Schools
Notes In A Nutshell: Orange Board of Ed
Tim James' Last Hurrah, Found Money Funds Tech Purchases and Transforming Education. Monthly Board of Education meeting was held at Race Brook School
Orange Schools bid a fond farewell to the board of education last night as his career comes to an end later this month. He called his seven and one-half years in Orange a wonderful experience and thanked the board for its support. The farewells came at the end of a record-short meeting, held at and lasting less than 50 minutes.
James' last request, a suggestion for how to spend a $40,000 that was uncovered in an annual audit was approved by the full board. The moneys will cover the cost of SMART Boards for all classrooms at , a laptop computer for Race Brook Principal Michael Grey and tablet PCs for the principals at each school.
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"It will be invaluable for them to have that technology at their fingertips," James said. A portion of the funds will also go toward a student progress monitoring system.
Education transformation
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James also described an initiative by the Connecticut Association of Public Schools Superintendents through which public education may undergo a transformation.
"The governor is raising the bar on public education. It's about personal academic growth plans and acknowledging that education has to change from the way of 150 years ago," James explained. The proposal, called NextEd, revolves everything around the “learner” to ensure Connecticut’s children receive the best possible education (read more at www.nexted.org).
Changes to School Year are Possible
Prior to last night's meeting, James met with administrators, principals, teachers and PTA leaders to get a sense of opinion regarding the school year calendar. As a result of the meeting, James will draft two calendars.
On one, school will start after , students will attend school on Columbus Day and Veteran's Day, February break may be shortened, but April break will remain intact.
The second calendar will show school starting on August 29, schools will be closed and and both week-long breaks in February and April would remain intact. The superindent will present both options to superintendents from Woodbridge and Bethany at a meeting on December 21.
