On Wednesday, February 3 rd , after weeks of both local and national controversy, the School Board finally heard the High School's presentation on behalf of the BHS Action Plan - officially titled, " Teacher Team Leaders and Principal's Action Plan to Implement School Board Decisions Submitted for approval from the SGC to forward as an information item to the School Board ". In front of a standing room only audience, the Board heard from about fifteen students, parents, teachers and community members who addressed the proposed elimination of Berkeley High's before and after school science labs, followed by an hour-long presentation by Principal Jim Slemp, BHS staff, parents and students, before the Board finished with an hour of discussion, questions and comments on the proposals. All three sections of the evening can now be viewed online at Vimeo.com (see below for details).

The BHS Action Plan & Superintendent's Science Lab Proposals:  The Superintendent and School Board addressed two proposals at the February 3 rd meeting - 1) Principal Slemp's four part Action Plan, and 2) Superintendent Huyett's compromise Science Lab Proposal, which was worked out in cooperation with six Berkeley High science teachers.

Action Plan: Submitted for the Board's consideration was the original version of the Action Plan which was presented to the BHS School Governance Council (SGC) on December 3, 2009. The Action Plan proposes: 1) making slight changes to the schedule to provide each Small Learning Community (SLC) the flexibility to implement block scheduling should they so choose; 2) increased autonomy for each SLC; 3) the implementation of advisories to be left up to each SLC; and 4) the creation of "equity grants" by removing the current six Full Time Employee (FTE) positions currently used for before and after-school science labs (5 FTEs) and music (1 FTE). [The Action Plan item can be found near the end of the Board Packet on the BUSD website at http://www.berkeley.net/ uploads/school_board/ 2010spring/02-03-10_packet.pdf .] The Action Plan was accompanied by an hour-long presentation in which Principal Slemp, together with staff, parents and students from each of Berkeley High's seven (including the upcoming Green Academy) Small Learning Communities (SLCs), outlined how each of the SLCs were structured, with a few of the small schools giving rough examples of how the "equity grants" might be used at their schools.

Superintendent's Science Lab Proposal: The Board was also presented with the Superintendent's Science Lab Proposal.  [A copy of the Superintendent's Science Lab Proposal can be found at http://www.berkeley.net/ uploads/BUSD%20Monthly% 20Newsletter/BUSD_A+_News_Feb_ 2010.pdf . We encourage everybody to read it.]  Superintendent Huyett's proposal comes as a result of multiple meetings over the past month with Berkeley High's science teachers to come to a mutual understanding of what the needs of the science program are, and what is needed in terms of both before and after school labs and the enhancement funds to support them. The AP and IB Biology, Chemistry and Physics will continue to have two before or after school labs per week. AP/IB Environmental Science is currently not part of the recommendation for additional time, but is still under review while the District determines what is needed to meet the requirements for the College Board Standards. There will also be "an enhanced science option in College Prep Biology, Chemistry and Physics for any student who requests it. This would be a credited lab course to be held once a week before or after school. Approximately two FTEs would be needed to implement the Superintendent's recommendation. Before the meeting, Superintendent Huyett informed the PTSA that Principal Slemp has also given his support for the compromise proposal on science labs.

School Board Response: The discussion the School Board directors and Superintendent had following the presentation lasted about an hour. The discussion was divided almost evenly into two separate parts: 1) the three parts of the BHS Action Plan that dealt with the bell schedule, Small Learning Community autonomy, and advisories, and 2) the use of Berkeley High's enhancement funds and their impact on before and after school science labs.

• Bell Schedule - A few Board members expressed concern that moving lunch back a period may make for some very hungry students by fourth period. Principal Slemp explained that the extended snack period would provide a good opportunity to feed students who came to school without having breakfast, and that food carts would be set up in different locations around the school to support that effort.
  
  
• Advisories - The Superintendent and Board expressed concern about the lack of consistency being expressed by the different SLCs in their Board presentations as to the organization and frequency of advisories. Superintendent Huyett stated that while he understood that there would be differences between SLCs, it sounded like they (the Board) were being told there may not be standards, it may not be consistent, it may go away. He pointed out that he heard one SLC mention quarterly advisories and another, weekly ones - and that that was a big difference. He made it clear that he and the Board would need to see a commitment to advisories, and that they expected to see a fully developed advisory curriculum in the spring.
  
