The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: David Grimes-Quill Correspondent
If you'd been hoping for the chance to air your views on what's being done right and what areas you'd like to see improvement in at Union Schools, you missed your chance.
The district held its regular goal-setting session last Wednesday night, with the unit office mailing out notices to school district residents, parents and community leaders.
Despite the school's efforts, though, only about 30 persons attended to brainstorm in small and large group sessions and then compare notes at the end of the evening.
Of the 30 people attending, only a handful were not faculty, staff or students.
Good information was shared, however, and those attending reaffirmed a commitment to make Union the best school district in the area.
Some of the things mentioned that participants said they wanted to see preserved and continued at Union include students perceiving school as a safe place, high visibility with regard to administration and exposure and sensitivity to persons observing different holidays from other cultures.
Preparing the student to become a productive citizen, arming him or her with adequate social skills and making sure they are properly educated whether they choose college or a vocation after graduation were listed as important aspects of the educational process.
Area participants said they would like to see improvement in the areas of fine arts and technology, students working less and getting involved in school activities more often and parent accountability.
Board member Beth Webber said she would like to see increased curriculum choices in foreign language and history, as well as diversity in technology programs.
Bill Allaman said it's evident that despite as long as Union has been a district, "community differences are still in place," and that there is still room for improvement in that area.
Observations on trends within the district included more single parent families, a decline in discipline among students and a high dropout rate.
And the term "apathy" was mentioned several times.
Superintendent Dean Irlbeck said that in his ten years at Union, good dialogue has come out of the annual goal-setting meetings and a number of positive changes have resulted.
Doing so is what has caused the district to experience the progress that it has in recent years.
"If we don't, we're just coasting along," Irlbeck said.