District Administration - July 2010 - (Page 12)

Br iefings NewsUpdate ACLU Appeals Single-Sex Classroom Decision in Louisiana roughly 540 public schools iN ThE united states offer single-sex classrooms. Vermilion parish (la.) public school District wants to add to that number—but it won’t happen without a fight from the American civil liberties union. last May, the Aclu and the Aclu of louisiana, representing a Vermilion parish parent, appealed a case against the school board for instituting genderseparate classes at a middle school after a district court allowed a modified version of the program to continue in the school. The school district maintains that the classrooms are voluntary and have prompted positive feedback from most parents and staff, while the Aclu believes the program violates Title iX and the Equal protection clause. The program was piloted at rene A. rost Middle school, which is comprised of about 420 students in grades 5-8 and located 150 miles west of New orleans, during the 2008-2009 school year as a test by the principal, who was pursuing his doctorate at the time. After the principal reported positive findings to the school board, the program continued in the middle school into the 2009-2010 school year with four single-sex classrooms in each grade for five core subjects. The original lawsuit was filed in september 2009 after a parent’s two children had been placed in single-sex classrooms against their wishes. The judge ruled a revised version of the program could continue, and the district reduced the number of singlesex classes to two—one boys’ class and one girls’ class per grade—and made the classes opt-in by parents only. “The faculty had seen such an improvement in behavior and attitude of kids,” according to calvin Woodruff, legal counsel for Vermilion parish public schools. “The program is entirely voluntary. There is no difference in course materials in each class, and if no child was elected in, all classes would be coed.” lenora lapidus, director of the Women’s rights project at Aclu, says the school’s data supporting the program was flawed and that, to date, there is no credible data to support the claim that single-sex classes increase student achievement. “it’s a regression,” says lapidus. “These decisions are based on outdated gender stereotypes. it’s saying that boys and girls are so different that they must be taught in separate classes.” A similar case is currently pending between breckinridge (Ky.) county Middle school and the Aclu and the Aclu of Kentucky. both Vermilion parish public schools and the Aclu have agreed to an expedited appeal and hope to receive a decision by early fall. District Tackles Text-Messaging Policies text messaging WHiLe DRiVing in Lee County (Fla.) Public schools is prohibited. it is the first district in Florida— and possibly the nation—to keep its policies caught up with the technology. in march 2010, the Lee County Board of education amended the district vehicle policy to prohibit employees from text messaging while driving a district vehicle or while driving a personally-owned vehicle on district business. The district has 12,000 employees and a fleet of over 650 school buses. text messaging, as defined by the district, is any form of entering data into a handheld electronic device. The national safety Council estimated in January that at least 1.6 million crashes nationwide 12 July/August 2010 are caused each year by drivers using cell phones and texting. “We wanted to enhance our policies and bring them into the 21st century,” says Joseph Donzelli, the director of communications for Lee County Public schools. “We had already been telling our employees not to be distracted while driving, but this puts it in black and white. it has some teeth and leaves no room for ambiguity.” Donzelli recognizes that enforcing this policy will primarily rely on observations from residents and other district personnel. He emphasizes, however, that this is not meant to be a “gotcha” policy to get employees in trouble, but rather a means of putting the district leaders’ expectations into writing. When discussions about this began last January, Lee County officials began investigating what other districts and government agencies had in place for best-driving practices among employees. after finding no other policy to follow, Lee County created its own and hopes to serve as a model for other districts across Florida and the nation. District Administration Lee County (Fla.) Public Schools

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2010

District Administration - July 2010
Contents
Advertiser Index
Letters
From the Editor
News Update
Sustainability Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
The Golden State Loses Its Luster
Seeking Justice in San Francisco
The Push for Public Preschool
Gearing up for the New Assessment
Books
Products
Online Edge
Supervisor’s Insights
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Tech Disruptions
Professional Opinion
Professional Opinion

District Administration - July 2010

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