Rumor Mill-5505

Published October 25, 2013

The purpose of this section is to answer any questions parents, teachers or community members might have regarding the school district and to set the record straight in regards to any rumors that might be circulating.

If you have a question or have heard a rumor that you would like for us to address, simply SEND US your questions and we will respond to them in upcoming issues of InFocus. Below are some of the questions we have received since our last issue.

I understand that Benchmark testing is an assessment to measure students' progress and to verify that they have mastered the curriculum taught to date. Furthermore, I believe that these tests were designed to be formative and are not supposed to be counted towards a grade. Can you please verify that all benchmarks (whether pre-benchmark, nine week or end of quarter assessments) CANNOT be figured towards a homework, class work, quiz, test or any other grade?

The benchmark tests provide important formative assessment data to guide instruction, and that is their primary purpose. One of the keys to their usefulness, though, is that students must take the tests seriously. High school administrators and faculties have been allowed to count the benchmark tests as a quiz grade in order to encourage students, and that has been a site-based decision. While the practice is consistent within each high school, not all schools have chosen the quiz-grade option.

I have heard some rumors that WCS is considering rezoning next year? I have searched and searched on the internet to try and figure out what the current and proposed new zoning map would look like and I can't find it for the life of me.

There has been discussion about reducing the geographic zone for Spring Station Middle School and Lipscomb Elementary School. The School Board will vote on this matter at its November 18 meeting.

Information regarding this discussion, including maps of the current and proposed zone lines, can be found online in the School Board’s Agenda packet for the month of October (pages 69-82). Here is the link: http://www.wcs.edu/school_board/sb_agendas/1314/BoardMeetingPacketOct21.pdf.