Well, Autumn has officially arrived. The season of pumpkin spice lattes, elaborate Halloween decorations, and tryptophan induced naps is here- now if only someone could let the weather know...
LAPCS would like to thank all those who attended our 6th Annual LAPCS Conference. Based on the surveys and feedback, we think it's fair to declare the event a success. We were excited and proud to bring you an esteemed keynote speaker, as well as a whole host of Louisiana and national session leaders. We're already looking forward to next year's conference and making it even bigger and better for you. If you have suggestions or additional feedback on how we can better serve you via the annual conference, please contact out Special Projects Manager, Nikki Chatelain, at [email protected].
A few other things of note this month:
Universal Meal Programs
Due to a recent change to the Louisiana Department of Education's financial policies, your school is now able to provide free meals to all students under the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs through Provision 2 and the Community Eligibility Option without losing your ability to count students eligible for at-risk funding. Programs such as Provision 2 and the Community Eligibility Option allow schools to provide free meals to all their students while simplifying their paperwork, streamlining meal service, decreasing school food service costs and, most importantly, promoting good nutrition and helping student performance. To help determine if taking advantage of these federal meal programs is right for your school and its students, visit www.feedmoreforless.com. You can also request a hard copy of "Feeding More for Less: Understanding Universal Meal Programs for Your School" from Louisiana Appleseed.
Gradual Transition to PARCC
The LDE recently held a meeting to go through their proposals for PARCC implementation for elementary and middle schools (they're still thinking through how to best do this for high schools). You can review their full set of recommendations
here. Decisions regarding these proposals will be made at the December BESE meeting.
Compass Final Report
Want to see how your school or district fared on implementing Compass? You can find the Compass Final Report and LEA reports
here.
Anti-Tobacco Program for Students
The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control seeks to protect Louisiana youth by eliminating instances where dealers of alcohol and tobacco products may make these products available to minors. They also have a strong desire to deter minors from even wanting to purchase or consume alcohol and tobacco. Stephanie Chavis is with the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and has provided the full presentation they give to middle and high school students.* Presentations for younger children include a live demonstration and activities that come from their Smoking Stinks workbook.
If you're interested in having Ms. Chavis present at your school, please contact her at (225) 925-6645 or via email at [email protected].
* Please be advised that High School presentation is given as a PowerPoint interactive presentation, so the slides that appear to be overcrowded simply contain information all the information that would not show all at once in an actual presentation.
Common Core
As many of you have probably noticed, Common Core has been in the news quite a bit recently. Be on the lookout for a message from LAPCS and our partners regarding our position and why we support higher, more rigorous standards for our state's students. In the meanwhile, we recommend you check out this opinion piece by Clancy DuBos on the subject.
Legislative Resolution Study Groups - Updated
The 2013 Legislative Session resulted in several resolutions requesting study of specific topics. The following groups will be meeting throughout the fall and submitting reports and recommendations to BESE and the legislature in the winter.
- Bullying Prevention - October 10
- Task Force on Textbooks and Instructional Materials - October 23
- Agriculture Education Study Group - October 22
- MFP Task Force - Next meetings on October 21, November 21, and December 13
- Information available on the Current Initiatives section of the BESE website
Other Meetings of Interest:
- Accountability Commission - October 2
- Next BESE meeting - October 15-16
Contact [email protected] with any questions.
Ethics Administration Forms - Reminder for Charter School Board Members
All board members of Type 2 & 5 charter schools are required to submit the Tier 3 Personal Financial Disclosure Statement according to Chapter 42 of Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Charter school board members are required to file the financial disclosure form on or before
May 15 of each year they hold office. Charter school board members and leaders that are related to charter school employees are required to meet additional guidelines and submit the School Board Disclosure Statement annually. Please review the
School Board Disclosure Statement for additional information.
The Department would like to remind charter school board members of these requirements as new board members join over the summer. Failure to submit the appropriate forms could result in fines and other penalties. In addition, adherence to the LA Code of Governmental Ethics is an important component of the Charter School Performance Compact.
If you have any questions, please contact the Louisiana Ethics Administration at 800-842-6630.