The Greeneville Board of Education on Monday morning discussed college readiness, professional development, facilities needs, technological advances and many other topics in the final day of its two-day fall retreat meeting.

The board met for nearly four hours with central office administrators of the Greeneville City School System at the Kathryn W. Leonard Administrative Office.

The retreat, which involves review of the board's annual goals, began Sunday night with a nearly three-hour session.

The board has five annual goals, four of which were reviewed on Monday.

Dr. Vicki Kirk, assistant superintendent for instruction, presented information on Goal 1: "Provide excellence in programs."

This goal has three strategies: rigorous curriculum, excellence in instruction and broad range of experience.

As part of discussion on this goal, the board heard a presentation on block scheduling at Greeneville High School from GHS Principal Dr. Linda Stroud and Vivian Franklin, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

They recommended that GHS stay on a block schedule with four 90-minute classes a day, instead of six 60-minute classes a day.

Dr. Stroud said the new state graduation requirements will include a minimum of 22 credits, and a six-class day only provides an opportunity for up to 24 credits.

Under the block schedule, students have the opportunity to earn up to 32 credits, Stroud said.

GHS requires 28 credits for graduation, she noted.

Stroud said fewer class changes on the block schedule leads to a calmer environment and fewer behavior problems.

She added that a block schedule results in better attendance, fewer dropouts and increased college readiness because of the similarity to college schedules.

Kirk reported that Greeneville's average composite score on the ACT college entrance exam is 22.5.

Greeneville's ACT average, she said, compares to the state's average score of 20.7 and the national average score of 21.1.

Approximately 75 percent of GHS juniors took the ACT exam last year.

This year, all juniors will be required to take the ACT exam, unless they have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that states they are not required to do so.

As a result, more students who are not college bound will be taking the ACT exam, which could result in a lower average score, she said.

Greeneville's goal is to have an average ACT composite score of 24.

Based on ACT data, only one in 10 eighth-graders are on course to be ready for college-level work by the time they graduate from high school, according to information presented by Kirk.

This statistic is based on 540,000 eighth-graders who took the ACT EXPLORE assessment in 2007, according to the information.

A new study by ACT, Kirk said, reveals that when students' skills are improved during middle school, the results by the end of high school can be astounding.

In Greeneville, 33 percent of students are college-ready, based on their ACT scores, Kirk said.

This percentage compares with 18 percent of college ready students in the state and 22 percent in the nation, she said.

One of the "performance objectives" of Goal 1, as presented by Kirk, is development of a baseline for college readiness percentages and use of that baseline to set goals for the school system.

The other performance objectives of Goal 1 are:

* Ninety percent of each subgroup (African-American, economically disadvantaged, and English language learners) will score proficient or advanced in all areas of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) by 2008-09;

* Sixty percent of all students in each grade level and content area will score advanced on TCAP by 2010-2011;

* Three-year average score of 4.5 on the state writing assessment by 2011-2012, with a three-year average proficiency of 90 percent;

* Proficiency on Gateway exams by 100 percent of regular education students by 2009;

* Graduation rate of 100 percent by 2010;

* For Advanced Placement (AP), average scores and average percentage scoring three or better above state and national averages by 2008 and three-year averages maintained at this level;

* Fifty percent of graduating class has had at least one AP or dual credit course by 2010 (32 percent took AP or dual credit courses last year, according to Kirk);

* Develop a policy and plan for implementation of online coursework through a virtual classroom;

* Implementation of the Project Lead the Way engineering program at the Greeneville-Greene County Center for Technology; and

* Effective delivery and expanded opportunities for Gifted Services.

The Tennessee Department of Education has given approval for credit in a virtual classroom in French at GHS, Kirk said.

Plans are also to offer a virtual class in Mandarin Chinese, she noted.

Board member Dr. Mark Patterson said the school system is doing a "marginal" job in teaching foreign languages.

He recommended offering Spanish in grades K-5, followed by a different language in middle school, in an effort to teach students more than one foreign language.

Kirk reported "very significant progress" in the AP courses at GHS, which she attributed to teacher training and a new schedule that prevents gaps between classes and exams.

Robbie Mitchell, executive director of the Northeast Professional Development Center (NPDC), which is based in Greeneville, presented information on Goal 2: "Provide 'world-class educators."

This goal has three strategies: world-class professional learning, world-class recruitment and appropriate work conditions.

Mitchell noted that Greeneville spends a small amount on professional development, compared to other school systems.

An example she gave to compare spending on professional development was $2 million, or 3 percent of the budget for the Kingsport City School System, compared to Greeneville's actual spending of $87,350 from a $22.8 million budget for 2007-08.

She said, however, that the Greeneville School System is able to provide professional development to 100 percent of its educators through services provided by the state through the NPDC.

"I think we have made exceptional progress in professional development this year," Mitchell said.

This progress was made through the increase of professional development time throughout the school. She said nine days were scheduled this year, and 10 have been approved by the board for the 2009-10 school year.

Patterson asked how funding for professional development is decided.

Lisa Stephens, business and finance supervisor, said the funding often is based on what is available after salaries and other categories are funded.

Patterson recommended the preparation of a specific budget for professional development.

Information on Goal 3, "Provide a state-of-the-art learning environment," was presented by Kirk, Director of Schools Dr. Lyle Ailshie, and Beverly Miller, chief technology officer.

This goal has three strategies: well-maintained facilities, a safe teaching and learning environment and access to technologies.

The safe teaching and learning environment is a new proposed goal.

Ailshie presented a facilities plan for addressing building and space issues at Highland Year-Round Elementary School and Greeneville Middle School. (Please see related story).

Kirk spoke about safe teaching and learning environments, including the school system's new Coordinated School Health Plan and the new state-mandated safety/crisis management plans.

Miller spoke about access to technologies, including the school system's award-winning Homelink program.

Through Homelink, the school system provides a computer with Internet services to 22 students and their families who otherwise would not be able to afford the technology.

She said a recent donation of used computers from GreenBank will allow the Homelink program to serve an additional 19 families.

Miller also spoke about the use of the tablet laptop computers that have been provided for each teacher.

"Their utilization of these tools has far surpassed my expectations," she said. "It has very much become integrated into what they do."

She added that the school system needs to have a plan for replacement of the tablets, when necessary.

Stephens spoke about Goal 4: "Maintain fiscal stability, responsibility and accountability."

Stephens recommended changing one of the strategies of this goal from using forecasting tools to improving business practices.

She also recommended changing another strategy from exemplary human resource and financial services to enhance benefits for employees.

The other strategy of this goal is to focus expenditures on instruction.

Stephens spoke about a new energy conservation program called "Kick the Kilowatts," which began Oct. 1.

The schools are competing to see who can save the most energy each month.

At the winning school, a drawing will be held, and three students and the principal will be treated to lunch, Stephens said.

Also, a drawing among teachers will be held, with the winner receiving one day off with pay, she said.

Following the retreat, some of the board members toured the former Danielle's restaurant space in the Kathryn W. Leonard Administrative Office building.

Preliminary plans, depending on the availability of funding, are to renovate the former restaurant space into training space for the Northeast Tennessee Professional Development Center.