New regulations for Meridian
Public Schools teacher assistants
By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
March 18, 2003
Teacher assistants who are already employed with the Meridian Public School District will have until 2006 to meet newly mandated criteria.
The criteria, set forth by the No Child Left Behind legislation, requires teacher assistants have at least two years or 48 credit hours of undergraduate study. Other options include an associate's degree or a standardized test that gauges their reading, writing and math abilities.
The district had 72 teacher assistants who had at least 48 hours of course credit and 76 who needed to take the test. Twelve teacher assistants said they would not take the test; those might retire or seek another job.
Out of the 76 who needed to take the test, 63 actually took it and 30 passed all three sections. That left 46 teacher assistants who need to take the test again or for the first time.
Fred Wile, school board president, said he believed the testing is a good idea because "it is not fair for our students to not have teacher assistants with these requirements."
In other business:
The Meridian School Board was also presented with facts about ACT preparation for high school students.
Cheryl Thomas, a Meridian High School counselor, said three opportunities are being provided for students this year to prepare for the ACT. They include weekend workshops, week-long ACT preparation after school and extended hours at the Meridian High School Career Center on Monday evenings.
The ACT is a voluntary test required by most colleges and universities for admission.
The school board also approved the addition of an extra day for new teacher orientation. New teachers in the district will have to attend the extra day to help them learn about classroom management.
The work groups that are charged with assisting in the search for a new school superintendent gave a brief update on their progress.
Ed Lynch, co-chairman of the New Expectations group said his group will finish up this week and work on a report to submit to the school board in late March.
The board also elected officers last night. Fred Wile and Ed Lynch will remain president and vice president of the board. Board member B.J. Barrett was elected board secretary to replace former secretary Ann Stewart who resigned last month.
