Members present: Caroline Truax, Karen LeCates, Kibbey Crumbley, Bob Kuhn, Courtney Allen, Diane
Jacobi, Shellie Marino, Hannah Kitzmiller, Adrian Hoefer, David Smith
Meeting was brought to order by Caroline Truax at 7:30 am.
Karen Lecates motioned to approve agenda; Bob Kuhn seconded. The agenda was unanimously
approved.
The minutes from last meeting were reviewed. Diane Jacobi motioned to approve; Karen Lecates
seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved.
All members of were introduced. Two students have joined the council: Adrian Hoefer (SGA president)
and Hannah Kitzmiller (NHS president).
Council discussed the dates for RFF interest forms. It was noted that the 1st deadline was yesterday and
the next is in September.
Caroline Truax led a brainstorming session for rff ideas.
Diane Jacobi mentioned maximizing seat time for 3 hour block disrupting testing. Kibbey Crumbley
mentioned district training attended this summer and teachers redelivered during preplanning.
Diane Jacobi mentioned 2 other ideas she’s considered: cross-curricular lesson and a series of speakers
similar to Ted Talks. The council agreed with the idea and mentioned that this would be productive
during testing, but would not require an RFF. Bob Kuhn mentioned structured AP review / structured
study sessions during testing blocks. He also mentioned a student Ed-Camp. Possibilities would include
hour of coding, finance tutorials, life skills, etc.
Hannah Kitzmiller said Mr. Kuhn has great study sessions. 
Shellie Marino questioned if RFF can create flexibility with testing dates, times, etc., to which Diane
Jacobi mentioned capacity issues at state.
Another idea brought up by Karen Lecates was requiring volunteer services for graduation. Mr. Kuhn
questioned if there’s already a college-based certification program that separates students via
community service, etc. He mentioned doing some research to find out.
Caroline Truax mentioned two suggestions on behalf of Mrs. Male, one being concerns with students
who have an academic gap before high school. She asked if there is there a pre-algebra class for them,
and if so, can it be counted. Mrs. Crumbley said the push back is that you’re encouraging kids to not
have rigor, as she has tried this with an English course. Mrs. Crumbley also mentioned the students
impacted are refugee status and it affects 6 or 7 students.
Bob Kuhn mentioned results taken from a faculty poll, and discussed Computer Science counting as a
science credit. Shellie Marino said that practice is already current. This course counts as a science credit,
is calculated into HOPE, and can be a Foreign Language credit after 2 year.
Mr. Kuhn also mentioned bringing a career tech course to our campus, but questioned space. Diane
Jacobi brought up the idea of having students do half their day here then continue at Gwinnett Tech
since we don’t have the space. Shellie Marino said dual-enrollment admission requires students to pass
all 4 sections of compass test (pre-algebra, algebra, writing, reading).
Last year, Ms. Marino said 80 students were given the applications to take the Compass Test. 25
completed the process and continued to testing.
Caroline Truax mentioned a program at Langston Hughes where students take classes at a business that
they also work at.
The council then discussed the following discussion items not related to RFF:










Tech for 1:1 initiative – Parents can go early to orientation and see what we are doing with 1:1
On September 9th, teachers will facilitate a 1.5 hour block where students are exposed to
technology. This is required prior to students getting devices.
As far as the approved device, we are still waiting on a decision based on the board meeting.
Mrs. Crumbley mentioned the International seal. She expressed this is a good opportunity for
our students and that she will forward more information to the council.
Class rank – All schools around us have taken this away because of issues that arise from this.
Student representatives Hannah Kitzmiller and Adrian Hoefer voiced concerns with having this
also. Mrs. Crumbley said this year it will stay so we can clearly articulate to parents that it will
be removed next year. Ms. Marino will send data supporting this decision to everyone to
review.
The co-labs and learning commons are great. Hannah and Adrian questioned if we can have
more, especially with humanities.
David Smith brought up an opportunity to participate in a presentation given by Patrick Kennedy
about brain research.
Cluster alignment initiative – Caroline Truax is meeting this week with other SGC chairs to
discuss RFF ideas for each school. She will also discuss the motivation piece with other schools.
She also mentioned meeting with the SGC chair from Langston Hughes. He would like to have
an exchange of ideas, as he was very impressed with our previous Seed Fund ideas.
Meeting dates were discussed and will be the first Tuesday of every month.
Sweep Bus – Courtney Allen will reach out to cross country, band, and football to see the
number of students impacted. Mrs. Crumbley will then reach out to the area superintendent to
see about funding.
8:34 meeting adjourned