BERLIN — With students returning to classrooms next week, Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) spent much of this week working to bring new and returning educators up to speed on policy and other changes for the year ahead.
The Board of Education held a series of open meetings Wednesday across the county to talk to teachers about changes to student discipline, digital conversion, evaluations and more.
“Last year our theme was one of vision, setting our strategic goals for purposeful change toward becoming a world-class citizen,” said Tom Zimmer, principal of Stephen Decatur High School and host of the northern county’s open meeting. “This year marks a time of re-tooling, equipping our teachers and students for the more personalized teaching and learning in order to become leaders of innovation with excellence.”
The county is taking some new approaches to education this year, most of which are continuations or evolutions of what has already been put in place through the recent adoption of the Common Core Curriculum. There are new state and federal standards to live up to and WCPS will make those marks while retaining local autonomy, according to Lou Taylor, chief operating officer.
This applies to new changes that are being made to the student discipline policy that seek to eliminate many past “zero-tolerance” practices and encourage finding alternative punishments that still keep kids in school whenever possible.
“Just as we don’t teach with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mentality, it doesn’t really make sense to discipline this way either,” said Taylor.
Taylor, former Stephen Decatur High School principal, added that all county schools will remain “safe and orderly places for teaching and learning” and seeking alternative ways to address behavioral problems does not mean that WCPS will tolerate violence or other harm in schools.
Another change to the county for next year will be the continued digital conversion of schools. The idea is to keep introducing technology and smart devices to students to better prepare them for the future.
“As our digital conversion advances, it is our plan for every ninth grader to be equipped with a digital device beginning next year, a device that they will be able to bring home,” said Dr. John Quinn, chief academic officer. “This is a long-term plan that we hope to continue and expand.”
Eventually, schools would like to have digital devices for not only high school students but also for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Unlike with older students, younger students would not be taking their devices home but would check them out and back in during the day.
Quinn also briefed teachers on the way their evaluations will work. Like last year, evaluations will be based 60 percent on professional practice and 40 percent on student growth. A new pilot program will be launched for a small pool of teachers at each school who will collaborate with administration on the future of evaluations.
Worcester County Teachers Association (WCTA) Vice President Teresa Denning updated educators on salary negotiations made last year and the goals for the next year. Some salary increases were realized in 2014 though Denning admitted that WCTA was “disappointed that our adequate budget was not provided by the county to meet all of the terms of our negotiations.”
Salaries are tied closely to the budget that the County Commission approves every year for WCPS, and Denning encouraged teachers to vote for the candidates in the fall that they believe support education best. Denning hopes that salaries will see continued increases that she believes are necessary to make Worcester County competitive with other districts on the Eastern Shore and across the state.
There are a lot of new things on the horizon that will likely be a challenge for both green and veteran teachers. WCPS added 47 new educators this year, and Dr. Jerry Wilson, superintendent of schools, told them and their seasoned colleagues that he believes as public educators they are following the “greatest calling that we have in our society.”
“A vision can only take hold when people breathe life into it and sustain it,” he told the room. “I am proud of you and I have confidence in you.”
All of the policies addressed are important ones for teachers to understand, according to Wilson. Many are connected to Worcester’s adoption of the national Common Core Curriculum. Recent polls have shown that the curriculum still has some opposition across the country, and Wilson admitted that pushback extends to WCPS.
“One of the things that we’ve notated as we’ve talked about this is that we think in Worcester County, undoubtedly, there’s some of that sentiment,” he said.
But Wilson is confident that a lot of the static is due to parents’ and community members’ misconceptions about Common Core. WCPS is eager to lay doubts to rest and discuss all other concerns, he promised, and will work this year to increase awareness and communication with interested residents.