Excessive absences put Port St. Lucie mom in jail

Source: Sun Sentinel

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. - Police arrested a 48-year-old mother after investigators determined three of her children each racked up dozens of unexcused absences from school, according to reports released Tuesday.

A St. Lucie County School Board official contacted police Feb. 6 and said he was investigating the "ongoing truancy" of three children, a 12-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl.

The mother was held Tuesday in the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $60,000 bail, a jail official said.

Schools to take another hit from state

Source: Miami Herald

State lawmakers are poised to slash more than $350 million from schools -- forcing layoffs in some districts before the end of the school year in June -- in an effort to balance the current year's budget, shrunken by withering sales-tax collections. Schools, community colleges and universities will take the brunt of the $542 million in proposed cuts lawmakers want to make for the budget year that ends June 30.

Broward and Miami-Dade officials say they will manage without layoffs. But at other school districts, staff cuts will be inevitable, said Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association, the teachers' union.

Read More... <http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/434891.html>


*** Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

New School Projects

Plesae click the link below to view the Miami Herald article which discusses the new school construction projects in NE Miami-Dade County.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/northeast/v-print/story/433250.html

Michael Yormak

Michael Yormak, President of the Florida Panthers of the NHL will be here on Friday, February 29 at 9:00 a.m. to give inspirational talk to our students in the cafeteria. Thank you Mr. Yormak and Ms. Fogelson.

Book Fair

The Book Fair is scheduled for February 27 - March 7. A class preview schedule is forthcoming so the students can make a wish list of items to purchase from the fair. Information about this event will be sent home in advance.

PTA Fundraiser

The due date for the PTA fundraiser has been extended until Thursday, February 28. Please turn in your items to Mrs. Kerr or Ms. Duncan, PTA Vice President.

Assessment Reporting Dates

Below is an approximate timeline of when we may receive the results for the various assessments that will take place during the coming weeks.

» FCAT Writing+

Week of May 5


» FCAT 3rd Grade Reading and Mathematics

Week of May 19


» FCAT NRT Reading & Mathematics

Week of May 26


» FCAT 4th Grade Reading and Mathematics

» FCAT 5th Grade Reading, Mathematics and Science

» Alternate Assessment for SPED

Week of June 2


» CELLA

Week of June 23


» School Grades & AYP

Week of July 14

173 area pre-K programs show poor scores

Source: Miami Herald

The state rated 173 Broward and Miami-Dade County preschools that offer free prekindergarten with scores lower than last year's passing score, the state Department of Education said Monday.

Last year's passing score was 201 on a scale of 0 to 300. The numbers are based on how well students who attended pre-K last year performed on tests when they started kindergarten last fall.

Please click the title bar above to access any VPK Provider in the state.

Employee Assistance Program

The district's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is intended to help employees and their families who are suffering from persistent problems that tend to jeopardize an employee's health and continued employment. Please click the title bar above to get more information about this program.

Schools to destroy beef in recall of 143 million pounds

Source: Sun-Sentinel

Cases of hamburger patties and meatballs in schools across South Florida must be destroyed as part of the country's largest beef recall caused by the ongoing federal investigation into allegations of animal abuse at a California slaughterhouse.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday recalled 143 million pounds of beef from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., in Chino, Calif. The company, which provides meat to public schools nationwide, has been under investigation since Jan. 30, when animal rights activists accused it of mistreating cattle and illegally distributing meat from animals too sick to stand.

Schools await state board's vote on evolution

Source: Miami Herald

Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin revolutionized biology, evolution will become required study in Florida classrooms if the state Board of Education approves new science standards Tuesday that explicitly names the ''E'' word for the first time. The standards, which haven't been updated since 1996, were written by scientists and educators to modernize Florida's science education curriculum, which has been derided by mainstream science for years, in part for lacking explicit mention of evolution. Now it's not just going to be mentioned. It's to be taught, from sixth grade on up, as ``the fundamental concept underlying all of biology [that] is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence.''

Read More... <http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/423070.html>

Health Insurance Impasse Hearing set

UTD and M-DCPS representatives will meet before a Special Magistrate on March 14 at a hearing on the 2008 health insurance. Details to Come.

Rudy Crew named superintendent of the year

Source: Miami Herald

Rudy Crew has been named national school superintendent of the year by the American Association of School Administrators.'

Rudy Crew has demonstrated high-quality leadership in several of our nation's largest public school systems,'' said Paul Houston, AASA executive director. ``From developing innovative school improvement programs to strengthening collaboration with the local community, he has worked hard to improve learning outcomes for all children.''

Welcome Christina Mickens

We would like to welcome Ms. Christina Mickens, Media Clerk to the Parkway Elementary School family.

