Leadership Matters - April 2013

LeRoy ‘State of the Schools’ story ——————————————————

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more than 40 miles to Le Roy to scout out the dinner. “I thought it was an excellent way to collaborate in an organized manner and share a consistent message and vision,” said Kilgore a few days later. “We have tried things like a ‘community café’ event where people could come in and ask questions, but we were not getting the turnout we had hoped. With the dinner and the RSVP there seems to be a better hook and maybe people are more committed to show up.”

“ You don’t view your child as a test score and neither do we...Our goal is that when your child walks across the stage with their diploma they are ready to enter into a competitive world with a 21st-century education.”

— Superintendent Gary Tipsord, LeRoy Community District 2, speaking to community members at the ‘State of the Schools’ dinner.

Kilgore said that he was impressed enough that he plans to get a group together to craft something similar that would work in Pontiac -- presumably including a good meal. Speaking of the good food, the steaks, chops and chicken breasts were grilled by firefighters from the Le Roy Community Fire Protection District (who had to grill and run when they received an emergency call to respond to a car accident). Student Council members were the servers. While dessert was being served, Tipsord gave a 30-minute overview broken down by four categories: student achievement, facilities, finances and community relations. He shared some good academic news: LeRoy Junior High has received the

“You don’t view your child as a test score and neither do we,” he said. “At work today, were any of you given four options and asked to choose the best one? (No one raised their hand.) Our goal is that when your child walks across the stage with their diploma they are ready to enter into a competitive world with a 21 st -century education.” He added that the school district is working with area businesses, including a partnership with State Farm, to make sure the school curriculum is aligned to help students be successful not only in college, but also in the business world. Tipsord also talked about a three-year, $3.85 million plan to renovate facilities in a way that matches the district’s educational objectives, including school security upgrades like modernized single access points mixed with common-sense protocols. He described the district’s financial approach as one of “managed deficit spending,” defined as using some of the district’s financial reserves for capital projects that reinvest in the schools’ infrastructure, but stopping short of endangering the fiscal future of the district. “We know where the responsible line is and we will not exceed that point when it comes to using our reserves,” he promised. In the area of community involvement, Tipsord said that the district has expanded the use of social media, but that he and the board wanted to maintain face-to- face communication as the top priority. “The tougher things get financially, the more we need to inform you,” he said, adding that all information would be available on the district’s website as well as limited use of Twitter and Facebook that he labeled “uni-directional.” “We are going to push information to you, but we are deleting all comments that are posted. So far, all the comments have been positive, but if we only

“We may have spent $500 tops, but you can’t

state’s Academic Excellence Award three years running, and the district met the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards that are virtually unattainable for most school districts under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program.

put a price tag on the communication it generates with our community .” — Board member John Morrell, Jr.

Tipsord then told about ISAT test score standards being raised by the state for third- through eighth- graders, the net result being that as many as 30 percent of students statewide who met the standards last year would not meet this year’s standards with those same scores. He used an analogy about a high jumper who actually improves but cannot clear a bar that has been raised even higher.

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