MENDOTA – A new course, College/Career Prep English IV, was approved by the Mendota High School Board of Education during their Oct. 16 regular meeting. The course was recommended by the high school’s Curriculum Committee in response to the number of students going on to IVCC who must take remedial English due to low placement scores.

MHS Principal Denise Aughenbaugh said in order to fulfill their English requirements, seniors currently must choose between Dual Credit IVCC English (only open to students with a higher SAT score), Advanced Grammar Comp (a writing intensive course) or Workplace English (prepares students for entering the workforce). 

Over the years, Aughenbaugh explained, they have seen that students who struggled with English during high school and go on to IVCC find themselves placed in a remedial English class to improve their reading and/or writing ability. “We could meet more of the needs of students currently placed in those courses by developing a new course that would be a mirror to what IVCC teaches as a remedial course,” she told the board. “This course would hopefully bolster their skills so they could take the placement test at IVCC and place into a college level English class.”

In time, Aughenbaugh said, it may be possible to have an agreement with IVCC so students who complete the College/Career Prep English IV would automatically be able to take a college level English class. She noted that MHS already has such an agreement with IVCC for the high school’s College and Career Ready Math course. “This is our third year offering that and it has been very successful,” she said.

Board member Jim Sundberg, who served on the Curriculum Committee along with parents, students and department chairs, asked Aughenbaugh what MHS would have to do to get the new English class accepted by IVCC.

Assuming the process would be similar to the math class, Aughenbaugh said the first step is to model the MHS syllabus with the IVCC syllabus, which IVCC would then have to approve. “With the math class, we had to successfully teach it for at least two semesters and then they wanted to see the results from students who went on to IVCC and took math,” she recalled. “We had to prove ourselves and our abilities.”

Superintendent Jeff Prusator noted that MHS’s math class has been very successful. “IVCC is using our program here to model for other school districts to implement the same program,” he said.

In response to a question from board president Jim Lauer who asked if a majority of MHS students have an issue with English, Augenbaugh emphasized that it is not a majority of all students. She explained that many students have high enough SAT scores to automatically place them in college level courses. Among those who do not score high enough on the SAT, the majority have to take the remedial class. “So, it’s not a majority of students, it’s a majority of that smaller group,” she said.   

Parent Teacher Conferences 

Parent teacher conferences will have a change in format this year with two evening events planned. Parents and students may attend on Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 4 to 7 p.m. or on Thursday, Nov. 2 from 4 to 7 p.m. Translation services will be provided. Aughenbaugh said parents will again pick up progress reports in the gym foyer and teachers will be seated in the gym and cafeteria for conferences.

Additionally, during the conferences on Nov. 1, representatives from ISAC and IVCC will be on hand for a Financial Aid Completion Night. Parents will be able to meet with the representatives in the computer lab from 4 to 7 p.m. and receive expert assistance with FAFSA forms.

Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee

Aughenbaugh thanked Adrianne Espinoza and Lupe Perez, BPAC parent leaders, for organizing the Cafecito informational night, which took place at MHS earlier that evening. Next month, MHS families are invited to attend a BPAC event at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7 with motivational speaker Dr. Ferney Ramirez. More information is posted on the BPAC Facebook page.

OTHER BUSINESS

Prusator said he has received no response from Lee County regarding an error made by that county, which shorted the high school $201,929 from the tax levy for this fiscal year. After learning of the error at the September board meeting, board members voted to send a certified letter to Lee County requesting payment in full.

The board approved the Student Information and Registration Guide for the Class of 2022 and also approved a motion to let snow removal bids. Prusator said Mauch has been the only person bidding on snow removal for quite a few years. He noted that over the last three years, there has been an 18.8 percent increase in the rate, which last year was $72 per hour, per truck. Prior to that, there were three consecutive years when the rate was not raised. “We hope it levels out again and we certainly welcome more bids,” Prusator said.

Due to a scheduling conflict, the date of the next regular board of education meeting was changed to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16 at the high school.