Tavares, FL April 5, 2015
Happy Easter!
Tomorrow, April 6, at 2pm, the Lake County School Board will meet for a
"special meeting" at the District HQ on HWY 441.
The agenda and Powerpoint attachments are HERE.
The agenda is short, but includes staff presentations on:
1) A review of the Engage LCS program where operations were evaluated by a
Bill Gates grant and funding in some areas were cut back to shift funding to
"priority areas". The Powerpoint is on the Board Docs agenda for the
meeting.
2) A one sided, fluffy Powerpoint on the International Baccalaureate (IB) program (my opinion). It is a copy of a canned pro-IB presentation and except for a scrambled collection of "costs" does not describe the downsides
of the IB program. If they decide to try even a pilot IB program, it is much more expensive with, and will compete with the existing AP programs.
It also is designed in Geneva Switzerland and not designed in the US, and they get huge fees. The programs have no emphasis on sovereign social studies, civics or classes like US history, so it may be only optional.
Finally, it is a United Nations based, one world philosophy. The only reason for doing this is to build resumes of staff. Parents should monitor this, because it will suck funds and attention away from other priorities.
HERE is my overview of the IB program I used for a presentation in February.
Download FR Factsheet on IB Schools - 2015 Feb
Unlike the LCSD staff Powerpoint, I describe both positive and negative aspects of IB, with a recommendation it never be implemented in Lake County, with my reasons.
Online Videos of ALL School District meetings are needed - why is the administration and Board stalling over providing online and streaming videos of ALL meetings?
At the last nightime Board meeting, Caroline VanDyken gave public input
about the lack of videos of Board meetings. Parents who work, the press
and taxpayers are denied the ability to see videos of meetings while other
government agencies have been providing them.
Parents should monitor whether the staff actually makes video tapes of this
meeting and quickly posts the videos on the County AND the School District
website in a standard place. They did one daytime meeting, then stopped it,
and they also botched the availability of the prior meeting video at the
County Admin building.
You might almost think there was a secret plan to remove transparency of
meetings. The Adminstration and the Board just don't seem to care about
transparency.
LCSD is the LARGEST employer in the County, and still can't seem to provide a simple video with sound of meetings that is posted and streamed online.
For two years I have been making and uploading videos of some of their meetings, and why can't they?
If you would like to see online real time and archived videos of ALL daytime and evening Board
meetings, then ask Board members or administrators why they keep dropping the ball. Even the much smaller City of Eustis has them, as well at the County (except offsite meetings).
Vance Jochim
FiscalRangers.com