From White Mountain to Golovin — and from standardized tests to drug tests — the Bering Strait School District’s board of education covered plenty of ground in their first meeting of the new school year.
Results are coming out soon for the state’s new standardized test, and the district is curious to learn how BSSD students performed. But at Tuesday’s meeting, Carolyn Heflin cautioned the board that early indicators aren’t good — not just for the district, but for all of Alaska.
“Officials from the Alaska Department of Education have already told school districts that approximately one-third of Alaska students passed the AMP test of 2015 based on the proficient score set,” said Heflin, director of curriculum and instruction for BSSD.
Heflin said the news is “discouraging,” but not unexpected. The AMPs — or Alaska Measures of Progress — are more rigorous than the previous state assessment. And for the first time, students had to take the test solely on computers. With those changes, Heflin said there will be a learning curve as students and educators adjust. Scores will be released next month, and Heflin said the data should be ready to discuss at the board’s November meeting.
For now, the board is considering a different type of testing.
During public comments, two people raised questions about the district’s employee drug policy — specifically, whether there even is one and whether BSSD employees are subject to drug testing. The answer — on both counts — was no.
“Currently, we don’t have a drug policy in place,” said Superintendent Bobby Bolen. “Unless it’s affecting the actual work in the classroom or their job responsibilities, there’s no policy against it. And no testing policy.”
Bolen said the idea of an employee drug policy has been brought up to the board before, but no plan has ever been passed. Even without a formal policy, he said the district would step in if there were reports of employee drug or alcohol use affecting classroom performance. In light of public questions, though, Bolen said the board will take a new look at a potential drug policy.
Another new idea was brought before the board by Gerald Pickner, the district’s director of human resources. Pickner said HR is looking to change BSSD’s employee probation period from 90 days to 30.
“The 90-day status — there was nothing wrong with it, other than the fact that it’s a long time,” said Pickner. “We lost track of when folks were hired and when folks weren’t hired.”
Pickner said shorter probation would streamline pay scale and other administrative work — and even weed out poor hires faster.
“It all showed up within the first 30 days. We would hire staff, and they would miss a lot of work,” he said. “We want to make sure that we don’t keep that going for a 90-day timeframe.”
But some board members expressed concern that 30 days would be rushing the process. Jeanette Iya — representing Diomede, Gambell, and Savoonga — called for caution when observing and evaluating new staff.
“The board has always had in the forefront that kids are first. When we have to deal with changes — whether it’s policy or whatever — we don’t just jump right in. I certainly appreciate your comments, but I would be very cautionary,” Iya told Picker.
The possibility of shorter employee probations is still just under discussion. Pickner said the idea will go before the district’s personnel committee before any formal presentation to the board.
The board’s next meeting will be in Anchorage on Nov. 4.
