The District 202 school board discussed implementing technology to televise school events and debated how to improve academic support services for students in need at its meeting Monday night.
Board members considered the installation of new technology that would allow Evanston Township High School to broadcast sports and music events as well as school board meetings on Evanston cable television.
The project includes new wiring for the school’s football field, swimming pool area, theater and school board meeting room. Glen Hill, the school’s television technician, told board members that equipment for the required technology would cost more than $22,500.
Board member Mary Wilkerson said she was concerned about the cost of hiring staff to operate the new broadcast system and cameras. But Hill said he would oversee each production and that extra help would not be necessary.
“The cost for the production part won’t change because I’m at the events,” Hill said. “All this allows me to do is to take (a camera) and transmit it live instantly.”
Other board members suggested that live broadcasts would hurt attendance at the ETHS events that are televised.
Hill said this seemed unlikely. ETHS administrators still could choose which programs would be broadcast, he said.
School board President Willie J. Miller Jr. asked about the educational benefits of live broadcasts. Hill said several teachers suggested adding a live homework hotline for students. He also said extracurricular activities could be broadcasted.
Another benefit of the technology would be punctuality – if broadcast live, D202 board meetings would have to start when the broadcast was scheduled to begin. Currently the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board broadcasts its meetings live while D202 meetings are taped and then replayed on television throughout the week.
The board will vote on whether to approve installation of the technology at its next meeting.
Superintendent Allan Alson had planned to discuss changes to the evening high school program at Monday’s meeting, but he said he wanted to refine his proposal before submitting it to the board.
In other business, an update on the progress of ETHS academic support services sparked a debate on how school officials can best improve student performance in the classroom. Denise Martin, ETHS assistant superintendent, discussed weekly meetings where school officials brainstormed ideas to help students learn more effectively.
Board member Jane Colleton said schools must help remove the shame associated with students who are slow learners. School board Vice President Margaret Lurie addressed the issue of supplementary tutoring, which raises competition among advanced students to achieve better grades.
Many of the board members agreed that there were not enough teachers or services available to provide individual attention to the students who need it.
Wilkerson said the problem is that school board members do not know how students are doing until “they have fallen through the cracks.”
“We expect students to meet certain requirements, but we don’t know if they have met those requirements until April of their junior year,” Wilkerson said. “It’s too late then. We need to measure performance between freshman and sophomore year … on a quarterly, regular basis.”
The school board also approved leasing space at ETHS to the Minority Student Achievement Network, a national organization of 15 high schools that works to improve academic performance through networking and research.
At its Feb. 25 meeting, the school board will vote on textbook adoptions for the 2002-2003 school year. The ETHS world languages department is still having discussions with D65 middle schools, attempting to align academic materials between the districts’ curriculum guidelines.
