State of School Address

1. State of School Address Dr. Timothy Mitchell Rapid City Area Schools 11-22-11

2. Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dicken's • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” • I believe in “possibility”-specifically the possibility that we could can create the best of times if we choose • If we are willing to think carefully-be motivated as to what is best for children-have open honest and factual dialogue about the issues we are facing

3. Reality Check Most people believe today that public schools ask for more money to support the status quo: *Many people do not understand the challenges facing public schools *A vocal minority is dominating the conversation, and that conversation is often based upon myths

4. Challenging the Status Quo “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less”

5. 2011-2012 Budget Management “Mind your pennies, nickels and dimes and your dollars will fall in place”

6. The Situation Based upon 2011-2012 Presentation: Reductions in 2 yrs to account for: -8.6 % reduction in State Aid -$97 per student- one time money

7. The Situation 2011-2012 Budget Includes: -3.5 Mill in Fund Balance -2.7 Mill Capital Outlay Flexibility -Budget Reduction 1.98 Mill

8. Control the Conversation What must we have to provide a high quality education for all students of the RCAS?

9. RCAS Mission Building a community of life long learners, one student at a time.

10. RCAS Vision All Rapid City Area School students will achieve to their full potential.

11. RCAS Priorities • Guaranteed, Viable, Relevant Curriculum • Life and Career skills • Technology Literacy (21st century skills) • Staff Effectiveness and Organizational Capacity-Building • Comprehensive System of Assessment • Diverse Opportunities for students to learn and be academically successful

12. 2012-2013 Key-Act responsibly and inspire confidence without compromising authority

13. What is essential!! • Community Support • Community Involvement • Community Trust

14. The Strategy • To become as Effective and Efficient as possible • To become as Innovative and Creative as possible • To guide aconversation to the determine the expectations for public schools-support ways to meet those expectations

15. 2012-2013 The process-So Far- has included: -utilizing every opportunity to explain the situation -a review of current expenditures-Where is the $$ going -reminding people of the mission and priorities

16. Control the Conversation Four resource shifts with great potential: -away from quantity of staff towards quality -from remediation to early identification -from isolated practitioners to teacher teams -from full-time teachers toward alternative, creative, and effective

17. 2012-2013 • I have included: • Building Principals & Budget Authority (direct meetings) • Staff/Public (presentations, videos, e-mails, letters and meetings) • Budget and Finance Committee (Two meetings this month) • School Board

18. Control the Conversation One of the fascinating outcomes of research on school effects is the number of issues in education where achievement evidence is close to zero but the heat is as high as it is as if it would be if the policy were obviously effective.

19. The First Building Block Significant finding: The most successful schools function as a professional learning community: Teachers pursue a clear shared purpose Engage in collaborative work Take collective responsibility for student learning

20. The First Building Block We expect our students to learn, and we work to fulfill our collective responsibility to ensure that this learning takes place for all students

21. Learning is Our Work The best way to improve a school or district is by developing the people within it!!

22. Instructional Calendar Proposal A bi-monthly early release time district-wide to enhance student learning by allowing teachers time to plan as teams, create common formative assessments and learning targets, do data charts to monitor student progress, create enrichment lessons and move forward any future district initiatives

23. Instructional Calendar Proposal • Reduction of Additional Pay and Temporary Staffing • Additional Time to implement district priorities • Transportation Savings • Less Substitutes and Higher Quality Contact Time • All staff could be involved with implementation • Improves the learning of all students • Builds collective capacity of the staff

24. 2012-2013 What is NEW? Central High School Phase I East Middle School New Attendance Boundaries (MS/HS) Consolidation of Alternative Programs (Fall 2013) All Day Everyday Kindergarten Instructional Calendar (Proposed)

25. What does the future hold? Will student number continue to increase? Will current cash balances remain stable? Compensation/Benefits/Negotiations? What will happen in the Legislative Session? What will happen at the Federal level? Will the efforts of SD Moving Forward be successful (Sales Tax Initiative)?

26. The Work Continues • I will continue to review ideas that come forward • Put together a Budget Reduction Plan to discuss with School Board and Public • Attrition/Resignations/Retirements • Budget Modifications-Under spending • If any items are removed from theplan others will need to be brought forward

27. Next Steps Finalize the Administrative Recommendation Presentation to Budget and Finance Committee • Presentation to School Board • Presentation to Citizens Finance Committee (Dec 5) • Presentation to Staff and Public • Tuesday January 10, 2012-West Middle School • Monday January 23, 2012-South Middle School • Monday January 30, 2012-Dakota Middle School • Tuesday February 7, 2012-North Middle School • Monday February 27, 2012-Southwest Middle School

28. Lincoln on Leadership “ When the occasion is piled high with difficulty, rise with it. Think anew and act anew”