Published: July 15, 2008 01:30 am      

STARPOINT: Community service program is tabled

PENDLETON — Starpoint’s expansion of its community service program will have to wait, at least until the next school board meeting.

Although originally expected to be voted on at Monday’s meeting, the Board of Education needed some more information about the program and put it off for another meeting.

“The board had a lot of questions, so we tabled it,” said Superintendent C. Douglas Whelan.

Whelan said the issue would come before the board again at its next meeting Aug. 4.

Seniors are already required to do 15 hours of community service. In the expanded program, that would continue, but hours would no longer be done as part of the participation in government class. Juniors would do 12 hours service, beginning with the upcoming school year. As the program is phased in, the graduating class of 2013 would have to complete all 40 required hours. Students who begin at Starpoint after their freshman year will have their requirement adjusted accordingly.

Eventually, freshmen would need five hours; sophomores would need eight hours.

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors would have the option of working their hours at either a school-based activity or a community organization from the district’s list of agencies. Seniors must work 10 hours at a community organization.

Despite having questions, some of the board members seemed to be in favor of the new program.

“Personally, I don’t get any better satisfaction than when I’ve done something for the community,” said board member Michael ZImmerman.

In other business, the board voted to add an elementary teaching position at the kindergarten level. Starpoint had seen an increase in enrollment of about 28 kindergartners from a year ago, to about 206. For the 2007-08 school year, the district had nine teachers and 178 students in kindergarten.

“Three years ago we had 10 (teachers), and enrollment went down, so we dropped to nine,” Whelan said. “We’re trying to keep the class sizes in kindergarten at around 20.”

Prior to Monday’s meeting the board held its annual reorganizational meeting. Gary Braun was elected unanimously as board president. Braun previously served as vice president under president Diane Braun, no relation, who chose not to run again. Mark Ewart was elected vice president by a close 5-4 vote over Zimmerman.