By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab School Board members were
given the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
report for re-accreditation during school board meeting on
Wednesday.
"As you know," said Kirk Wright,
superintendent, "we are back on approved status."
The school was placed on
probation and some adjustments were made the last year when
the school was evaluated for accreditation, said Wright. The
probation status was, largely, a mistake in
communication.
As in all rural schools, some
teachers are teaching classes in addition to their primary
fields of study. However, all have received endorsements by
the state.
"As soon as the communication
problem was cleared up, the approved status was returned,"
said Wright.
Teachers who do not meet the
preparation requirements but who have had exceptional
training in the specific subjects to be taught and who have
demonstrated unusually successful teaching ability during a
two year period must have evidence presented by the school
in writing to the state accreditation committee. Upon
recommendation from the committee, the teacher will be
considered eligible for teaching of the subjects.
"Juab High School did have some
teachers, eight as opposed to seven this year, with
excessive loads, but due to the dynamics, half of those
teachers, or four, no longer experience excessive loads,
despite similar assignments, while some others, three, have
increased," he said.
Since the school has no new
resources for generating new funds, increasing staff
presents some difficulty. In addition, because of an
unusually large class moving through the system the class
loads shift from year to year.
In a small school that factor is
not easily spread out. If a new teacher were hired, there
would be difficulty determining what the most effective
position would be, because that teacher would require
endorsements in at least three different areas and those
areas would change from year to year.
In 1999, said Wright, teachers
with excessive loads averaged 11.75 excessive students per
teacher. In 200, teachers with excessive loads averaged 8.14
excessive students per teacher for a reduction of 30
prevent.
"I wanted you to see what a
accreditation standards application looks like," said
Wright.
The educational process, student
personnel services, school plant and equipment, library
media program, records, school improvement, preparation of
personnel, administration, teacher load, staff members
deficient in professional preparation, personnel schedule,
student activities, mission statement and course offerings
are all evaluated.
One item the accreditation board
would like is for all libraries to have a certified media
person.
"Because of finances, the board
directed that the high school not have a certified library
media specialist but, instead, have a full-time media aide
who has received extensive training at district
expense."
"Our school has a certified media
specialist who also teaches," said Wright. "His classroom is
40-feet from the media center, and he spends a great deal of
time in and using the media center and serves as a
consultant for our media center."
In addition, he said, the media
center includes full Internet access as well as hard copy
stacks and the school has benefit of a technology committee,
which includes the certified media specialist, and which
provides training every year in the use of electronic
references and research.
"Our parent advisory group has
determined to apply our entire trust lands appropriation
this year to improving our high school media center," said
Wright.
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