The Leander Independent School District Board of Trustees discussed the 2010-11 calendar, student achievement and student health during its regular meeting Feb. 4.

The new calendar proposed to move the end of semester to before the Christmas holiday break. Superintendent Bret Champion said the change was made because of student and staff recommendations.

The change results in a difference of 20 days between the semesters, Trustee Jim Sneeringer said, and he asked if that was too much of a difference.

“Should we move the semester break before Christmas?” he asked. “Twenty days is four weeks difference between the semesters.”

Champion said school principals suggested the uneven semesters would be leveled out by the amount of state and other testing that occurs in the spring. Debbie Sommer, director of state assessment, said students spend at least 8-10 days testing during the second semester.

The state legislates when classes are allowed to start, making it impossible to balance the schedules without moving the semester break.

Vice President Grace Barber-Jordan said if students and staff recommended the change, she supported it.

“I posed this question to a house full of girls about to enter high school,” she said. “And they were horrified at the thought of coming back after Christmas and taking tests.”

The biggest effect, Champion said, would be on single-semester courses such as economics.

The calendar keeps the weeklong Thanksgiving break because Champion said having only three days off results in poor attendance for the other two days that week. It was historically the lowest attended two days in the year. That distinction now goes to the two days following a three-day staff development break in February.

“Any time you have a two- or even three-day week, they’re not as well attended,” Champion said.

The calendar will be added to the consent agenda for the Feb. 18 meeting for final approval.

Also during the Feb. 4 meeting, the board saw a summary of the district’s 2009 Academic Excellence Indicator System report, which the state uses to measure school performance. AEIS uses test scores, dropout rates and other data to evaluate districts.

Test scores were consistently higher than state and region averages and showed continued improvement. However, Sommer said scores were trending upward statewide.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re getting a new test,” she said.

One area of concern for the district was completion rates. Sommer said 83.4 percent of LISD students graduate in four years, with 2.4 percent earning GEDs, 7.3 percent continuing for another year and 6.9 percent dropping out. The district has made improving those numbers a goal and the state requirements are getting more stringent.

Another area of concern for board members were SAT and ACT scores. Though district students tend to score well on the tests, there has been little improvement over the years.

“If we’re increasing scores on the TAKS and raising everyone’s level, why aren’t these following suit?” Trustee Elizabeth Frey asked.

Assistant Superintendent Monta Akin said they would need to do more research to answer that question.

In addition to reviewing students’ academic fitness, the district got an update on students’ physical fitness. Ray Langlois, coordinator of health and physical education, said while students in LISD were more physically fit than others in the region, there was room for improvement.

The fitness test measured a student’s body mass index, ability to do pushups, abdominal pull-ups and run a mile in a given time.

“We’re looking at body composition, strength and flexibility,” he said.

The fitness levels of students dropped dramatically from the third grade to the 12^th grade. The good news was that students scored better this year than last year.

“We were really proud of the results on all our students,” Langlois said.

Physical fitness was also tied to academic performance. A study by the Cooper Institute showed a correlation between high accountability ratings and higher levels of physical fitness. The study did not specify why the two were correlated, however.

“We seem to see our fittest kids are in the schools that are exemplary,” he said.

Finally, the board recognized a local teacher and received criticism from a Cedar Park High School student.

Michelle Mann, science teacher at Vista Ridge High School, was named as one of three state-level finalists in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Program.

“Essentially, what that means is she is one of the top three science teachers in Texas,” VRHS Principal Paul Johnson said. “She does an amazing job.”

Along with the praise, the board heard some criticism.

CPHS senior Cameron Shoppach addressed the board about the district’s abstinence based sexual education. He said research has shown such programs do not decrease the number of teens having sex or decrease the number of sexual partners teens have. What it does, he said, is distort information about contraception.

“In terms of contraception, we learned it’s a failure, so there is no reason to use it,” he said.

He added he would estimate approximately 33 percent of his peers were sexually active and many did not use contraception because they thought it was pointless.

“I believe that a comprehensive sex ed program … could help save lives and help prevent teenage pregnancy,” he said.