High school health requirement eliminated
The Janesville School Board unanimously agreed to stop requiring a ninth-grade health course Tuesday.
Board members seemed satisfied that drugs and alcohol, sex, nutrition and other topics could be "infused" into the coursework of science, English, physical education and other courses.
The board heard from constituents who were especially concerned that the anti-drug and anti-alcohol message would get lost, said board member Kristin Hesselbacher.
Ninth-grade health will remain in the course handbook as an elective.
The state requires only one health course in seventh through 12th grades. The Janesville School District now requires health in eighth and ninth grades, so the administration decided the ninth-grade course should not be required.
Students will be able to take different courses during the one-semester time slot that had been used for health, officials said. Students are selecting next year's courses this month.
Not only will the various health topics be covered in other classes, they will be covered in all the grades, not just ninth grade, said Kim Ehrhardt, director of instruction.
Ehrhardt said a committee of administrators and teachers agreed that:
-- Biology courses could include human growth and development topics, which include sex.
-- Social studies courses could include health-related current events.
-- Family and consumer education could include nutrition.
-- Phy ed could include related health topics.
-- English courses could include requirements that all students write about health topics.
-- Advisories, otherwise known as home rooms, could address drug and alcohol issues.
The challenge for principals will be to ensure that all the topics are covered all four years, Hesselbacher said, and especially that advisory time is well used to address substance abuse.
In other business
In other business Tuesday, the Janesville School Board unanimously:
-- Agreed to send a letter to state lawmakers in support of Senate Bill 257, which would give Janesville and a few other school districts a one-time boost in state aid because they are unable, due to union contracts, to achieve savings by requiring employees to make pension payments or increase payments for other benefits.
-- Approved eliminating the shared building coordinator at Harrison and Kennedy schools, allowing the building coordinators to run those schools, and in a related move, to hire an academic learning coach for those schools through the end of the school year. The moves are expected to result in little or no change in personnel costs.
-- Accepted the retirements, effective in June and July, of Cheri Appel, third-grade teacher at Jackson Elementary School, 17 years in the district; Janice Diers, business teacher at Craig High School, 27.5 years; Pamela Kiskunas, kindergarten teacher at Harrison Elementary School, 28 years; Mark Marsden, special education teacher at Craig, 13 years; Sylvia O'Connor, music teacher at Madison, Washington and Jackson elementary schools, 19 years; Janice Schenk, first-grade teacher at Van Buren Elementary School, 31 years; and Ed Stried, English teacher at Craig, 41 years.
Jan 13, 2012 at 5:21 p.m.
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So vatoloco ... what should a teacher be paid?? I'm looking for a dollar figure here. Based on their education, training and experience ... what should their paycheck be?
Jan 13, 2012 at 4:11 p.m.
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"I did not grow up in Janesville or attend schools here, but I do know the value of an educator"
I do, about 90 to 100k if you include benefits with salary....
Jan 12, 2012 at 9:42 p.m.
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Thanks, jvlkid. It's nice to hear a kid's perspective.
Jan 12, 2012 at 1:41 p.m.
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Badgerlvr, go back and hibernate like all good badgers... I Stand with Walker, as he IS HELPING WISCONSIN GET BACK ON Track! If you cant see that, I feel sorry for you. Some of the most educated people have no clue about reality.
Jan 12, 2012 at 12:39 p.m.
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studs: There are TONS of phy ed offerings in the course handbook for both Craig and Parker. Go to http://www.janesvilleparker.org, click on the Course Selection button, and then click on the Course Selection Handbook to see the various offerings. Craig's list begins on p. 56 and Parker's list begins on p. 58. The courses cover many of the lifelong exercises you described.
Jan 12, 2012 at 8:52 a.m.
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I believe that parents need to wake up at least some of them. They dont need to worry about the message getting lost because it was never there. I as a high schooler know that a majority choose to drink and have sex and anyone who wants to deny it you are inept. i am the minority who chooses not to; but i here every Monday "so and so got drunk this weekend" and they openly admitt it. it is the same way with sex. I would say the drinking is more of a problem then sex but both are still problems. the way health was taught was good but kids dont care what an adult has to tellcthem they know everything.
Jan 12, 2012 at 8:47 a.m.
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Didn't Walker promise 250,000 jobs? Maybe he meant he'd (take away) 250,000 jobs. If that's the case, he's right on target!
Jan 12, 2012 at 8:10 a.m.
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bwe - Your memory is faulty. The teacher's contract for Janesville was negotiated over 18 months, agreed upon and signed well before Act 10 was even proposed. While other districts were rushing through extensions and new contracts, janesville was already set.
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I do feel bad for the health teachers who are going to be out of work next year. Those are real people with real families who will be leaving our community (taking their consumer and tax dollars with them) . Every layoff hurts local businesses and makes it harder for everyone to get by.
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Oh - and a report out today shows that Wisconsin was #1 in losing government jobs in 2011. ( http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front... ) Combine that with #4 in private sector job losses. Thanks Gov. Walker! Wisconsin is the biggest loser!
Jan 12, 2012 at 8:08 a.m.
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The Gazette should consider writing an article that reflects on or discusses the changes that hae or haven't been made in P.E. When I went to school, admittedly quite long ago, P.E. was directed entirely at competitive team sports. Is it now directed at healthy habits and movement? If not, I'd like to see P.E. reimagined to include the growing of vegetables, the discussion of healthy eating, the teaching of different types of lifelong "exercise" like yoga, Zumba, weight lifting, or simply weight lifting, and a discussion of the bodies changing needs as it ages. In short, I think P.E. should be directed at giving the student all the tools to take care of him/herself, which should, of course, include a unit on sexual health and pregnancy protection.
Jan 12, 2012 at 7:16 a.m.
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Yikes - the Kool Aid calling the Kool Aid purple ? It is unfortunate that some rely on name calling, scare tactics, and bullying to get their point across. Civility, anyone?
Jan 12, 2012 at 1:22 a.m.
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brwe drank the Kool-Aid that made the teachers the scapegoat for what was essentially a cut in property tax relief. I still remember when Republicans made a big deal of offering that benefit. Now they WANT every single local unit of government in a crunch between keeping the loyalty and morale of their employees or their taxes low. When it's set up like that, of course Walker-bewitched acolytes like brwe are going to pick the teachers to blame, when it was the actions of the Walker administration that screwed over every single local unit of government in the state. They're too blind to see it, and won't accept logic in explaining it. Basically, it's a cult.
Jan 11, 2012 at 10:26 p.m.
Jan 11, 2012 at 9:46 p.m.
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So, unless my memory's faulty, the board 1st rushed through the current teachers' contract, in order to beat the deadline of the law which would have given them the savings they essentially threw away. Now, they want extra money from the state to help make up for it?
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