Welcome to Tracey’s Take!
Each day since taking office in December as a Council Rock School Board Director, I’ve grown more inspired about helping to make sure that Council Rock is the exceptional school district our kids and community deserve. I’m thrilled to launch this monthly(-ish!) communication as a way to share with you “my take” on key educational matters in Council Rock, other district happenings, and ways you can get involved. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read this, and to subscribe!
I especially want to keep you up-to-date each month on three areas that the new Board has identified for focus this year:
STUDENT WELL-BEING
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
COMMUNICATION
STUDENT WELL-BEING
On May 8, I attended a Bullying and Harassment Information Session put on by the Council Rock administration in partnership with the Bucks County District Attorney’s office. The administration explained how each school level handles bullying and harassment. A representative from The D.A.'s office discussed how they could assist during non-school hours, especially with regard to electronic communications. They stressed the importance of keeping internet-enabled devices away from kids as long as possible, and monitoring their usage once they have access to the internet. You can watch the session HERE.
I’m sure you share my concerns about the mental health crises so many of our students are experiencing. I’m pleased to report that the new Board has supported additional resources in Council Rock to address these challenges. These include:
• Counselors in every school
• A CARES (Children at Risk in an Educational Setting) coordinator at both middle and high schools
• School resource officers at to be added at the middle schools if next year’s budget is approved
• Hall monitors to be added at the middle schools if next year’s budget is approved
If you’re a parent or guardian concerned about your child’s mental health, please contact one of the school counselors (HERE)—they want to work in partnership with you to help support your child.
Council Rock Coalition for Healthy Youth held special information discussions where they showed two parts of the documentary series: SCREENAGERs, followed by a Q&A for parents and families. More info HERE.
NOVA, Bucks County’s Network of Victim Assistance, presented to the Board “Safe Touches,” its grant-funded program for second graders. Though it’s been active in most school districts across Bucks County, “Safe Touches” hasn’t been presented in Council Rock schools since 2018. The program uses puppets to teach kids how to say no, how to walk away, and how to tell an adult about an experience that makes them uncomfortable in an age-appropriate way. The Board is supporting the return of this program in Council Rock schools in the 2024-2025 school year. You can hear the presentation HERE.
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Full-Day Kindergarten (FDK)
I’ve been a strong supporter for implementing developmentally appropriate FDK when it includes purposeful play time and plenty of outdoor time for our youngest learners. Council Rock is one of only three (soon, two) districts in Bucks County that doesn’t offer FDK. This hinders the math curriculum and keeps our youngest learners from completing the new Science of Reading program. Our literacy scores (DIBELS) show that in first grade, 52% of Council Rock students start the year below benchmark. This is not educational excellence.
DIBELS ® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of literacy skills. Learn more HERE.
Our kids deserve a full curriculum in order to make progress in their reading and writing skills. For young families, the lack of FDK can also make CRSD a less desirable district to live in. As a premier school district, Council Rock should be leading the way, not bringing up the rear.
For the last several months, the administration has been hard at work evaluating the cost and space implications of a FDK program. Principals at each school identified classroom space for FDK, and the administration budgeted for additional classroom teachers. We would be able to fund about a third of the FDK implementation using the Educational Initiatives Fund and the balance would come from a .57% tax increase this year and next year, which equates to about $36 this year and next for the average taxpayer.
We are seeking community input on Full Day Kindergarten, and ask you to please take the survey that you can find HERE.
Special Education
In response to community members’ concerns about Special Education services, the new Board has changed monthly Education Committee meetings to include presentations from the Special Education team, and I look forward to hearing regularly from our Special Education families.
At the District’s first Special Education Services Seminar held on April 17th, over 150 of our community members heard from state representatives on a range of programs. There are so many resources available from the state for families needing these resources. I strongly encourage you to view the presentation slides HERE.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math)
Council Rock continues its strong emphasis on our amazing STEAM programs. For the first time ever, the board invited STEAM students to attend a board meeting and show us their impressive projects. I look forward to seeing more of their work in the future!
COMMUNICATION
Communication with our community members is so important, and I welcome hearing from you–whether phone calls, emails, questions at meetings. Your concerns about your children’s education are mine, and I want community members to be able to get timely answers from the Board, the administration, and vendors.
At two recent Board meetings, for example, I was pleased that the new Board president asked Durham School Services, the vendor providing bus transportation for Council Rock, to speak at the beginning of the meeting rather than towards the latter part.
Though it had never been done previously, the Board president invited community members to directly question the vendor immediately after the presentation.
Additionally, we are hosting a public budget forum on May 29th, the first forum of its kind in many years.
School District Business Updates
The new Board requested that Durham School Services attend two recent School Board meetings where they presented on the December 2023 incident in which a bus driver was intoxicated. Listen to my comments to Durham HERE and see the changes they will be implementing HERE.
The business office continues to work on the 2024-2025 school year budget, with the second of two special budget meetings held earlier this month on May 13th and a public budget forum coming up on May 29th.
We always appreciate hearing from members of the community! Please consider attending one of our upcoming meetings (all meetings are at the Chancellor Center, 30 N. Chancellor St. Newtown, PA). THURSDAY, MAY 23 - EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING 7:00 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 6 - FACILITIES COMMITTEE MEETING 7:00 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 13 - FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING 7:00 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 20 - BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS MEETING 7:00 PM
NOTE: The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not official statements made on behalf of the entire Council Rock school board or Council Rock administration. It is for informational purposes and responses or inquiries cannot be made in an official school district manner.