Riverside Local board hears proposals on honors art pilot, Google Workspace upgrade, playground plans and cell‑phone rule

Riverside Local Schools officials on Tuesday outlined a plan to pilot an honors option for high‑school art classes, discussed preliminary state report‑card results and pending value‑added data, reviewed a proposed three‑year Google Workspace (Plus) subscription that would add student security controls and LMS features, and opened preliminary planning for preschool playground upgrades — all while updating the board on a state‑mandated ban on cell‑phone use during the academic day.

The honors art proposal would let students in levels 2–4 choose between general‑credit and honors‑credit tracks within the same class; the honors option would require extra work such as weekly sketchbooks, a portfolio and student reflections. District staff said the goal is to enable students who worry about weighted GPA or class rank to earn honors credit while staying in fine‑arts classes. The district also discussed collaborating with Lake Erie College to expand College Credit Plus (CCP) art options in the future.

Superintendent‑level and curriculum staff framed the honors plan as a pilot for the current school year with the intention of expanding honors opportunities across fine‑arts courses if the model and criteria prove workable.

District staff also reviewed early, unreleased state report‑card data. Officials said overall achievement is largely similar to last year, with one notable area of growth: Algebra I scores showed increases in both competency and proficiency. They noted a small decline — “about a half‑point” — in the district’s performance index that staff…