PENDLETON — South Madison Community School Corp. heard an update on some computer issues, spotlighted achievement at Pendleton Heights Middle School and heard a report from the Indiana Department of Education’s recently released school grades during recent board meetings.
Superintendent Joe Buck updated the board on the latest information he had about two computer viruses that had infected the corporation’s network in October.
The virus did not infect student ChromeBook computers, Buck said.
The issue resulted in time being spent cleaning and updating computers in the Administrative Services Center by updating Windows 7 to Windows 10.
A few staff computers were too old to upgrade and were replaced with newer computers.
“We are not sure what the source of the virus was, but once it was identified, our IT department worked quickly to get it contained,” Buck said.
The district had planned to move away from Windows-based computers for the teachers after spring break of this school year. The virus resulted in the timeline being moved up a few months, Buck said.
In other school business, Pendleton Heights Middle School Principal Dan Joyce presented a report to the board on school academic achievements as reflected in the district’s Students First Strategic Plan.
In the report, Joyce highlighted strong student growth numbers. Not only did his school retain its letter grade of “A” from the state, but its grade score rose to 97 percent, up 9 percent in two years since the last change in statewide testing.
Joyce said he was proud of teachers’ abilities to study the constant changes in Indiana statewide testing and make changes in the delivery of instruction to increase student achievement.
“Our elementary schools do a great job of setting the table for us so that we can take students to the next level in their learning,” Joyce said.
What he sees that the general public does not, he said, is an unbelievable work ethic in his middle school staff members who understand the need for constant improvement and continued learning of new skills to maintain a high level of expectations for student achievement.
“The data shows us that we are moving in the right direction,” Joyce sad.
Assistant Superintendent Mark Hall gave a report to the board on the recently released IDOE school A-F letter grades for the 2017-18 school year.
Hall was pleased to report that the district’s two largest schools, Pendleton Heights High School and the middle school, earned “A” grades.
On the personnel front, high school special education instructional assistant Julie Smith has resigned.
Support staff recommendations for hire included Aaron Erlandson, beginning band, Pendleton Heights Middle School; and Ray Aldridge, bus driver and administrative services center.
The board also approved an extracurricular recommendation for David Beck as boys soccer coach at the middle school.
Also on the extracurricular front, board member Bill Hutton congratulated the Pendleton Heights High School volleyball team, both soccer teams, the football team and the high school band for great fall seasons.