NJUHSD BOARD PRESENTATION OPEN COMMENT - JONATHAN KORS

 

OPEN COMMENT: 1/11/23

President Ganski and Members of the 2023 Board of Trustees – as you start the 2023 term, I’d like to draw your attention to the following data points:

• California State CAASP testing at Nevada County High Schools for 2022 indicate that District students scored in the 50^th percentile for English-Language Arts (ELA) comprehension and the 25^th percentile for mathematics.    Half don’t meet the ELA standard; 3 in 4 don’t meet the math standard.
• According to a June 23, 2022 Nevada County Grand Jury Report entitled: “The Lesson Never Learned”, District enrollment between 2010 and 2020 decreased by 27%.  Approximately one in four students left the District.  And that was before the pandemic.  The State mandated Average Daily Attendance figures for 2019-2020 be used for 2020 through 2022.  In reality, the decline is probably much more serious.

I ask that the Board focus on the following for 2023:

1. Impress upon the administration and the teachers within the District to strictly enforce District policy with respect to bullying and harassment.  Severe discipline should result from violations.  Resist the urge to add further granularity to or adopt social justice terms and initiatives into District policy, even if strongly urged by student or teacher activists.  Focus on enforcing existing policy to the letter.
2. Make student achievement with respect to learning (as will be evidenced in state standard testing) the focus for discussion in your monthly Board meetings.  Job No. 1 for the District should be to ensure that the students receive a high-quality education.  It matters for their future.

And lastly -

3. When considering new policy or additions to existing District policy - Ask whether the adoption of the policy will result in further disenrollment from the District.

Thank you.

Contributor: Jonathan Kors, January 2023