Manual’s Site Based Decision Making (SBDM) Council held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 18. The council, led by Principal Dr. Michael Newman discussed the school’s recent performance, the return of busing for Free and Reduced Lunch students and the possible adoption of a college and career prep technology.
With CERT, freshman reading proficiency increased by 2.8% and sophomore math proficiency increased by 13%. Juniors exhibited growth in both reading and math. Chronically absent students have decreased by 1.3%. However, the amount of referrals given out has grown because of the Evolv system.
“[The tardies are] the heaviest source of discipline and where our numbers are going up from,” Newman said. Tardies are primarily given to students arriving at school in the morning, not when students are transferring between classes.
Regarding the recent busing return, Newman described it as a success but hopes to decrease the time it takes for students to get on the bus even further, from eight or nine minutes down to five.
The council talked about the possibility of Manual adopting a new college and career prep technology for use by the counselors when connecting with students. They discussed two options: Naviance and Scoir.
Naviance allows students to create a personalized plan for their future that aligns with their interests and skills. According to their website, students have access to tools such as college search, career exploration, self-discovery assessments, and work-based learning opportunities.
Scoir is a similar platform, with 3 main goals: simplifying college admissions, expanding collegiate access, and improving student outcomes.
If implemented, the services would be an opt-in feature with the cost added to class fees for individual students. The council approved the possibility of implementing the service pending its passing of JCPS’s Racial Equity Analysis Protocol.
Finally, the council approved the Key Club’s fees and approved the annual review of the school schedule as well as the dress code policy. The next meeting is scheduled for April 22, in the first floor conference room at 3 p.m.
