School Zone
Shifts in school bus transportation forced by budget shortfall to be examined on next episode of "School Matters"
Changes in bus transportation next year, helping children and parents learn to speak English, online resources designed to boost student achievement and the school district's Service Excellence project are topics of lively discussion on "School Matters." The next edition of Duval County Public Schools' monthly question-and-answer program premieres Sunday, March 22, at 10 a.m. on WJCT-TV, over-the-air Channel 7 and Comcast Channel 8.
The chief of operations support and the transportation director will join Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals to explain how the catastrophic budget shortfall projected for the 2009-10 school year has forced changes in student bus transportation. The panelists will detail reductions in service now being considered by the school board and how a committee of administrators, parents, principals and teachers developed the scenarios under consideration.
The enthusiastic staff of the Center For Language and Culture will explain how non-English speaking children and their parents are being assisted by the unique operation on the Kings Trail Elementary School campus. They will explain how their day and evening sessions are helping immigrant and refugee families become assimilated into American society.
A middle school administrator and a principal will explain how a Web-based resource is providing individualized assistance to Jacksonville students in grades six to 12. They will tell how students can boost D and F grades into passing ones, how the online curriculum can push accomplished students further in their studies and how the offering gives each student individualized instruction to meet their needs.
The final segment will feature an examination of the district's Service Excellence project that is creating a welcoming and respectful culture within all DCPS schools and facilities. The district's chief trainer and a leader of the first department to complete the Service Excellence training will explain how the project is quickly transforming the atmosphere that welcomes parents, business partners and DCPS employees into school facilities.
The program is produced monthly by WJCT-TV and the Communications Department of Duval County Public Schools. Veteran interviewer Joyce Morgan Danford is the moderator. "School Matters" airs the fourth Sunday of every month at 10 a.m. on WJCT-TV, over-the-air Channel 7 and Comcast Channel 8. After its premiere, "School Matters" is televised each Wednesday at 5 p.m. on Comcast cable Channel 29.
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