Berwick Area SD staff present revised high school course handbook, CTE articulation work and TSI and calendar proposals for board approval

Shay, staff member with the high school administrative team, told the school board that the high school has produced a revised course handbook that organizes course descriptions, career pathways and certification opportunities and ties classes to work-based placements and articulation with local colleges.

"We are going to get started with talking about our high school course handbook provisions," Shay said, summarizing the handbook and noting that staff did not add new courses for next year but focused on presenting existing offerings and pathways.

The handbook groups Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses into career pathways — examples cited include rehabilitation aide, health sciences, communications/media, systems management, manufacturing and trades, and fine arts — and lists related certifications and skill areas. Shay said six credits form the core rehabilitation aide sequence and that staff are working on articulation agreements so students can carry 4–6 college credits into postsecondary programs.

Shay described two approaches for college credit: dual enrollment, which she described as course-by-course credit often taught on campus with a small student fee (about $30–$40 per credit, as noted in the presentation), and articulation agreements, which package a sequence of district CTE courses so a college recognizes them as credit if faculty review and approve the district curricula and task lists. "An articulation agreement is...usually a chunk of courses," Shay said, adding that the college faculty must vet course descriptions, curricula and task lists before granting credit.

Presenters named two postsecondary partners under discussion: Bloomsburg (referred to throughout the presentation) and LCCC. Shay said she had submitted course descriptions and task lists to LCCC and hoped to secure priority placement for a communications student so that the student would enter college with an entire semester of credit.

The high school team also presented a Targeted School Improvement (TSI) plan for the 2024–25 school year and said a revised TSI for 2025–26 will be submitted later. "It will need to be signed off on by the board with the affirmation statement," Shay said. The TSI focuses on two primary challenges: ensuring students actively track and use assessment data to set and monitor progress toward goals, and expanding teacher structures and schedules that support student goal setting and progress monitoring. The plan includes specific attention to students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), a group the presentation identified as facing greater challenges than the general student population.

Staff also reviewed the district's three-year comprehensive plan, which includes revised district mission and vision statements and three priorities: (1) consistent two-way communication and stakeholder engagement, (2) updating instructional resources to evidence-based and consistent strategies across the district, and (3) establishing a clear process for district-community partnerships to support career-readiness and K–12 alignment. The steering committee credited with developing the plan included administrators, parents, teachers, community business partners, students and postsecondary representatives.

On calendar changes, Shay proposed removing a scheduled May 14 half day for staff development to give teachers flexibility to participate in the community United Way Day of Caring on May 5 and to avoid interfering with AP testing that morning. "I like to propose removing the half day for staff development which is currently scheduled for May 14," Shay said. The change would require board approval and, if approved, staff said they would notify families and repurpose some planned staff-development work into earlier in the year.

Other calendar proposals presented include keeping most in-service days before the school year begins so teachers can receive professional learning on new reading programming and science standards; returning to shorter (more standard) early-dismissal times on in-service days next year for family consistency; designating August 26 as the first student day and June 5 as the tentative last student day with graduation on June 19; and reviewing winter- and Thanksgiving-break scheduling. Staff indicated they would pilot moving one early dismissal day to a Friday and that the district plans to continue offering after‑school enrichment on early-dismissal days where feasible.

The presentation included operational and implementation constraints staff raised repeatedly: (1) CTE pathways must be taught by CTE‑certified teachers to meet state program rules, and the district and state face a shortage of CTE‑certified instructors; (2) articulation credit depends on postsecondary faculty review of district curricula and task lists and varies by college and program; (3) some CTE program sequencing is tied to state-assigned program codes (referred to in the meeting as "SIP" or "ZIP" codes) and scheduling rules that typically designate CTE programming in grades 10–12; and (4) calendar changes must align with the district's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and state-required hours.

No formal board votes were recorded during the presentation. Staff said the TSI affirmation and any calendar changes would be brought to the board for action at the next meeting and that they will post the comprehensive plan and TSI draft for public review prior to that meeting.