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Show fpG Jr. High to change next year Xhe Alpine School Board has .nproved the productivity proposal ,resented by Pleasant Grove Junior jjgh School for the 1988-89 school 'ear. . N The proposal is similar to one f.fhich has been in use at American ork Junior High School and will nake it possible for the school to setter facilitate the increased Enrollment expected in the next few 1'ears. The school administration stimated that without the productivity program they would ave to bring in more portables, increase the number of teachers, tc The majority of teachers are in avor of the productivity proposal .nd the teachers will receive a ubstantial pay raise in the "Vogram. With the productivity method the teachers will all teach seven periods i day and be paid an extra one-seventh one-seventh of their yearly salary for his additional period of teaching. They will be paid their regular Tontract wage for fifteen additional "flays of preparation time in the Summer piror to the first year of peration. The 15 days will be spent -n inservice activities on the rocedures of Mastery Learning, decision Teaching, Quality Circles, jid preparation of lesson plans and caching materials for the coming lear. Beginning with the second year of '"reluctivity, teachers will be paid heir regular contract wage for an ddiltional half hour each day to rovide additional preparation time. E- Teacher contract time would be :om 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. with chool in operation from 8:30 a.m. ntil3p.m. i An incentive bonus of $500 will be aid to each teacher at the con- lusion of the year if the outlined oals are met for the school. I An annual evaluation of teachers and testing of students will help the district to know if the productivity plan is working. The program calls for a teacher-student teacher-student ration of 1 to 34. Classes that can field more students, over 34, will, but those which cannot will not have that many students. Studies made at American Fork Junior High have shown that student achievement was not effected nor was the morale or attendance of students or staff on the productivity program. There is good evidence to show that the model functions well and does in fact allow more students to be housed in the school plant with fewer teachers to provide a quality educational experience. Forty-one teachers will be needed with the productivity program whereas otherwise 51 would have been hired for the upcoming school year. The savings of teachers will total ten teachers or $246,190. Reducing the staff by three teachers will be accomplished through voluntary transfer and not hiring teachers for growth. Pleasant Grove Junior High was built for 1,000 students. There are now 1,300. The planned addition, which should be constructed by next fall sometime, would add seven classrooms and then the school could facilitate 1,200 officially, which is still less than they have now. The projected enrollment shows that by 1994 the school would have a total of 1,556 students. Principal Kent Rowley has said that they are not proposing that the productivity program is a better teaching method because it is not. The productivity plan is considered to be the best solution to a financial need, however, and the students will still receive a good education. |