Carson school board sets goals for superintendent

Increasing the high school graduation rate in the Carson City School District was the primary goal set forth by the school board.

The goals were established after a meeting of Superintendent Richard Stokes with trustees Joanna Wilson and Steve Reynolds.

"I think it was a very productive meeting," Stokes said. "Certainly it gave me some direction."

Increasing graduation rates was the No. 1 priority of six that also included: Making sure all schools achieve adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act; implementing distance education; balancing the budget; determine any bond-related projects; and continuing to build partnerships in the community.

Superintendent Richard Stokes said some of the goals work together to achieve success.

"We're easing into distance education, using it first as a tool for credit recovery," he said. "That will help us with our high school graduation rate. It's going to catch us up in many ways."

He said mandatory tutoring for freshmen failing any class is going to be continued and maybe augmented at Carson High School.

Reynolds said he was pleased with the goals set, but would like to see more long-term planning.

"I'm still not convinced we've planned far enough into the future," he said. "I know there are things this district can accomplish, that we need to have on paper, that's going to take more than a year or two to accomplish."

During the meeting, Norm Scoggin, who has been serving as president since Barbara Howe resigned in November, was officially appointed to the position. Joanna Wilson was voted vice president and Steve Reynolds as clerk.

Also at the meeting:

• Jonathon Olivas, an New York Life insurance agent, was recognized for volunteering his services to create Child ID kits for parents. As part of the kits, parents get a digital copy of their children's fingerprints, photos, videos and a DNA sample.

Board president Norm Scoggin commended his efforts.

"Hopefully parents never need this, but on the other hand, you could be a very valuable commodity," he said.

• The Carson Montessori School was recognized for its designation as a "high achieving" school under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

• Maryellen Eisenhauer was recognized for more than six years of volunteer work at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School.

• The board reinstated the waiver policy to allow students who live outside the district to attend Carson City schools. All waivers had been denied last year because of budget concerns. It will be effective July 1.