Superintendent Andrew Melin talks about where Greater Clark is, where he wants it to go

JEFFERSONVILLE — A few weeks into the school year and at his new job, Greater Clark County Schools’ superintendent has had a chance to get a feel for the district and its community.

Andrew Melin, the 51-year-old head of the district, said this is his 30th year in education. From his early days as the manager of a student radio station to his third stint as a superintendent, Melin said he’ll target some of Greater Clark’s problems, but also build on the successes it’s already experienced in the last three years.

“As families or businesses are moving into our area, we want there to be no doubt that Greater Clark is a great educational option for their students,” Melin said. “It all ties together, the academic achievement, that has to be there, the qualities of programs ... it’s all cyclical.”

The district’s budget continues to have difficulties, student achievement has seen a big upswing and technology continues to remain on the horizon. He said juggling those priorities, along with others, are challenges he wants to tackle.

MAKING THE HONOR ROLL

The district’s ISTEP+ scores have seen steady improvement under the previous superintendent, Stephen Daeschner. Scores improved by about 25 percent before Melin arrived.

But Melin said the district continues to ride barely below the state’s average scores. Last year, students in Greater Clark came in just 2 percentage points below the state, with 77.6 percent of students passing English/language arts, 79.2 percent in math and 69.6 percent passing both subjects.

“That’s just a very short-term goal to make sure we’re exceeding state averages, but that’s something as part of our strategic planning process that we need to develop,” he said.

Though he said the strategic plan hasn’t come together just yet, Melin said he plans to at least exceed the state averages by the end of the school year with some new approaches to instruction. Specifically, he said he’s going to add a strategy called Response to Instruction. Students get more individualized plans on what they need to learn, what’s being taught and how teachers make it happen.

“I feel we’re in a position where we need to put more focus on individual students,” Melin said. “We need to adjust our instructional practice to accommodate individual students.”

He said Daeschner helped lay some foundation for making Response to Instruction work. He said zero periods in the day allow teachers to collaborate on strategies in classrooms, go over common assessments and see where students stand. He said Response to Instruction builds on that.

Melin said some of the work Daeschner did isn’t going away, specifically with his Goal Clarity Windows. Students know what they’re expected to learn and teachers ensure students aren’t lagging behind by checking on their knowledge base every few weeks with assessments.

If adjustments are needed to catch someone up, teachers pick up on it.

Melin also said propelling high-achievers is on the list, but he doesn’t want anyone to forget about students he calls backbones — the ones who show up to class regularly, do their homework and perform solidly.

But he said figuring out what all students need to pass ISTEP isn’t the only goal. He said deepening student learning and understanding is a bigger piece of the work.

“To me, it’s all about making sure that we identify those things that our students must learn,” Melin said. “When we make those decisions, those decisions are not based solely so they can perform well on a test. These are concepts that we believe are lifelong concepts that they must learn.”

FINANCING

Between constant cuts from the state, property tax caps that hurt the district’s capital projects fund and other problems that stem closer to home, Melin said there’s a lot to consider when trying to get the budget balanced and keep it that way.

But one area of focus he’s going to keep an eye on is enrollment.

The bulk of a district’s general fund comes from the number of students enrolled. For 2012, Greater Clark County Schools got about $5,450 per student, according to state data.

Melin said the final count hasn’t come in from the state and probably won’t until later in September, but he said about 80 students left the district last year, which will cost it about $436,000.

“If you’re not maintaining your enrollment, you’re losing some significant dollars,” Melin said. “If you lose 100 kids, that’s over half a million dollars of revenue per year.”

But until that state data come in, he said it’s going to be difficult to tell where those 80 students went.

However, he said he knows some students left the district not because of moving, but because parents had the opportunity to send them elsewhere.

“One of my concerns are that as children are transitioning from fifth grade to sixth grade, they’re getting options on where they go to middle school,” Melin said.

He said the same thing is happening as students move from middle to high school.

He said identifying the reasons those students are moving is going to be paramount in adjusting the district’s strategies to not only stay on top of enrollment, but maintain it.

Kindergartners, though, seem to be coming in scores. He said keeping enrollment in kindergarten at the level it’s at could help, too.

“Our kindergarten numbers are very, very good, so that’s a positive for us,” Melin said.

TECHNOLOGY

As Greater Clark’s neighbors embrace the use of more technology in classrooms, Melin said his district will have to work hard to stay on their level.

New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. passed a measure to pursue a general obligation bond to fund the infrastructure for their tech initiative to put devices in the hands of every student. Students at Our Lady of Providence Junior/Senior High School have iPads that go to school and back home with them, and Clarksville Community Schools is pursuing more 1:1 initiatives and a New Tech model of educating students.

Greater Clark is already looking into more access for students.

Amy Schellenberg, executive director for educational services, has been updating the board on what kind of work the district needs to get a 1:1 computing initiative in more classrooms.

Melin said though selling parents on the idea might be tough, it’s a necessary move.

“That is not only our current reality, but we’re not going to revert back,” Melin said. “I don’t see us taking a step back from a technology perspective, it’s only going to continue to advance. We’ve got to get up to speed as a school system.”

He said wireless infrastructure exists in the secondary schools, but getting in the elementary schools is the next step before looking at devices, figuring out which one meets their needs and how it’s going to be paid for.

While he said all options need to be considered, he hopes there’s a way to do it to minimally affect taxpayers. For now, he said they’ll use a $1 million Common School Fund Loan, which they can pay back over five years with a 1 percent interest rate.

He said he appreciates the efforts of parent groups that have raised money for their individual schools, but he wants to make sure every school is on the same playing field.

“A lot of technology has been funded through parent organizations,” Melin said. “But not all schools are fortunate, so that leads to an equity concern. A technology plan needs to be developed so that all the classrooms are equal. It’s our district’s responsibility to make sure that happens and we’re not relying on [Parent Teacher Associations] or [Parent Teacher Organizations] to make sure that happens.

“Some buildings are more capable than others for providing that, and to me, we’re all one school corporation.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Melin said the district also needs to work on its alternative school options to help those students and there will likely be other challenges ahead, but he said he’s in it for the long haul.

With his three children, Luke, Ellie and Jake, attending schools in the district and his wife working to get more rooted in the community, he said he plans on staying here until all three of his children graduate from Greater Clark schools.

That, he said, is another reason he wants to work hard for the district.

“I have a real, vested interest in what we’re doing,” Melin said. “I’ve always felt that I want the best for my kids, like any parent would, and if I can do great things educationally for my kids here at Greater Clark then it’s going to benefit all kids.”

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Superintendent Andrew Melin talks about where Greater Clark is, where he wants it to go

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