rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
CANTON — Board members heard from Ned Whitehead, a disability rights advocate and special education advocate, at their Thursday, July 15, special meeting.
Whitehead spoke of his concern on a recent policy the board voted to change.
The policy enables kids who turn 5 in September to be enrolled in Kindergarten in the school district, under the assumption that their parents take the necessary routes to make the child eligible for “gifted” exemption of early admission.
“I don’t know how many times I have received a call (as an advocate) from a parent stating that their child has been struggling in school,” said Whitehead.
Whitehead’s concern was the maturity of students at that age and that they need the extra year to be socially ready for school.
The board members noted that the policy is for those parents whose children have undergone and completed special testing to deem the child gifted. The policy is not open to any child who turns 5 in September.
Board member Ryan Allen noted that a parent will know what is best for their child and should make the decision alone, if the child meets the requirements set in place by the school board.
“If you have a parent who says ‘Hey, my kid is ready. They’ve done a couple years of preschool and are adequate,’ and they want their kid in because they had a birthday 13 days later than the cutoff, we are at least opening the door to allow that to happen, given the testing,” said Allen.
Other news
Superintendent Dr. Eric Briggs spoke briefly on three separate Acts posted by the state.
The first was ACT13, made in March of 2020. It revised the ACT 82 educator affect.
“Our teaching staff will get a new teacher effective tool this year,” said Briggs, who noted new training for all teachers and staff of the district.
The second is ACT18, which states the school district must have a threat assessment team in place. Dr. Briggs noted that CASD does and that training for it will be in October with Bradford County Human Service leaders.
The final act is ACT66, which Dr. Briggs reported that no students need to be retained due to learning loss from the COVID19 pandemic.
“That’s not an issue this district will have to deal with,” said Briggs.
Due to no requests, the PIAA “redshirt rule” will not affect any students at CASD.
Board members voted to approve the hiring of Ginnette Moskowitz as the grade 7-12 Spanish teacher, effective Aug. 23.
They also approved the hire of Amy Repard, as Special Education Supervisors, effective July 15.
An updated list for school supplies can be found at https://www.canton.k12.pa.us/student-information.
The next Canton Area School District Board of Education meeting will be Thursday, Aug. 12, in the high school cafeteria.