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Show T ;.v '... ... Vernal Express Wednesday, March 7. 2007 A3 Alternative Education plan moves forward By Elizabeth Goode Express Writer Uintah School District has been exploring the addition of Alternative Education, to be an extension of Uintah High School, 'functioning as a secondary sec-ondary alternative program. At the Feb. 13 business meeting ot the Uintah School District Board, the plan was approved. It! will be housed in a separate building; the Ashley Valley Education Center and the biiilding that formerly housed Meser Kindergarten are possible pos-sible sites. 'Donica Bigelow has been selected as the Coordinator for Aternative Education. Mark Dockins, Student Services,' Ujntah School District Office, said, "We are excited to have Donica in the position. She has been involved in associated programs, pro-grams, so she is in a position to Mgin this newly established program as soon as we are rejadfe'lnitiate the service." jBkelow looks forward to assuming , the duties of the posiden. "It is really a comprehensive compre-hensive program, beginning with fcigh school and adult education, edu-cation, and encompassing ser-vibes'for ser-vibes'for all grade levels. It will good for the community." 'The ''definition of alternative alterna-tive education: public schools which are set up by states or school districts to serve populations popu-lations of students who are not succeeding in the traditional public school environment for any number of reasons. Alternative education is actually a perspective, not a procedure or program. It is based upon the belief that there are many ways to become educated, as well as many types of environment and structures within which this may occur. The underlying belief in alternative alter-native education is that all people peo-ple can be educated and itris in society's best interest to ensure .that all are educated to, at least, . a general high school level. ; In the Uintah School District many of the characteristics exist that correlate with a high likelihood of students dropping drop-ping out of high school: living in4iigtegrewtfe stater nga ' member of a low-income fam- Insurance Company with Donica Bigelow is the Coordinator . for Alternative Education ily, having parents who are not high school graduates; speaking speak-ing English as a second language; lan-guage; pursuing work alternatives; alterna-tives; or having children. Uintah School District intends to pursue Alternative Education to meet the diverse needs of the community, to make an effort to reduce the dropout rate at the high school, to increase the Uintah High School graduation rate, and to increase the numbers of the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) for the district. Home-school and or home-bound children will be encouraged to participate, bringing their home schooling with them. . ,: . ;. Minimal additional staffing staff-ing will be required, because district teachers are currently working to educate every student stu-dent in every situation, teaching teach-ing alternative learning styles. This program will be an extension exten-sion of the high school, functioning func-tioning as a secondary alternative alterna-tive program. Adult Education, Even Start, English as a Second Language, Night school, and Youth in Chutody (YIC) will work in : Cooperation with the high school Coordinator, Donica , Bigelow, a counselor, . and the current cUhg staffs' who serve in those areas will be . implementing the newly formed program. . Who . will receive services ser-vices through Alternative , Edutfrtiptf,, ... . Placement jvill be driven your onew Medicare iiwerei Torn nte promni If not it's not too late to change plans! But don't wait! You only have until March 31st to decide whether to change your Medicare Advantage health plan. After March 31st, you'll be required to keep your current plan until January 2008. Some exceptionsrestrictions may apply. If you are not satisfied with your current Medicare coverage and are considering a change, you may Want to consider the convenience of Humana Gold Choice. Humana is a Fortune 150 company that has been serving people with Medicare for more than 20 years. Come to a seminar to learn more: VERNAL Golden Corral 1096 West Highway 40 Monday, March 12 - . ' 3:00 p.m. t. Medicare Advantage contract to through the Student Evaluation Operating Plan (SEOP) process 9-12 grade students who meet the guidelines in the application Students who are at risk of not graduating due to many factors Referrals from Safe School Home school K-8 Home-bound K-12 Adults wanting to complete com-plete high school education Adults and young adults desiring to get their GED How is a student referred? Parents, students, coordinator, coordina-tor, counselor, and high school administrators are involved through the SEOP application process. Student need will be - determined through evaluation of academic standing, behavioral behav-ioral history, historical attendance, atten-dance, parent support, and prior interventions. After evaluation, eval-uation, students will be placed by the staff. Existing high school and adult education programs will be used for Utah Core Curriculum, with existing teachers being facilitators to students who work independently indepen-dently to meet the standards of the curriculum to continue and recover credits. There will be a requirement for a service project. Focus will be on study skills and character education. Plans include the addition of K-8 K-8 curriculum for home school. There are four pathways to completion of high school- Credit recovery and return to high school Credit recovery and high school diploma (no graduation ceremony) Adult education secondary diploma GED preparation continuation contin-uation Expectations are high for the success of this alternative alterna-tive education to reduce high school drop out by enabling at-risk at-risk students to complete their schooling in a system more comfortable to them. For further information about the program, or for making mak-ing application, please contact Donica Bigelow at Uintah High School, 781-3100, extension 262(5. GttVance when you need it most . offer a Private Fee-for-Service plan available to anyone enrolled in Pro-Public Education group calls for voter referendum on vouchers Utahns for Public Schools, a broad-based organization representing parents, teachers and other concerned citizens,, filed a referendum application Thursday in an effort to overturn over-turn a recently passed private school tuition voucher law. The group will now begin collecting the 95,000 signatures necessary to place a referendum on the ballot. Legislation establishing the voucher plan passed the Utah House by a single vote during the 2007 session. The experimental experi-mental legislation was quickly passed by the Senate and signed by the governor. The program is projected to cost taxpayers $429 million over the next 13 years, according to legislative fiscal analysts. "Polls show that private school tuition vouchers have very little public support," said Pat Rusk, fourth grade teacher News items presented at City-County joint meeting A very special television advertisement was prepared by Dr. Robert Behunin, USU Uintah Basin, and Dale AUred, VTV, for broadcast on Channel 5, KSL, during the weekend of the IDS General Conference, March 31 and April 1. Uintah County and Vernal City had each approved the concept and made input, so the joint meeting meet-ing of the two groups on Friday included a preview of the 30-secondad. 30-secondad. A quick spot of "past" A public rest room is a clean place for your child to play A study published in The International Journal of Environmental . Health Research found that in terms of germ contamination public rest rooms are actually not as infected as other public areas. Scientists spent four years collecting 1,100 samples at public areas like airports, res- "taurants, ancf offices' through- , ''out.fow'Aeri-c' scientists searched' for ' sweat, hemoglobin, urea, and specific mm at Willow Canyon Elementary "Voters should have a chance to decide whether to embark on an experiment with such great fiscal educational and social consequences." Former state superintendent superinten-dent of instruction Steve Laing expressed concerns about the law's capacity to erode support for public schools and fragment society along religious, racial ethnic, , and socio-economic lines. "Vouchers make no sense for Utah parents," said PTA education edu-cation commissioner Marilyn Kofford. "We have the highest percentage of public school enrollment in the nation. And we have strong public schools, with the highest graduation rate in the nation." Kofford pointed out that parents would have very few real private school choices in a voucher system. "Private Vernal with dinosaur figures and flying raptors is followed by scenes that depict most of the pride of Vernal. The quick action photos include roping, the pink dinosaur, bronc riding, rid-ing, the golf course, recreation spots and many other shots from the area. Ken Basset, Vernal City Manager, announced that funding for rehabilitation projects was approved by the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) levels of bacteria. The areas that were most commonly infected were playgrounds and day care centers, with 46 percent per-cent showing high levels of contamination. Public rest rooms only recorded 25 percent, with publuc transportation handrails hand-rails and shopping cart handles recording around 21 percent. Nearly at the same level were escalator handrails (19) percent), per-cent), vending machine but healllh isestoyou?' both Part A and Part B of Medicare through age or disability. schools choose the students they want and dont want," Kofford said. Kim Burningham, chair of the Utah state school board, said voters should be concerned con-cerned about handing out vouchers without any significant signifi-cant accountability measures. Private schools in the plan face no legislative scrutiny for five years. Newly formed private schools in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida operated oper-ated for years despite findings of educational and financial waste, fraud and abuse. Utahns who want to sign the petition can find information at www.utahnsforpublicschools. org Utahns for Public Schools is a group of parents, teachers, and other citizens representing several thousand Utahns who are interested in Utah's children chil-dren and public schools. to be used for housing needs. The Uintah Association of Governments (UBAOG) also approved $100,000 of the 2008 Budget to be used in Uintah County and Vernal City for housing needs. The item was re-prioritized so housing was the emphasis, and Basset complimented the Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah Counties for working very well together to commit this funding for next fiscal year. tons, and public phones. The study found further that 86 percent of the time the contaminants were transferred trans-ferred to an individuals hands and in 82 percent it went from there to a person's belongings. Fortunately, studies have found that the risk of illness from these germs is low, and can be reduced by 50 percent by washing wash-ing your hands with soap and water. plan 4 Mqpo6LGH225iiAPFS , .'. v..;-T: '..'' ' ': r ' -' . ..v-w' :': UT307 |