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Student board representative reports elementary visits, PBIS success and requests study of Eid absences
Summary
The Monroe‑Woodbury student board representative reported Nov. 5 on elementary-school visits, described Pine Tree Elementary's PBIS reward system and said she will survey students who celebrate Eid to determine how many would be affected by a district absence designation.
The Monroe‑Woodbury student board representative gave a detailed report Nov. 5 about visits to two elementary schools, student feedback on school climate, a district-wide survey the representative is running, and a request to better understand how many students observe the Islamic holiday Eid.
The student representative (identified in remarks later in the meeting as Zoe) said she visited Pine Tree and North Main and met about 20 students at each school across grades 2–5. Students reported feeling safe with adults, enjoying learning and electives, and wanting slightly longer lunch and recess. The visits also found differences by school: Pine Tree students tended to favor reading and writing while North Main students favored math and science.
Zoe described Pine Tree's Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS), in which students earn classroom tickets that contribute to a visible "heart tree" and schoolwide celebrations after a classroom reaches a goal. She said the system appears to encourage positive behavior and could be a model for other elementary schools.
She also relayed that a student asked that Eid be granted as a district excused absence so families have time to observe the holiday. Zoe said she had previously heard similar requests from two high-school students; she confirmed with them that absences for Eid can be excused and that a prayer space is available at the high school, but students still worry about missing work and falling behind. Zoe said she plans to survey more students who observe Eid to determine how many would be affected.
On the district survey Zoe posted, she said 69 high-school students and 176 middle-school students had responded so far; the survey will remain open until winter and she plans another round in spring. For the first question (a 1–5 rating of how the school year started), she reported the high-school distribution as: 2% gave a 1, 9% gave a 2, 30% gave a 3, 42% gave a 4 and 18% gave a 5. The responses, she said, skewed toward 3–5 across grades.
The student representative said she will continue the visits, expand the Eid outreach to collect accurate numbers, and report back to the board.
