THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508130349
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Here's a brief look at some of the action from Thursday's meeting:
Administrative shuffle
The board approved two central office job changes. Milton R. Liverman, formerly the district's coordinator of pupil personnel services and testing, is the new assistant superintendent for instruction and curriculum - the position Superintendent Joyce H. Trump previously held. Liverman's replacement has not been named. He's worked in the district for 21 years.
Lynn E. Cross, formerly the coordinator of curriculum and staff development, is now assistant to the superintendent. Her old job won't be filled. Instead, she received a new title and new duties, most of which involve tracking student achievement and efforts to improve it. She will later supervise teachers given extra clout as ``instructional leaders'' in their schools. Cross is a 26-year district veteran. Where do we grow from here?
The board got its first glimpse Thursday of a demographic study projecting growth patterns in the district. According to the report, prepared by Educational Consulting Services Ltd. of Richmond, Suffolk's enrollment will increase nearly 30 percent from the 1995-96 school year to the year 2011, with 55 percent of the growth anticipated in areas now served by Florence Bowser and Driver elementary schools, John Yeates Middle and Nansemond River High.
The district's projected enrollment for the year 2011 is 13,001. City birth rates will dip or barely budge between now and the turn of the century, but that will likely be offset by families moving to Suffolk, the consultants said. The board will further discuss the findings on Tuesday, when it meets at 6 p.m. in City Council chambers to review capital-improvement plans. The right name
The board appointed a dozen teachers, students, citizens and administrators to a committee charged with picking a name for the elementary school under construction in Harbour View. James Thorsen, director of facilities and planning, is chairman. The group will make its recommendation by January.
Discipline
The district's 1994-95 summary of expulsions and suspensions, which the board received Thursday, showed that black students were overrepresented in those actions. The district is roughly 60 percent black. Last school year, 69 percent of students recommended for expulsion were black; 74 percent of suspended students were black. In both cases, most of the black students were male.
In recent years, the district has provided teachers with more training to help them understand students from different backgrounds and better manage disciplinary problems, Liverman said. The disparity, he added, is less acute than it's been in previous years.
The district doesn't want to ease up on unruly students; the goal is to deter students from getting into trouble in the first place, Liverman said. Suffolk will soon appoint an administrator who will monitor - and help improve - academic achievement among minority students. by CNB