  
• Enhancement Funds/Science Labs/Equity Grants - Board President Karen Hemphill started the discussion by that stating that she really wanted to separate how science labs were conducted from the issue of equity grants. The fact that the science issue "became intertwined with equity grants, I think, was very unfortunate. Extremely unfortunate. Because the whole tenor of the conversation became focused on something that was a secondary issue", as opposed to focusing on "how are we teaching our core academic classes and are we teaching them in the way that is best for all students. And I think if we had started with how we are conducting science - is it best practice, is it working, and is it fair? - there may have, in fact, been different answers." She also added that more data was needed and that we should be encouraging more students of color to take these classes. She also stated that she was surprised to learn that a college required class has a required before or after school component.
  

Director Nancy Riddle stated that she wasn't sure the few examples of equity grants that were in the presentation would qualify for enhancement funds. She also spoke of her concern for the timeline, and that these decisions had impacts for staffing at the high school and may not be able to be made in time for the fall. She also wanted the community to be aware that, due to the horrific budget cuts coming from the state, "the science discussions were good to have, because we were going to get there anyway."

Superintendent Huyett agreed with regard to what qualifies for enhancement funds, and mentioned that they would be asking the BSEP P&O Committee for a very well defined definition to work with as he worked with the high school to examine how the FTEs may best be used.

Among her remarks, Director Shirley Issel commented on the divisiveness of the whole process, stating that "the thing that is bothering me terribly is how the high school has become polarized. How parents have become polarized. How conversations and assumptions about one another are getting kind of ugly and unflattering. And it disturbs me that this notion of equity grants again pits one small school against the next, competing for scarce resources. How can that have a good ending?" She concluded by stating that she can not bear to see the community devolve into polarized sections, and that everyone can succeed - that we can address the needs of low, middle and high achieving students. She also echoed Director Hemphill's concerns for core classes having labs that may not be accessible to all students.

Director Beatriz Leyva-Cutler echoed Director Issel's concerns about polarization. She went on to add that a different process would have lead to a different discussion and a more open discussion. She also supported the notion that we have the ability to address the needs of all students. She then thanked everyone for all their letters and input, and assured the community that every single Board member read every single letter and email - links, footnotes, attachments included - and that it was very much appreciated by the Board. The Superintendent added how wonderful it is to be in a community where everyone is so passionate about education.

Director Hemphill concluded the discussion by saying that "what we may all learn here is that we have a lot of passionate administrators and staff that really want to address student achievement, particularly the equity gap. But we need to be very deliberate in how we hold these discussions, and make sure that we are as clear as we can be, that we are as open and transparent as we can be -- and that we sit down and have honest conversations. And some of you . . . have not been part of making sure that it's been the best information, the most accurate information, and the most constructive dialogue around this issue. . . . I felt that some of the blogs and emails that I have seen were certainly not what I would call designed to further the conversation around student achievement in a constructive way. And that doesn't benefit any of our children."

The Current Process For Designating BSEP Enhancement Funds:  The Superintendent also clarified the process regarding the issue of the science labs - something that has been surrounded by confusion from the initial presentation of the Action Plan in early December. The Action Plan was presented to the Board as an "Information Item" - there was no vote to be made at the meeting.  The issue of the science labs, at this point, is actually a recommendation by the Principal to the Superintendent. After hearing all the discussions and getting all the necessary input, the Superintendent will then make a recommendation to the District's BSEP Planning & Oversight (P&O) Committee - probably by late February or early March. The P&O Committee will then make a recommendation about the use of Berkeley High's enhancement funds (science lab money) to the School Board as part of their overall recommendation for how BSEP funds should be used District-wide -- somewhere in April or May. At that point, the School Board will vote to approve or not approve the P&O's recommendation for how to use Berkeley High's BSEP enhancement funds.

The Superintendent also explained that, consequently, he will be working closely with Berkeley High to determine how best to use any available enhancement funds (beyond the two FTEs he's already going to be recommending), as he will need to make a recommendation to the BSEP P&O Committee within the next month or so.

Viewing The School Board Meeting On-line: Thanks to Mark Coplan, the BUSD's Public Information Officer, you can now view School Board meetings online at Vimeo.com. The February 3 rd meeting has been broken down into three segments, each of which can be viewed separately for easy viewing. The first segment covers Public Comment and can be viewed at http://www.vimeo.com/9243069 .  The second segment covers the BHS Presentation to the Board and can be viewed at http://www.vimeo.com/9243695 .  The third segment covers the Board discussion of the proposals and can be viewed at http://www.vimeo.com/9244212 .

The BHS Action Plan and the Superintendent's Science Lab Proposals represent changes that could have a significant impact on Berkeley High's academic program, and we highly recommend that all parents view the video of the School Board meeting to become as informed as possible about these two proposals as they move forward.

Mark van Krieken
BHS PTSA