School improvement planned

By Erin Remai
Herald Staff Writer

The Brookfield school district has completed work on a plan to improve proficiency test scores, the graduation rate and technology.

Wednesday, the district advisory panel — made up of teachers, administrators, school board members, business people and parents — presented a draft copy of the district’s continuous improvement plan to the school board. The volunteer advisory panel formed in January to work on the plan.

Every school district in Ohio that does not receive an “effective” rating on its district report card must put together a plan to improve the weak areas identified in the report card. In August 1997, the Ohio Legislature mandated that those report cards be sent home to every parent in the state.

Brookfield scored 15 of a possible 27 points on its report card, earning it the second-highest rating of “continuous improvement.” Out of the 20 school districts in Trumbull County, 17 districts earned this rating, with McDonald the highest at a score of 23. Brookfield’s score ranked the 15th highest out of the 20, with LaBrae, Liberty, Niles, Newton Falls and Warren falling below it.

“The continuous improvement plan is a challenging, data-based, decision-making process focused on student achievement,” said Victoria Giovangnoli, director of school improvement at the Trumbull County Educational Service Center.

Superintendent Joseph S. White expressed his disappointment that only a handful of residents attended the hearing, which was intended to present the plan and gather feedback from the community.

“We were hoping we would fill up the cafeteria,” he said. The plan focuses on five goals: improving math skills, improving reading skills, improving science skills, improving the graduation rate and integrating technology.

Everything in the plan is molded around a mission statement, which was presented by Bill Strimbu, president of Nick Strimbu Inc., who helped the panel develop their mission.

According to the statement, “the mission of Brookfield Local Schools, in partnership with its shareholders, the community, is to provide a quality educational program in a safe environment that will enable students to reach their maximum intellectual, physical and emotional growth.” Timothy Filipovich, Addison Elementary principal, said the responsibility of the panel was to form goals and strategies based on data, which came from surveys, the local report card, the graduation rate and the attendance rate.

Teachers and administrators from elementary, middle school and high school levels presented the plan’s strategies to achieve each of the five goals. Each goal has an implementation schedule, which includes a list of tasks, the people who will carry out the tasks, available resources, needed resources, current funding, needed funding and a timeline for the tasks to be completed. Joanne Sydlowski, school board president, congratulated the panel for their work on the plan. “Now the work really begins,” she said.

The state mandates the plan be adopted by July 1. White also said he appreciated the time the panel and board devoted to the plan.

“I appreciate everything they have done for our students, and I’m very optimistic we are going to end up with positive results,” he said.

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