Indiana General Assembly Updates

The General Assembly has been very busy the last few weeks, hashing out many important bills that will affect all of us in the State of Indiana.  The hustle and bustle reminds me of my college experiences as a Senate Intern; committee meetings, House and Senate debates, community engagement can be a very exciting and stressful time!  My dad always taught me that politics is not about being a republican or democrat, but about finding the right people that want to serve our communities for the greater good.  As I have grown up and dabbled a bit in politics myself, he is exactly right (not that I am surprised)!

As citizens, it is very important that we are involved in the process. We also know that many of the decisions made at the state level are important for our school communities as well.   With the progressive thinking of our own Central Office and outstanding programs that our faculty and staff run in our school, Perry Central has been asked to come to the table many times to weigh in on items such as graduation pathways and high school accountability.

Recently, our own Mary Roberson was asked to testify for HB 1404 which impacts school accountability and dual credit opportunities for students.  (I have added a link to the digest of this bill below.)  The bill actually takes testing OUT of the 9-12 accountability (so we would get rid of ISTEP+ 10) and would allow for the graduation pathways to be a measure of our A-F letter grade.  It calls for schools to measure the number of students who are college and career ready (dual credits, certifications, military) and be held accountable for where they are 6 months after graduation.    Even though the bill comes with some controversy, we do believe it is what is best for students. 

Representative Bartels also tried to help us with our goal of adding an Additive Manufacturing Certification.  He drafted HB 1112 that would allow schools to apply for funding to help develop this certification (with Perry Central in mind).  We have been working to align our programs with Ivy Tech and local companies.  The bill is actually stuck in the Education Committee at this time.  I am not hopeful that it will make it to the final table, but there is still a possibility it could be an amendment to another bill as we move forward.  Regardless of the outcome, it has been an interesting process and we will continue to find ways to finance this idea.

I have included a link below that will help you find bills of interest and read them for yourself.   The deadline for the House and the Senate to give their final reports are this week.  Bills that were not heard will be dead, but as we mentioned above, sometimes those ideas can be amended into other bills as the move to the second half of the legislative session.

If you ever have any questions or would just like to chat legislation - I would be happy to learn with you!  :-) 

Indiana General Assembly - Legislative Look-Up


Important Information:

President's Day:  This Monday is a Virtual Day for students and a work day for teachers.     

 Agenda for Assistants:
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Assistant Training  (Kris Walsh's Classroom) - Assistants will then move to the buildings they work in and work with Special Education Teachers from 8:30 - 9:30 or 10:00.

Agenda for Teachers:
8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. - Faculty Meeting (High School Library)
9:15 - 11:00 a.m. - PLC Team Time  - Please see PLC Organization Folders/PLC Meeting Notes for agenda ideas
        - 9:30: Social Studies/English/Science teachers - Table Grade Performance Tasks - in Hailei     
                    Gehlhausen's room
11:00 a.m. - Lunch Provided
11:30 a.m. - ALL Dual Credit teachers to High School Library for a 15 minute Ivy Tech Training
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Mandatory ILearn Training in high school library for all core content junior high teachers  (if you are unsure if you should attend, please ask!  :-))
1:30 p.m. - Dismiss

Lori Desautels Sunday Moment - Great short video on why our middle school students really struggle with regulation and some ideas about how we can overcome their struggles.     Click HERE 

ISTEP Retesting - Juniors and seniors that need to retake the ISTEP test will take the English test on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (19th & 20th) from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Junior High Student Council - Members of the junior high student council will be traveling to Easter Peekin to visit their school on Wednesday, February 20th!  The school has undergone training from a program called the Ron Clark Academy.  We are excited to learn from our neighboring schools!

Book Club Meeting - Teachers reading the book, "What Schools Could Be" will meet on Friday during lunch/WIN to discuss chapter 1 and beyond!  Looking forward to a great meeting!




Important Dates:

Monday, February 18 - President's Day/Teacher Work Day

Tuesday, February 19- English ISTEP Retesting

Wednesday, February 20 - English ISTEP retesting/Jr. High Student Council Field Trip

Friday, February 22 - Book Club Meeting during Lunch/WIN