The Atlantic High School Class Night was held last week for graduating Seniors. Following recognition ceremonies, two of the 2012 graduating Seniors were asked to stay on the stage a little longer.

Some parents and students who attended the Atlantic Board of Education’s meeting Tuesday night at the High School, expressed their concerns over the possible closure of the ELO (Extended Learning Opportunities) program, for advanced students, at the Middle School. Lydia Rothfusz and her son Aaron were among those who spoke. Rothfuz has three students in the school system, one each in the 2^nd, 6^th and 8^th grades. She said it was her understanding the program will be disbanded this coming Fall, in favor of a more integrated approach to education, in which advanced students would be attending classes with remedial students who are at an average level. Rothfusz said she strongly opposes the change, because in the current program, advanced students are working together in a peer-group setting, with like abilities. She said those students are challenged as a group by their instructors and course material, and also by their peer group. 

She said the current setting gives those students the feeling they can excel based on their own ability level. Rothfusz said she’s concerned that those students who are currently “The cream of the crop” educationally, are going to feel like they need to “Dumb down their abilities,” in order to fit into a different classroom setting. She said if they’re not challenged, they’ll be more prone to “acting up,” because they’ll be bored and distracted.” She said she thinks it’s unreasonable to expect one teacher in a classroom of 15- to 25-students to teach to such a varied level of abilities, and educational opportunities. Her son Aaron, who would be affected by the change, if it’s approved, said the ELO program is designed to help kids excel, and putting everyone together in one setting would create more stress for teachers and students. Another student who is in the ELO program, said she didn’t feel she was being challenged as much as she should have been, prior to entering the program. She said since she’s been in the ELO program, she feels like she feels like she’s being challenged to do better than she was before. 

Board President Kristy Pellett said they will take the comments under advisement.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate has rejected a bill that would have let results from an errant vote stand in the town of Adel.  The Des Moines Register reports that Adel voters approved the 1-cent local sales tax in August 2010. But then officials learned the election was improperly conducted. Iowa law says that unless a town has at least 50 percent of a county’s population, then the vote must include other areas of the county, even though it would apply only to a specific jurisdiction.  City officials say that even if the vote had been taken countywide, the measure would have passed.  City leaders asked the Legislature to approve a legislative exception so the Adel vote could stand.  The House approved the bill. On Tuesday the Senate didn’t.

An education reform plan has cleared the legislature. Crafters of the compromise suggest the bill’s focus on literacy in the early elementary grades is the hallmark of the package. Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, was the senate’s lead negotiator. “Under the bill we will annually be assessing the reading proficiency of kindergarteners, first graders, second graders and third graders, so that if any kid is falling behind in reading proficiency, we will find out about that as soon as possible,” Quirmbach says. Republican Governor Terry Branstad recommended that all third graders who cannot read at grade level be required to repeat the grade. Legislators have voted instead to give parents two options if their child completes third grade, but cannot read at a third grade level.

“Either the child goes through an intensive summer reading program that summer after third grade or they repeat third grade,” Quirmbach says. “The parent must make that decision.” The threat of having poor readers repeating third grade won’t kick in until the 2016/2017 school year, however. Representative Royd Chambers, a Republican from Sheldon, was the lead negotiator for the House. “It’s not as strong of a reform bill as I would like, but this is what we could come up with,” Chambers says. “But I still believe it’s a very substantive bill.” The bill limits enrollment in the two Iowa school districts that are conducting all classes on the Internet and calls for a study of such on-line academies. It means CAM Schools in Anita and Clayton Ridge in Guttenberg will have no more than nine-hundred students. Representative Mary Mascher, a Democrat from Iowa City, says it gives state policymakers time to review how on-line academies are working, or having difficulties, in other states.

“I am glad we’re putting some limits on on-line learning,” Mascher says. “I was extremely concerned about opening this up in a way that would have allowed many, many students to participate without have the quality control in place.” Legislators also decided against having all 11th graders take the A-C-T and rejected the governor’s call to require all college students seeking a teaching degree maintain a three-point grade average. Republican-led efforts to end the “last hired, first fired” aspect of schoolhouse layoffs were unsuccessful. Governor Branstad has said he wants the 2013 Iowa legislature to tackle teacher pay issues and consider other education reform ideas.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)