The Hollister School District has come up with a set of
five-year goals
– ranging from academic standards to student safety – which were
passed by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
Hollister – The Hollister School District has come up with a set of five-year goals – ranging from academic standards to student safety – which were passed by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
The list of seven goals were compiled by staff, teachers, board members and people from the community during the 2006-07 school year. The district’s administrators are also coming up with action plans to go with each specific goal, Superintendent Ron Crates said.
The board approved the goals by a vote of 3-1, with Trustee Bea Gonzales-Ramirez dissenting.
The vote came after Hollister teachers’ union President Ronna Gilani argued that one of the goals – redesignating English language learners after three years – is unrealistic. She said most research shows it takes at least five to seven years for students to achieve fluency in English.
“It creates yet another situation where students at Hollister School District can be labeled as failures,” Gilani said.
Crates said it was important for the district to come up with a clear list of five-year plans. He said so far the response has been positive.
“We need these concrete goals. Sometimes they become too abstract and you don’t know what to do with them,” Crates said. “The feedback was that it’s really nice to have a specific direction.”
The goals are as follows:
n Students performance will meet No Child Left Behind and state accountability requirements.
n The district budget will meet AB 1200 criteria requiring that the district can project a balanced budget over three years.
n Schools will be safe and secure community centers where parents and adults are respectful and tolerant.
n English Language Learners will be redesignated as English proficient after three years of instruction in the Hollister School District.
n Educational programs of choice will be offered to students and parents.
n District class-size average in grades K-3 will not exceed 20 students and in grades 4-8 will be 30 students.
n Special education student population will not exceed 10 percent
