Vision Award goes to science teachers

DOWNEY - The Downey Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday honored three 8th grade science department PLC (Professional Learning Community) teachers for their role in making 74 percent of East Middle School (EMS) 8th grade students attain 'proficiency' level status in accordance with state content standards, and 44 percent 'advanced'.Recipients of the superintendent's Vision Award were: Lisa Swain, Cindy Ekk and Mike McGreggory. They were cited for their "placing a priority of keeping hands-on activities a pivotal part of the science learning experience as well as together looking for new and innovative labs that will bring the content standards to life." EMS principal Brent Shubin stressed their "collaborative functioning" as core members of the school's 'Science 8 PLC' team, and for seeing to it that their students are "superbly prepared for higher levels of science after being in their classes." "These are simply three outstanding teachers," he said. In other action, the Board: •Accepted with gratitude various cash and in-kind donations for use at various schools; •Authorized the payment of expenses for convention and conference attendance; •Ratified the general agreements with various institutions, including one with Rossier Park Elementary School; •Ratified the payments for special education placements; •Ratified a number of settlement agreements; •Accepted the quarterly Uniform Complaint Report summary; •Authorized the payment of the membership fee for the Downey Coordinating Council; •Ratified purchase orders by the Purchasing Department; •Ratified the issuance of payroll orders for hourly, overtime, and Civic Center work performed by classified personnel, Adult School, and Food Services, through September 2009; •Ratified B warrants; •Ratified an education program contract with the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) through Aug. 31, 2010; •Ratified an affiliation agreement with Azusa Pacific University; •Ratified an agreement with Family Service of Long Beach to provide a counseling program to children and families referred by the district, though April 1, 2010; •Ratified the agreements between the Downey Adult School Career and Education Center and a number of clinics/institutions to provide various services in connection with its Dental/Medical Assistant/Medical Billing & Coding programs; •Renewed the agreement with Sandy Pringle Associates of Redondo Beach for certified inspection consulting services for DUSD's new construction and/or modernization projects; •Authorized the advertisement for bids for contract labor (trade electricians); •Approved a couple of change orders involving acoustical and electrical work at Warren High School; •Approved as complete electrical, grading, painting, and concrete work performed by various contractors; •Approved the purchase of equipment in accordance with Purchasing policies and regulations; •Approved routine Personnel items until subsequent action is taken by the Board of Education; •Ratified the abolishment/ establishment of a number of positions, with duties corresponding to established classifications; •Adopted a resolution establishing the criteria for determining the order of seniority for those employees with the same date of first paid service in their probationary status; •Adopted a Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan resolution, providing for a fair and early retirement plan for certain eligible employees of the district, for purposes of saving the district money; •Received the 2009-10 annual report; •Reviewed the proposed revision to the current Eligibility for Extracurricular Activities as it applies to students in grades 6-12; this will be up for adoption at the next meeting; and •Endorsed the actions taken by the superintendent on all student cases. Two Bureau of Census officials meanwhile exhorted everybody to take part in the upcoming census, to assure constituencies of getting their true and fair share of future juridical allocations. The next regular meeting of the Board will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 at the Gallegos Administration Center, 11627 Brookshire Ave.

********** Published: October 23, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 27