INFORMATIONAL

The Superintendent's Leadership Advisory Council meets 
regularly.  It is composed of the chairmen of the eight 
regional study groups, plus the VASS officers.  We will 
distribute the minutes of each meeting by means of a 
Superintendent's Memorandum.

The minutes of the meeting of October 8, 1999 are attached.  
If you have questions regarding this information, please 
contact Richard Layman at (804) 225-2024.

Thank you.


PDS/pg

Attachment:     A hard copy of this memo and its attachment
                will be sent to the superintendent's office.

         Meeting of the Superintendent's Leadership Advisory Council
                           Friday, October 8, 1999


Present:        Superintendents - -Mark A. Edwards, Jane T. York, 
Harry Ward, Edgar B. Hatrick, III, John H. Kidd, 
J. David Martin, James B. Scott, Philip L. 
Worrell, and Alfred R. Butler, executive 
director, VASS.

        Department of Education - -Paul D. Stapleton, M. 
Kenneth Magill, Richard W. Layman, Cam Harris, M. 
Jo Bunce, Thomas Shortt, Shelley Loving-Ryder, 
Charles Finley, Cynthia Cave, Anne Wescott, and 
Dennis Weiss.

        Special Guests - -Ursula Kennedy and Melvin 
Baker, senior investigators, U.S. Department of 
Education, Office of Civil Rights, and Andy 
Stamp, Associate Executive Director, Virginia 
Association of School Superintendents.

        Mr. Stapleton began the meeting by welcoming the new 
and returning council members and sharing his appreciation 
for their continuing support and assistance.  He turned the 
meeting over to Richard Layman who introduced Mrs. Ursula 
Kennedy and Mr. Melvin Baker, senior investigators for the 
Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education.  A 
discussion followed regarding assistance that the U.S. 
Office might provide to local school divisions in 
preventing hate crimes and harassment.  It was recommended 
that the U.S. Office work in cooperation with the 
professional associations for elementary, middle, and 
secondary principals to offer workshops at annual statewide 
conferences.

        Dr. Magill reported that the recent informational 
superintendents' memorandum number 174, Annual Report on 
Discipline, Crime, and Violence:  1999-2000, was being 
reviewed by Department of Education staff to see if some of 
the requested data could be eliminated.  He noted that the 
report was an effort by the department to consolidate four 
federal and state reports into one report.  A second 
memorandum will be mailed soon clarifying reporting 
language and identifying data that schools can provide on a 
voluntary basis.

        Dennis Weiss provided an update on the state's Y2K 
initiative and reminded superintendents to continue 
reporting their school division status through December 
2000.

        Dr. Shortt reviewed proposed changes in the Standards 
of Accreditation being considered by the Board of 
Education.  Mark Edwards suggested that the terms 
elementary, middle, and high school be used throughout the 
document to clarify which standards apply to which schools.  
Under the proposed standards, it was announced that schools 
would be permitted to move from a warning rating to 
provisional rating if they demonstrated improvement.  A 
number of superintendents were concerned that the proposed 
standards may require low-achieving schools to select and 
implement a school improvement model from an approved list.  
Dr. Shortt noted that the process for the adoption of the 
proposed standards included public hearings in November and 
final adoption by the board in January.  Ed Hatrick 
proposed that all members of the Board of Education should 
be present at every public hearing.  Mr. Stapleton 
encouraged all superintendents to attend and speak at the 
hearings.

        Mrs. Harris provided a brief SOL assessment and School 
Performance Report Card update.  Al Butler questioned the 
practice of including the Algebra I end-of-course scores in 
the middle school totals.  John Kent suggested that the 
middle school Algebra I scores be added to the high school 
scores and the eighth grade math scores remain with middle 
schools' scores.

        Mr. Stapleton concluded the meeting by sharing 
proposed teacher licensure changes.  These changes were 
developed by the Advisory Board for Teacher Education and 
Licensure in an effort to help school divisions deal with 
the need for teachers.
.