Reading skills focus of LHUSD meeting

From reminders to Dr. Seuss's birthday to consideration of new reading textbooks, one message was clear among Lake Havasu Unified School District administrators and board members: Improve student reading skills.

During Tuesday night's board meeting, members approved numerous initiatives to enhance reading levels within the district, including the installation of reading initiative specialists, the display of Houghton Mifflin core reading textbook materials and the creation of reading intervention programs.

Paula Levensailor, principal of Jamaica Elementary School and a reading specialist, stressed that such programs are vital to a child's reading success rate. She said research within the reading field has changed more during the past three years than it has in the last three decades and educators must act quickly to implement these new findings.

“Teaching reading is rocket science,” she said. “It's remarkable what we know with the right training.”

She said, midway through the academic year, about a quarter of students in grades K-5 still are at a level considered “intensive” by state standards.

“Although it's alarming, remember that it is mid-year,” she said. The district's goal is to improve those figures to a 97 percent at level rate by year's end.

Through programs such as early intervention, district superintendent Gail Malay said those numbers will most likely increase as assistance is made available to the students needing more help.

“Early intervention is the most important,” she said.

As part of the district's initiative to increase reading skills, board members approved a reading intervention program called Read 180.

A representative from Scholastic, who was present at the meeting, said the program is “designed to accelerate the intervention. It opens up the world to students who thought they'd never be able to read.”

The software program, created about seven years ago, would be purchased in stages for the district to use. One stage will allow 60 students to participate in the program, which could assist a student for one quarter or an entire year depending on the student's progress.

In Arizona, more than 10,000 students have used Read 180, the representative said. In the Phoenix Union School District, she said 34 percent of participants gained more than four years of reading skills after one year or software use.

The district intends to buy two stages of the software, one for the high school and one for the Round Table program. The cost, which will be paid with the district's instructional improvement fund, is $79,600. The fee includes training and materials.

If the intervention program proves successful, additional stages will be considered for use at the middle and elementary schools, Malay said.

“There's a sense of urgency for kids at the high school who are behind,” she said, pointing out that those students have less opportunity for improvement than those struggling with reading at lower grades.

In other news, board members:

- Approved the installation of a new phone system for the high school at a cost not to exceed $260,000. The phone system will be purchased from Netsian Technologies Group and is a result of a federal compliance to have a phone system in every classroom.

- Approved an augmentation process for students still needing to pass the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) tests.

- Approved the intergovernmental agreement between the district and Lake Havasu City to allow joint use of publicly owned facilities.

- Approved the purchase of a 2006 Ford E253 cargo van at a cost of $15,534 to replace a 1980 pickup being driven by the district's plumber. Missy Wood, director of business services, said the old truck came from State Surplus and can no longer be repaired.

- Approved the purchase of a 2006 Ford F25C 4x2 pickup at a cost of $16,097 to replace a 1972 state surplus wrecker, used by the transportation department. Wood said parts are no longer available to keep the vehicle running safely and it is a necessity for the transportation department to have a reliable service vehicle. Board members approved $35,000 for the purchase of both vehicles from Sanderson Ford, an approved MESC vendor, which includes delivery and tax fees.

- Approved a financial audit for fiscal year 2004-05 because there was an excess of $100,000 in federal funds. The audit will be conducted by Heinfeld and Meech.

- Approved the addition of a homework club at Oro Grande Elementary School.

- Approved the addition of a preschool assistant to the Little Knights preschool program at the high school, The part-time position requires 10 hours of work at 36 weeks a year.

- Approved the implementation of a half-day kindergarten program at all school's offering full-day kindergarten during the 2006-07 school year. This compliance is in accordance to Arizona Revised Statute 15-703. Students would participate in kindergarten and leave at 11:30 by parent's permission.

The next scheduled regular meeting of the governing board is at 7 p.m. March 7 in the district office boardroom, 2200 Havasupai Blvd.

You may contact the reporter at bisker@havasunews.com.