School chief warns of layoffs

Source: Miami Herald:

By KATHLEEN McGRORY

Citing a bleak revenue forecast from lawmakers in Tallahassee, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew said Wednesday he would consider laying off schools employees -- perhaps hundreds -- to balance the district's tight budget.At previous budget workshops, Crew had said he would not cut back the size of the workforce.''We are now at a point where if I need to, I will be laying people off,'' Crew told the School Board Wednesday.

Read More... <http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/418582.html>

School Board Agenda

Please click the title bar to view today's agenda items.

New EESAC Meeting Date

Our next EESAC Meeting Date has changed. The meeting will now be held on Thursday, February 21 at 3:15 p.m. in the media center. Please plan accordingly.

Weather Advisory

The National Weather Service is forecasting the possibility of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The potential exists for isolated tornadoes, along with strong winds of at least 35 miles per hour. Another round of strong to severe thunderstorms could impact the area on Wednesday, February 13, 2007, as a cold front moves across South Florida.

Please prepare accordingly.

Math Bowl

The 2008 Math Bowl will take place from February 19th-February 21st. Use the math qualifying test,grades and teacher judgment to identify the five students that will represent your class. Please complete the attached document given by Ms. Scott and return it to her by Thursday.

Health Care Increase Rejected

Source: Miami Herald

Teachers, classroom aides and other schools employees rejected a deal struck by union leadership and Miami-Dade County Public Schools over increased health insurance costs, union officials said Monday.

The district had agreed to cover all cost increases until June 30. After that, employees who chose the most comprehensive plan would have had to share part of the expense.

But the teachers and other employees voted overwhelmingly against the package, arguing that the extra expense would eat away at their hard-fought raises. Their approval was necessary to set the plan into action.

The district and the union will likely have to hold a hearing before a special magistrate.

EESAC Meeting

There will be an EESAC meeting on Wednesday, February 20 at 2:15 p.m. The issues to discuss will be our initiatives for the second half of the school year.

Student Cell Phone Policy for FCAT

Source: M-DCPS

"Possession of electronic devices may be cause for invalidation" and due to security breaches involving the use of electronic devices that reproduces, transmits, calculates, or records is cause for invalidation.

"Possession" is defined as "within arm's reach," even if the electronic device is not visible. For example, students should not have cell phones in their pockets, clipped to their belts, at their desks, or anywhere they can be easily accessible during testing.

Reading Reminders

Please click the title bar for this week's updates.

Mathematics and Science Update

Please click the title bar for this week's updates.

Report Cards

Report Cards go out today.

Dade scraps plan to close 10 schools

Source: Miami Herald

The Miami-Dade County Public Schools District has scrapped a plan to close 10 underenrolled elementary and middle schools and use them for other academic purposes, Superintendent Rudy Crew said Thursday.

''In some revenue discussions, we found that there are adequate resources to be able to cover the $9.2 million to keep the schools open,'' Crew told the School Board. ``Knowing that it has been as contentious as it's been, we've removed [the proposal from the budget] so the discussion doesn't have to take place.''

Beef yanked off school menus in South Florida

Source: Sun-Sentinel:

School cafeterias in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties pulled meat entrees from lunch menus after the federal government closed the California slaughterhouse that provides meat to public schools throughout the country.

School district officials in all three South Florida counties asked food managers to place the suspect ground beef "on hold" to determine if it came from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Co., which is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Clinical Supervison Training

Parkview Elementary has set up a course exclusively for the Norland Feeder pattern teachers. It’s the Clinical Supervision that teachers need in order to supervise interns. This course is rarely offered so it would be a great idea if our teachers could take advantage of this opportunity. The course will be taught by Janet Johnson at Parkview Elementary School from 2:30-5:30 on Wednesdays. It meets for 4 sessions beginning Feb 13. Teachers will get 30 MPP’s

Superintendent's Annual Meeting, Community Workshops

Superintendent Rudy Crew will hold the first of six meetings and community workshops at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, 1410 N.E. 215 Street, on Monday, February 11, beginning promptly at 6:30 p.m.

Evening Parent/Teacher Conference

The Evening Parent/Teacher Conference scheduled for February 19 has been canceled. We will provide more information if it becomes available.

Faculty Meeting Agenda

Our next faculty meeting has been scheduled for February 6^th in lieu of the February 13^th date. Please make plans to attend. Attached is a copy of the agenda.

UTD Bargaining Unit to vote on 2008 Health Insurance

UTD Bargaining Unit to vote on 2008 Health Insurance
Ratification vote for the 2008 health insurance will be conducted throughout M-DCPS worksites on Tuesday, February 5 or Wednesday, February 6, 2008. Click the title bar above for the health options.