Accountability, civility updates made to South Whidbey school codes

Published 5:52 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Continuing its policy revisions, the South Whidbey School Board edited its accountability goals policy and safety and civility policy. The board, led by its policy representative Jill Engstrom, committed to updating, revising and sometimes eliminating outdated policies.

The language changes were mostly small modifications or modernizations. Rather than the label items “vision,” “structure,” “accountability” or “community advocacy,” South Whidbey’s board of directors changed them to “responsible governance,” “creating conditions for student and staff success,” “accountability for student learning” and “community engagement.” It also added a section titled “human dignity,” the first item written in the policy, which states that the district expects its employees, students and visitors to respect others’ human dignity.

South Whidbey’s accountability goals remain the same, as does the district’s policy other than a few minor changes. The original policy was approved in 2006, since then performance measures such as the WASL were scrapped and replaced by other state assessments.

Revisions include the addition of monitoring the district’s graduation rates since 2004 and redefining performance improvement goals for reading and mathematics in elementary, middle and high school rather than in specific grade levels.

Both policies will be brought to the board March 27 for a second reading and a vote.