SCC Agenda March 12th , 2025
Members: Dale Stephen (excused), Maria Fuskandrakis, Sean Zimmerman-wall, Dan Ashbridge, Chris Mendez (excused), Mike Derrocott, Matt Koster, Alison Stroud (Excused/left early).
Join Zoom: https://canyonsdistrict-org.zoom.us/j/84039980341
-3:45pm Motion to begin meeting: A motion was made to begin at 3:51pm, seconded and approved.
-Approve Previous Minutes: SCC reviewed February’s Minutes. A motion was made to approve, seconded and approved.
-Goal Review:
-Climate Goal: Decrease the percentage of students chronically absent to 20% by May 2026.
Presentation of the proposal for climate goal with East Sandy’s Building Leadership Team’s (BLT) input. The biggest concern for teachers and the school is students feeling connected and valued as well as attendance. The connection was made between students not attending school and how that reflects the priorities of the community. There was also discussion on the difficulty in keeping students up academically when there is 30% chronic absenteeism. The percentage increases as the year progresses, but East Sandy would like to limit absences to be less than ten per year.
A question came up on the percentage of our students who are MLs and attendance after recent federal decisions. East Sandy experienced a large proportion of our Multi-Langauge Learners (MLs) miss school. With East Sandy’s efforts of communication and education, we have seen a rebound in attendance. It was also noted that this is over ⅕ the school’s population and continues to grow and is an area of focus for academic success.
Ms. Stroud asked the question on what support the district is providing to help this population. Currently the State and Federal Programs department is funding a 28 hour a week aid to work with MLs on English language development. The district has also appointed key staff for onboarding new students and provided them with training and support.
The SCC agreed that although there are multiple languages spoken at East Sandy, Spanish is the largest percentage and the school needs more support from adults who speak it.
-Action Steps for Land Trust
-Resource Allocation Draft
Principal Ashbridge presented a draft of the resource allocation between TSSA and Landtrust emphasizing the three areas of focus of:
- Additional specialized instruction with four instructional aids (2 math/ 2 Reading).
- Continued focus on school climate/Social Worker with additional resources allocated to language supports.
- Introduction of supplies and incentives for a school wide reading program.
There was a discussion regarding utilizing the “Baggy Book” practice school wide. The pros for some have been successful and it would provide a means for ensuring students were given an independent reading throughout the year. Feedback from East Sandy’s BLT is that it is not effective or manageable for them to implement. They agreed that it should go through our library system and be an incentive program where students,classes, or grades are given themes and a means of tracking their reading progress then rewarded multiple times throughout the year.
A question came up on the amount that can be allocated to incentives from LandTrust. Principal Ashbridge will look into the exact number and requirements for that line item and bring it back the at next SCC meeting.
A motion was made to approve the expenditures, seconded and unanimously approved.
-Additional Items: Proposal to move April’s SCC to April 2nd in which Principal Ashbridge will present the final plan and action steps for approval. SCC agreed.
– Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn at 5:30pm, seconded and approved.
