Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Climate topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
GRC and Campbell BARR teams to present at national conference after district reports declines in failures and referrals
Summary
District presenters said the BARR program correlated with declines in course failures and behavior referrals at participating grades; the board approved travel to the national BARR conference for staff presenters.
Representatives from George Rogers Clark and Campbell described the BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) initiative and reported improved student outcomes tied to the program, and the board approved district staff travel to present at BARR's national conference.
School staff explained that BARR combines three components: "I Times" (structured, teacher-and-student activities that build social and emotional skills), block meetings (cohorted teacher teams that review student academic and behavioral needs) and community-connect sessions that bring parents and students together to plan supports. Presenters said the program is structured but flexible, letting schools adapt the elements to departmentalized junior-high settings.
Presenters provided three-year comparisons for the two-year BARR implementation at the junior-high level: overall school referrals and failure-rate metrics declined after rollout. The district presentation showed a drop in the percentage of students failing core classes and a steady attendance pattern; presenters said the cohort of students with the longest exposure to BARR (current eighth-graders) showed the strongest gains. Presenters noted a small uptick in in-school removals and out-of-school suspensions this year compared with last, but said the most serious infractions driving those outcomes appear to be different in kind (not the routine defiance/ disruption cases) and that complementary efforts (for example, Too Good For Drugs and vaping grants) are addressing some of the heavier offenses.
The board voted to approve travel and related expenses for four district staff to the national BARR conference in Palm Springs, California, where the district will give a breakout presentation and a poster session on implementation. Estimated travel, registration and lodging for the four attendees were given as roughly $8,000 total; the board approved the request by voice vote (motion carried 4–0).
Presenters said national networking will allow the district to compare implementation strategies and explore expanding BARR elements, including a potential elementary adaptation in later years.
