Board Members Debate Junior High Electives

When it comes to electives in District 308 four junior high schools, not all offerings are created equal.

For instance, industrial art classes such as Industrial Education I and II, Industrial Technology, and Drafting/CAD are offered at Bednarcik, and junior highs, while students at are offered classes such as Introduction to Interactive Technologies, Hardware and Networking.

All four junior high schools offer technology classes such as Introduction to Technology Applications, Multi-Media Applications, Digital Imagery and Web Design.

District officials said the differences in electives offerings are due to facility or staffing issues.

But this is unacceptable to board member Laurie Pasteris, who would like to see the Industrial Technology electives offered at .

“Policy states we’re supposed to have the same classes in all the schools,” she said at Monday’s board meeting.

Some board members questioned whether there have been complaints from parents about the different electives offerings.

“In our buildings where we have industrial arts, we haven’t had an outcry for technology,” said Carla Johnson, District 308's executive director of teaching and learning. “Parents so far have been satisfied with the elective program we have. I think there hasn’t been a need for there to be additions or much change.”

She also noted that changes to the offerings will cost a significant amount of money, which can only be approved by the School Board. Angie Smith, director of business services, said the move could cost the district an estimated $200,000 — $50,000 in equipment costs and an $150,000 to transfer the space into a shop.

Some board members suggested surveying parents and students to find out what electives they wanted to see in their schools.

But other board members feared the measure could be “opening Pandora’s box.”

“If we put a survey out and they say they want underwater basket-weaving, are we going to start offering that?” asked board member Lynn Cullick.

Pasteris and fellow board member Alison Swanson, who head up the district’s curriculum committee, plan to create a survey to bring back to the board for direction and approval.

If the surveys are sent out and results indicate changes are wanted, board members will have to decide whether they are willing to dedicate the funding to make the changes, said District 308 Communications Director Kristine Liptrot.

Additionally, Liptrot said board members will need to decide if they are just changing a few courses or revamping all career and technology offerings.

“A typical curriculum renewal at the secondary level costs more than $600,000 per content area,” Liptrot said.

District officials also want to stress that the math, language arts, science and social studies curricula are exactly the same at all junior high schools.

Board member Mike Scaramuzzi took issue with the amount of time spent discussing the electives during Monday’s meeting, saying the district should instead be focusing on core classes.

He and Cullick said they would only support a survey that included questions about the district’s curriculum.