Meeting Called to Order by SAC Chairman. Fabia Reid Introduced As New Committee Secretary; SAC Committee Back to Full Strength

14 November 2018 Meeting Minutes 1600: Meeting called to order by SAC Chairman. Fabia Reid introduced as new committee secretary; SAC Committee back to full strength. 1610: SAC Vice Chairman reviewed old business & previous minutes placing emphasis on parent questions. College night went pretty well; financial aid, among other things, was discussed. Parent Questions: 1. One grade per week policy? There is no DODEA requirement. Guidance from NMHS Principal is “timely submission of grades on Gradespeed” to provide an accurate depiction of what students’ grades are. If there is a particular concern that a parent may have, parents are encouraged to first contact their child’s teacher(s), request a conference at any time, & if necessary, contact the school Principal for final resolution.” 1b. “Part of the concern about grades referred to student athletes that travel. Reviews are completed on Tuesday, sometimes the grades aren’t reflected on Gradespeed or there is only one or a couple of grades.” The Principal offered that during a recent staff meeting, the Athletic Director specifically reviewed the eligibility requirements to identify what constitutes an eligible student at the beginning of the sport season, & what the school is required to do as far as monitoring for the next consecutive three weeks. The Athletic Director pushed to get grades “in by Friday so that they can be pulled by Tuesday because it takes a couple of hours for grades to come in.” NMHS Principal shared that “While there is some teacher responsibility, there are also responsibilities for the students to understand that work must be turned in on Friday because that is the real hard deadline. There is a little grace period on Mondays to allow teachers to grade work & upload grades into Gradespeed to reflect accurately (timely & accurate feedback piece). NMHS is working through that. If there is a situation that comes up where a student is out, and there was some issue,” the Athletic Director & Principal will be able to work with the respective teacher to come to a successful resolution. “Timeliness of grade submission hasn’t come across yet as a systemic problem, instead there have been one offs here & there with particular students & their particular situations.” NMHS Librarian offered that “grades aren’t necessarily available every week. There is a fluctuation depending on the curriculum; some weeks three grades may be available.” “Sometimes if teachers don’t have a grade to submit, Gradespeed will reflect a zero. That doesn’t mean the child earned a zero on an assignment, it just means the grade hasn’t been entered yet.” 2. Communication plan for SAC? Vice Chairman pledged to ensure communication is timely, that the SAC meetings are properly advertised & asked if the low number of attendees was reflective of the late advertisement. Veteran SAC members offered that sparse attendance is a good thing. Typically a packed house indicates serious/numerous issues/complaints. Vice Chairman expressed the importance of feedback & opined “if parents aren’t present, SAC won’t receive that feedback.” Vice Chair polled the audience to determine if the previous meeting’s minutes was posted on the SAC website or if any of them looked at the site. Chairman clarified for the audience that previous meeting minutes aren’t sent home, but are instead posted on the SAC website & although posted late, that will not be the case in the future. 3. The question pertaining to group projects and access to school was handled acceptably. Principal provided follow up. “Students in the morning are coming into the library as they request or get passes; the library is open during lunch time for both middle & high school students to come in & print projects; also open during seminar by request via the e-seminar tracker. Extensive opportunities have been provided for students to access the library for printing & working on projects.” 4. Red letters on the front of the school building aren’t changing; no need to readdress. 5. The question concerning clubs meeting during school hours was previously addressed. 6. Students being requested for seminar? Principal provided follow up. “At the last staff meeting the committee chair from the Seminar Ad-hoc Committee presented to faculty, (1) the procedures for seminar period, (2) what seminar period is used for, (3) what the expectations are of students when they enter that classroom, & (4) specifically about teachers requesting students via the seminar tracker, which is the only authorized way that students should be going to & from classes unless there is a technology breakdown. In that event, there is an old school system in place to try to handle that. The hope is there will be no more internet outages, but as a staff we all have a common understanding of seminar expectations & travel procedures to classes.” 7. Students’ ability to sign themselves in & out of school for medical appointments? Principal provided update. “As understood from the hospital, students under 16 years of age are supposed to be accompanied by their parent to the hospital.” Principal is “not opposed to a parent calling the school to request release of a student to go somewhere, but based on base policy & the hospital example that was given, will not release a middle school student to go to that. Age appropriate; no problem releasing the student.” Parent follow up question: “So are we going to get a policy stating that 16 or 17 year olds can sign themselves out to go to the doctor? Principal clarification. “Students cannot sign themselves out. Parents can call for their child, if the child is over 16 years old, s/he can meet the parent at the parent designated location. No child under 18 years old can sign him/herself out on their own.” Vice Chair recommends advertising that for students 16 & over, the parents can call & the school will release the student based on a parent sign out. Principal clarified. “Based on a parent verbal, in an appointment scenario. Primary concern of the slope of the line being that the child is released to go home during the school day & then something happens to the child.” What is base policy for children staying alone in housing? A policy that is consistent with any other base policies will be codified & put out to parents. Vice Chair stated the “exact mechanism will be determined so that if a parent calls s/he will know exactly what happens next; whether the person in the front office signs the child out & writes “per parent request” or something along those lines, or if parents must send a note. The policy will be clear & advertised on the website; & probably via the SAC minutes.” SAC Veterans clarified that an email or note is even better than a call. In the past the school has received emails which were used to release students. Parent follow up question: “Does that change when they’re 18?” Principal informed the group that at 18 students can sign themselves out without parent permission & there is nothing the school can do about it. 1616: Vice Chair concluded with an opportunity for attendees to address anything that wasn’t previously, or that was missed during the last meeting. 1616: Meeting turned over to Chairman. New Business “Concerns have been registered at the hospital from both parents & teachers; teachers in particular about vaccinations. Specifically vaccinations required for employment at DODEA & how that affects coverage at the hospital. 1. DODEA and USNH Support Agreement NMHS Nurse receives logistics support with consumable items needed to treat students as well as bio-medical equipment maintenance. There is no mention in this support agreement of treatment for DODEA staff members. 2. DODEA Personnel Vaccination Policy DHA Policy authorizes waiver for the reimbursement of vaccines, but only covers influenza during a mass vaccination event. If staff members receive their influenza vaccinations during a mass immunization exercise, they would not be charged for that vaccination. Any other immunization requirements necessary for employment is on a reimbursable basis & individual insurance plans will have to cover the charge.” Parent follow up question: “Students are required to get the flu shot; what about everyone else that works in the school? Do they have to get a flu shot by the 1st of January?” Chairman informed the audience that there is no USNH policy stating such. If there is such a policy, it would be a DODEA policy & is in the lane of the Principal to answer whether or not the shot is required for all the DODEA personnel. Principal informed the audience that DODEA’s policy is EUCOM’s policy. The same one that governs the installation & delineates the requirement for students, teachers, & people that work at the school to have the shot. However, there is an exception to that policy based on allergies, religious beliefs, etc., not only for students, but also the adults that work in the building. Parent follow up question: “So you verify that they (staff) get the shot on the 1st (Jan) as well?” Principal advised, “they are required to provide the documentation. Vaccinations are tracked and the school provides a courtesy letter. If an adult at the school or student submits a waiver, we accept the waiver & in the event of an influenza outbreak, we are required to ensure that those individuals are barred from coming into the school.” Vice Chairman follow up question: “What about the local nationals?” Principal advised group that he has no jurisdiction over local nationals & doesn’t govern the local vaccination policy. USNH, Department of Public Health will be present at the mass immunization exercise to clarify U.S. vs Italian dosage requirements/recommendations.

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