Incline Schools Reflective Task Force Committee

Minutes:
March 26, 2009 @ 10:00am @ The Parasol Foundation
(Next door to Incline Middle School)

Those present:
Gil Folk, Rick Borba, Rick Harris, Sharon Kennedy, Valerie Jackson,  John Clark, Kathleen Watty,  Jeni Cross, Scott Vaughan, Mary Blount, Renee Rintala, Lionel Pober, Joan Skelly, Debbie Hansen, Bill Horn, Gary Lee, Harry Haaser,  Jim Clark, Mia Harbaugh, Amie Serrano, Dan Carne,  Barbara McLaury, Fatima Rivas, and Several community members.

Sharon Kennedy opened the meeting at 10:00 am.  The Minutes from 3/12 were brought up for approval.  Jim Clark moved to approve the Minutes and Barbara McLaury 2nd it.  All were in favor.  3/12/2009 Minutes passed.   Sharon then introduced Debbie Hansen, Chairperson for the ‘Marketing' sub-committee.

10 a.m. April 9 at the D.W Reynolds Community Non-profit Center

•    Sign-in and Approval of Minutes of 3-26-09
(Sharon Kennedy & Valerie Jackson)

•    7  - 12 Campus & School Empowerment
(Sue Shannon – Principal, George Whittell High School)

•    International Baccalaureate (IB) Presentation
(Jeni Cross – Chairperson, Program & Curriculum Subcommittee)

•    Timeline, Subcommittee Findings & Final Report to the Superintendent 
(Sharon Kennedy)

•     Discussion
(Committee Members)

•     Open Forum
(Public)

With an underlying goal to draw more students to Incline Village public schools, the Incline Schools Reflective Task Force Thursday discussed academic options that would attract students, as well as how best to market the community’s schools.

The 21-member task force was created by the Washoe County School District to make recommendations to Superintendent Paul Dugan considering that budget cuts are imminent and enrollment is declining.

However, much of the discussion has been centered on ways to bring new students into the community which would counteract declining enrollment and bring more per pupil money into the schools.

“Look at education around the lake, everyone is being reactive. What are we going to do that is proactive,” said Incline High School Spanish teacher Jeni Cross.

In the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, proposals are currently being considered to move North Tahoe Middle School students to Truckee’s Alder Creek Middle School in order to save money. There is discussion about reconfiguring the elementary schools as well. Last August, Whittell High School became a 7th through 12th grade school.

Thursday’s meeting at the D.W. Reynolds Community Non-profit Center consisted of reports from four subcommittees.

Debbie Hansen began with the marketing committee report, saying that Incline Village schools need a better Internet presence. In real estate, 80 percent of potential homebuyers will first search for a home on the Internet. If people searched the Internet for Incline schools, they would find a poor presentation on the three public school web sites.
“I think we can embellish those sites,” Hansen said.
Web presence is a “huge animal,” and it needs to be addressed, she said.

“I think we do need to market our schools. I think the websites are extremely important. We’re way behind in technology, especially for a community like Incline,” said task force member Joan Skelly.

The marketing committee also suggested that each school have a designated person to “sell” the school to families who inquire there, Hansen said.
“I think we sell the schools pretty well,” said Incline Middle School counselor Mary Blount.

Another idea is the create a brochure for the schools to distribute at real estate offices, chamber of commerce and other locations.

An International Baccalaureate program is one idea that could draw students to the Incline Village area, according to Jeni Cross, the chair of the Incline Schools Reflective Task Force’s Programming and Curriculum subcommittee.

The pros and cons of the program were discussed Thursday during the task force meeting, and more information is going to be presented at the April 8 task force meeting.

There are only 13 areas in the United States that have a comprehensive IB program, which begins with a pre-kindergarten and ends with high school seniors earning an IB diploma or IB certificates in specialized areas of study.

“It is highly marketable,” said Cross.