The political spotlight, a4
Although Iowans won’t be able to cast their first ballots until February, presidential candidates are visiting in an attempt to get a jump start in the shifting polls.
The
LittleHawk
Iowa City High School • Iowa City, Iowa • Vol. 73 Issue 1 • Friday, September 25, 2015 • www.thelittlehawk.com ifuckedyourmom
New Board Looks to Future of District By Sofie Lie & Nova Meurice The election of four new full term school board members has prompted conversation regarding the future of the ICCSD, in which debated issues such as the redrawing of boundary lines and the construction of new buildings are key. Across the board, new electees are hoping to better engage the community. Phil Hemingway, who owns and operates a mechanic shop, is assured that his financial experience will help to guide the board’s budget decisions. He advocates for greater collaboration with Kirkwood’s technical programs. “I think that there is a lot of work to be done to get that coordination, and I think that we have to start to look at technical courses much earlier [than we are now],” Hemingway said. He also stressed the importance of a partnership with the community in order to discuss facility needs. “K-12 and our region universities are both facing the same money crunch from the state legislature,” he said. “We need to work together, and we need to pool our talents.” Retired high school teacher and elected board member Tom Yates shares the same views as Hemingway regarding the importance of a closely knit relationship between the school district and community. “We’re going to have honest dialogue, we’re going to have to include the community and find ways to have real honest dialogue and real conversations with people in the district who can give us a better sense of how we should proceed,” Yates said. Latasha DeLoach works as a social worker for Johnson County Community Social Services and
serves on several school district committees involving equity in discipline and in policy making. Because of her first hand experiences with students and the adversity that they face, DeLoach hopes to bring their perspective into the equation as the board considers making policy changes. “I want to help bring the voices of students to the table more,” DeLoach said. “Sometimes we spend so much time looking about this building and that building, that we’re not looking at how well all of our students are doing, not just the ones that are getting high scores on their ACTs.” When addressing the future of education, Hemingway expressed a sense of urgency; he aims to create a learning setting that is fit for every student. “The biggest issue is making sure that we provide a learning environment for all of our students, not just a select few, and to provide them with curriculum and opportunities that prepare them for the 21st century,” he said. DeLoach, who received the most votes in the election at 17.5%, expressed similar views on equality in education. “[All of the school board’s issues] are interconnected because when we have equity, we address our achievement gap,” she said. “If we address our achievement gap, our reading and math scores are also addressed.” Although the new board members agree that there should be a stronger connection between the school board and the community, their stances on redistricting differs. “If redrawing boundaries is necessary, then that’s what you have to do,” Yates said. “I think that people should get used to the idea that the boundaries are going to be looked at more frequently, and that will be a
The ICCSD school board elections on Tuesday, September 8 resulted in victories for Hemingway, DeLoach, Liebig, Roetlin, and Yates.
good thing.” While Yates is willing to change boundaries if required, Hemingway aims to redistrict resources rather than redistrict students. “My belief is that the school that students should go to should be the one closest to their home,” Hemingway said. Components of redistricting such as bussing and new facilities play a role in the district’s budget decisions. The board members are looking to use the district’s yearly budget to its full extent; Hemingway stresses the
need to account for every student. “We need to make sure that we’re spending [the money] properly, that we’re not paying for duplications of services, that we’re not paying for other people’s mistakes, and that every dollar is maximized so that every student gets the maximum benefit from it,” Hemingway said. DeLoach plans to use her own experience as well as community input and professional consultants to make budget decisions. “I would make sure that I gather information from the community
as well as from experts in the field,” DeLoach said. While the newly elected school board members’ opinions from topic to topic vary, they share the common ideal of bettering education for all students in the ICCSD. “Sometimes we get so far away from [bettering education] that we get caught up in the little things and they can distract us from what our main purpose is,” DeLoach said. “Our goal is to educate students and send them out from our district as phenomenal citizens of the world.”
City’s Newest Branch: STEM Center By Olivia Parrott In its inaugural year, the Kirkwood regional center at the University of Iowa has already attracted 80 students from City High. After Jones County, then Washington and Linn counties, partnered with a regional center, City High Principal John Bacon knew he had to find a way to install a center within the ICCSD. “I remember my first year at City High, we went up and visited that facility, and there was talk that we could keep going and expand, adding more regional centers,” Bacon said. “We were excited when ours was finally open this year.” The Regional Center is a culmination of several years of district-wide cooperation with the University of Iowa and Kirkwood, and Bacon is pleased with the extension of academic opportunities for students at City. “It dramatically expands the course offerings that we have in the area, especially of technology and industrial technology. There are lots of wonderful programs there that we just
don’t offer here at the high school,” Bacon said. “Honestly, I think that’s the one area where we were weakest-what the regional center helps us with.” City was forced to make a difficult decision a few years ago when the design for the construction of the new fine arts wing interfered with the location of the previous auto shop. As City High considered the planned Regional Center, the school was able to decide to move forward with construction. “Now I’m just thrilled that the Regional Center exists because now there’s an absolutely state-of-the-art, first-class facility [that] exists,” Bacon said. City students who have chosen to take advantage of the Kirkwood programs have taken multiple approaches in deciding how they want to use these college credits for their future career. They have found that their schedules allow for Kirkwood classes as they have exhausted City High course options in their interest. Hailey Verdick ‘16 has chosen to take a long-term approach.
“I want to major in speech language pathology. But in college you’re going to have to take these classes, so that’s how [Kirkwood] has helped me.” Verdick has elected to opt out of her freshman-year rhetoric requirements in favor of taking the Kirkwood course Arts and Sciences Academy A. She hopes to accelerate her career path in college by taking care of general education requirements in high school. While some students save career classes for after high school, others choose to delve into their chosen field. Andrew Parr ‘16 is one of these students. “I really liked honors chemistry last year, and [the career] makes me feel more unique,” Andrew Parr ‘16 said. “I thought that taking this would either be helpful in that I would know if I didn’t want to do it, or it would help me know that I do want to do it,” he said. “And then it would be a stepping stone on the way to being a pharmacist.” Kirkwood’s block schedule provides a variance of course subjects.
“I like the schedule so much,” Verdick said. “I have an hour and a half to sit down and really get into something, really dig into it, take the time. [The block schedule] really breaks it up so it’s not monotonous,” she said. However, scheduling has also proved a problem in some cases as the morning option begins before the City High school day, at 7:30, and the afternoon slot overlaps with schools sports. “For me it’s kind of frustrating because I would’ve chosen the afternoon option, but I have a sport that I have to be at,” Verdick said. “And then it interferes with some City High events. But it’s one small thing, and you’ve got to look at the big picture.” Students also have to consider their transportation choices. City offers a shuttle bus from the school to encourage participation at the Kirkwood Regional Center. cont. on A7