School officials post blogs, videos about plan
Bibb County school officials have addressed some of the most talked about parts of the Macon Miracle plan in several posts on Superintendent Romain Dallemand’s blog, Compass Points.
There is one blog entry devoted to each of the following topics: employee feedback, athletics, Mandarin Chinese instruction, special-needs programs, transportation, year-round school, working with the Pacific Educational Group, gifted education, school safety and finances. The system has also posted videos about each topic on its YouTube page.
On school discipline, for instance, school system leaders are recommending a districtwide safety evaluation to be conducted by an outside organization, along with developing two alternative schools, according to a blog post by Ed Judie, deputy superintendent of student affairs.
The alternative school programs would serve students with serious discipline issues and those who have committed offenses, as well as those coming back to school from youth detention centers.
“Many of these placements will start immediately using the Ombudsman alternative program effective March 2012,” Judie wrote. “Students who will be identified and placed in Ombudsman include those who violate the district’s ‘Guidelines for Success,’ and those with multiple offenses who are recommended by the building principals, associated superintendents and district hearing officer.”
The system is also implementing an antibullying plan that will allow students, parents and others to report bullying via text message. The text reporting program will start this month, and compliance officers will collect and review those tips.
In addition, there will be three mental health therapists on hand at the Ombudsman program, according to Judie’s post. Students in the program will also work with employees to develop a transition plan, and they must show progress before returning to their original schools.
For the most part, though, the entries did not offer much new information from that shared at various public meetings in recent weeks.
To read the entries, visit romaindallemand.blogspot.com. To watch the videos, visit www.youtube.com/bibbschools.
To contact writer Andrea Castillo, call 744-4331.
This story was originally published March 2, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "School officials post blogs, videos about plan."