The Amador County Unified School District is gearing up for the 2008-09 school year.  A special board workshop Tuesday marked the first official day for new Superintendent Richard “Dick” Glock.  At the meeting, board members discussed their vision and goals for the upcoming year, making several changes to the existing Vision and Goals poster. In relation to the board’s vision, Glock quoted the book Results Now, How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning, which talks about the huge difference between well-known essential practices and the reality of most classrooms. The book lectures about consistent curriculum, authentic literacy education, and professional learning communities for teachers.  Taking from the book, Glock said, “simple plans work best – those with a direct focus on straightforward actions and opportunities.” He also recommended that teachers “analyze their achievement data, set goals, and then meet at least twice a month – for 45 minutes.” Glock brings a wealth of experience from his previous superintendent positions, including eleven years with the Temecula Valley Unified School District in Southern California, as well Superintendent of Schools in Nebraska.

The board also discussed streamlining the suspension and expulsion policies and looked at the possibility of hiring four retired administrators to sit on the Expulsion Hearing Panel. Another item the board felt needed streamlining was Dress Code Policy enforcement.  Collectively, the board recognized the need to address and enforce dress code policy violations at the very beginning of the school year, as well as notifying parents of the policy.  The board also touched on homework policies, as well as the proper procedure for staying in touch with parents or guardians regarding missing assignments and failing grades.  And finally, the board requested a copy of the board’s cell phone policy, which regulates student use of cell phones at school and outlines the proper procedure to follow when phones are confiscated.

The Amador County Unified School District began their Wednesday evening meeting with a Safety Award presented by Diane Rappaport, the Executive Director of the Tuolumne JPA. The award honors Amador High School as the “Most Improved” out of 4 surrounding counties. According to Rappaport, Amador was chosen because of the swift and impressive clean up of its shop and science labs after multiple waste issues were established. The award has some money attached to it, with 2 checks totaling 15-hundred dollars also presented to the board to be used for future safety needs. Also on the agenda was the Retirement Incentive Pay Conversion Plan, which was pulled from the previous meetings agenda because of ongoing legal discussions. The board approved the plan 6-1 with Board member Porray dissenting.

Two tentative agreements were also on the agenda, including one with the California School Employees Association, and one with the Amador County Teachers Association. The first agreement with the California School Employees Association, or CSEA, involved housekeeping, including such language changes as compensatory time for full time employees and a year long trial run for seniority preferences when it comes to long term absences. The seniority wheel is a common practice in other districts and would allow a part time employee to acquire a full time employee’s work load if said employee were on a long term absence of more than 20 days. Board members questioned whether or not this agreement was taking away flexibility from the district by only allowing employees to step up, as opposed to hiring a sub. But according to staff the agreement is basically “to clean up our practices, and put some consistency in the system.” The agreement was approved 6-1. The tentative agreement with the Amador County Teachers Association was approved 5-2.