CL Hawk Update
March 7, 2019
19-20 Calendar, Juuling, & Staff Additions
March is here and it's snowing. Par for the course this winter. It looks as if better weather is ahead next week and hopefully Spring comes in a hurry after that. In this edition of the CL Hawk Update, I want to share some information about the proposed calendar for next year, juuling, and possible staff additions for next year.
Juuling
This past week, WGEM ran a story about the dangers of juuling and the impact to Central Lee. They had recently done a story on Fort Madison High School and this was a follow up to that story. Like every other school in the nation, juuling has been a challenge here at our school. If you are not familiar with "juuling", it is essentially e-cigarettes. These devices do not have an odor, do not create smoke, and can be easily hidden by the user. The devices can be easily mistaken for a flash drive.
We have had a few cases in which students have been caught juuling at the middle school and high school. It can be quite difficult to catch individuals due to the characteristics I mentioned above. Included in the story on WGEM was a video clip of our SRO stating that he had confiscated a juuling device from a 5th grader. This comment made me pause and think as I was not aware of that happening. The student referenced by our SRO was an 8th-grade student, not a 5th-grade student. We have not found any evidence of juuling at the elementary. As an elementary parent myself, I felt it was necessary to correct the record on this report.
Juuling is still a major issue at Central Lee and every high school in the country. Please take time to learn more about these devices and be more vigilant of what your child has in their possession. Due to this being a fairly new issue, we do not have any statistics of how prevalent juuling use is at Central Lee. Regardless, we feel it is important to create awareness.
Here are some additional articles about the impact of juuling.
The Danger of Juuling - National Center for Health Research
Hazards of Juuling/Vaping - Penn State Medical
Quick Facts on eCigarettes - Center for Disease Control (CDC)
If you would like more information on juuling, please contact Tommy Oberman (toberman@centrallee.org), Central Lee School Resource Officer.
19-20 Calendar
We have completed our preliminary 19-20 calendar for Central Lee. You can view the calendar here.
The main highlight of the proposed calendar is that we are ending the weekly early outs on Wednesdays. As mentioned in previous updates, the work we do on these early outs is important. Next year, our staff will be staying until 5pm to complete this work on Wednesdays. We will compensate that time on Wednesdays with an early out at 12pm once per month on a Friday.
Here are a few other highlights of the calendar:
- The first day will be August 26
- Last day will be May 28
- Four snow days are listed on the calendar in case we have a winter like this year.
- This calendar increases our instructional hours by 10 hours for next year
One of the most frequent complaints with the calendar was the Wednesday early outs. With this calendar, parents will only be required to make accommodations one day per month.
Just a reminder, this is a preliminary calendar. It has not been approved by the board.
Staffing Additions
The state of Iowa has provided rural schools with an additional stream of funding titled "transportation equity". These dollars are provided to schools who have high transportation costs and are forced to put dollars into these departments instead of using them for classrooms. This year, we received these dollars but it was one-time funding. Next year, this funding becomes a permanent fixture for the school district.
Due to this funding becoming permanent, the district plans to hire a few additional staff to provide even more supports for our students. We hope to be announcing these positions in the coming weeks. If you see a state legislator, please thank them for approving transportation equity funds for Central Lee CSD!
Have a great weekend!
Dr. Andy Crozier
Central Lee CSD
Our priority is to create a culture where every student is expected to achieve a better tomorrow!
Email: acrozier@centrallee.org
Website: www.centrallee.org
Location: 2642 Hwy 218, Donnellson, IA
Phone: 319.835.9510
Facebook: facebook.com/CentralLeeCSD
Twitter: @CentralLeeCSD