Doug Light, standing, is introduced as the transportation director during the work session.

WARSAW — A lot was discussed during the Warsaw School Board work session held Tuesday, Aug. 22. The main focuses of the work session included testing scores, a technology report and Title I grants.

Shelly Wilfong, chief analytics officer, presented a data report on AP, SAT and ACT testing scores. She explained that the number of students taking AP exams and scoring a three or more are increasing at Warsaw Community High School. The school’s average is currently above Indiana’s average. The school also had 28 AP Scholars in 2017, these are students who score a three or more on three or more AP exams. Board members discussed coming up with a way to honor these students in the future.

WCHS’s SAT scores are also above the state average. Currently, the average SAT score for WCHS is 1084 with the state average sitting at 1071. Last year’s graduating class had 61 percent of students taking the SAT test.

Brad Hagg, chief technology officer, then gave a technology report. The one to one technology has been completely implemented within the district. All students in kindergarten through fourth grade have access to a classroom set of iPads. Fifth grade through 12th grade all have take-home iPads, these devices range from full-size to minis.

In the spring of 2017, a Bright Bytes survey was given to students above third grade, teachers, principals and parents. This survey asked questions regarding technology within the school system. The questions were divided into four categories, classroom, access, skills and environment.

Based on the survey, Warsaw scored lower on the classroom category while scoring advanced in both the access and skills categories. Hagg concluded that moving to a digital classroom remained the biggest challenge to the school system.

Also revealed during the survey was that 10 percent of students remain without access to wifi at home. Hagg said he is looking into the cost of having mobile hotspots available in the school libraries for students to check out and take home when needed.

It was announced that Title I grants took a significant hit this year. That led the school district to make some pretty serious decisions. Previously, each building had two Title I teachers. Due to the funding cutbacks, now only one Title I position remains in each building. The only exception is Leesburg Elementary which has to remain at two Title I teachers due to the poverty level.

In other news:

• The board approved the certified personal report containing 22 new hires, seven separations and two leave of absences.
• A facilities update was given. The last side of Washington Elementary is currently getting bricked, the landscaping at Lincoln Elementary is completed with only a few more outside projects to complete, both the cafeteria projects are going well and quotes have been received to fix roofing issues at the high school.
• Doug Light was introduced as the transportation director.