weigh the following factors before making a determination as to which teacher and/or teachers shall be subject to the non-continuance or cancellation, in order of importance:
• The academic needs of the students in the school corporation.
• Current instructional leadership roles.
• Service in extracurricular positions, both paid and voluntary.
• Other beneficial services provided to the school district.
• Additional certification and licensure.
Recall
Teachers whose contracts were non-continued and/or cancelled and who received a rating of Highly Effective or Effective will be considered for re-hire before new applicants are given consideration. Teachers will remain on the recall list for a period of two years. After this period, the teacher shall have no recall privileges.
RIF Procedure
The following guidelines will replace and supersede all previous guidelines and past practices.
The cancellation of a teacher’s contract due to a decrease in the number of teaching positions shall be determined on the basis of performance on the teacher evaluation rubric. In the teaching content area to be reduced, a teacher certificated in the area who is rated less effective will be subject to non-continuance or cancellation before a teacher rated more effective will be subject to the same. The order of effectiveness from least to greatest is as follows:
• Ineffective
• Improvement Necessary
• Effective
• Highly Effective
Teacher effectiveness will be considered over a time frame of the past three consecutive years. If three years of evaluative data is not available, two years or one year of data will be used. All evaluation data will be data collected while a teacher at Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District.
In cases where the teachers’ effectiveness categories are the same, the Administration will weigh the following factors before making a determination as to which teacher and/or teachers shall be subject to the non-continuance or cancellation, in order of importance:
• The academic needs of the students in the school corporation.
• Current instructional leadership roles.
• Service in extracurricular positions, both paid and voluntary.
• Other beneficial services provided to the school district.
• Additional certification and licensure.
Recall
Teachers whose contracts were non-continued and/or cancelled and who received a rating of Highly Effective or Effective will be considered for re-hire before new applicants are given consideration. Teachers will remain on the recall list for a period of two years. After this period, the teacher shall have no recall privileges.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Coming together for chili and community
The town of Ossian came together Saturday for the annual Ossian Fire Department open house and chili lunch. (Photos by Chet Baumgartner)
Saturday, October 13, 2012
N-B Video: American democracy — the elementary version
Fourth-grade students at Bluffton-Harrison Elementary School participate in a mock election Friday, Oct. 12, to help them learn more about the government before the 2012 presidential election. Learn more in the Saturday, Oct. 13, News-Banner. (Video by Chet Baumgartner)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
State delays release of grades for schools
Officials with the Indiana Department of Education recently announced they will publicly release statewide school grades on Oct. 31 — several weeks after they normally release them.
However, Wells County’s three public-school districts have already received their marks, and while the Northern Wells school district is reviewing its grade, the Southern Wells and Bluffton-Harrison superintendents said they won’t appeal.
You can learn more in the Thursday, Oct. 11, News-Banner, but the DOE has provided the following guide to help teachers, parents and the public better understand the new variables that determine school grades. Click on the images for a better view.
The state also publishes a plethora of past data about school and student performance at http://compass.doe.in.gov/dashboard/overview.aspx.
Adopt a pet
 |
| These three kittens are litter mates. They are just 8 weeks old now. They were hand-raised kittens and can only be adopted for indoor housecats. |
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
City to sell house on Adams Street
As the city of Bluffton was acquiring the right of way for the Adams Street reconstruction, everyone involved in the process realized that the house at 1014 S. Adams St. was in foreclosure. Rather than waiting for the foreclosure process to address the city's need for the right of way, the city went ahead and bought the house.
Now, with the project set for construction, the city wants to sell the house at an auction during the Board of Works meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Those interested in learning more about the house can view its information through the Wells County GIS by clicking here. Learn more about the right of way in the Wednesday, Oct. 10, News-Banner.
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