APS school board gets uniform recommendations
By Jeff Gorman
Children in Akron Public Schools (APS) District’s elementary and middle schools are likely to wear uniforms next year. The APS Board of Education learned Oct. 8 what those uniforms might look like.
APS Communications Director Karen Ingraham, the chairperson of the uniform task force, presented her group’s recommendation at the board meeting. The uniforms would not be the traditional parochial-style uniforms, but more of a mandated list of colors and styles of what the students could wear.
Ingraham said recommendations for girls include polo shirts or blouses with collars, along with “uniform” slacks, skirts, jumpers or knee-length shorts. Recommendations for boys include polo shirts or dress shirts with collars, along with “uniform” pants or knee-length shorts. Both boys and girls also could wear cardigans, pullovers or vests. The colors would be white, blue or yellow for the tops; and navy blue or khaki for the bottoms. Each principal could also designate two extra colors for the tops.
Before the board approves the recommendations, it will have a public meeting seeking input about the proposed uniform policy.
“It’s time for the
board to take community input,” said board President
Linda Kersker. “We’re going to have a fashion
show at our Oct. 22 meeting.”
The location of that meeting
will be announced soon.
Currently, six schools in the
Buchtel cluster have uniforms. They are Perkins Middle
School (started in the fall of 2004) and Schumacher
(1991), Rankin (1993), Erie Island (1997), Crouse (2003)
and Portage Path (2005) elementary schools.
No schools in the Firestone cluster
have uniforms. The other Akron schools with uniforms
are Barrett, Findlay, Mason and Robinson elementary
schools.
The board must pass a new uniform
policy by February for it to take effect for the next
school year.
In other news, the board:
• designated board member
James Hardy as its representative to the Ohio School
Boards Association’s Board of Trustees. Kersker
held the position for the previous year and a half;
• promoted Ellen Mc-Williams
from special education director to assistant superintendent
for curriculum and instruction, effective
Jan. 1. McWilliams is succeeding Sue Long, who will
retire Dec. 31.
“Dr. Long played a very
important part in my coming to know what my role is
on this board,” said Hardy.
McWilliams introduced a presentation
by math curriculum specialist Steve Miller. His team
of three math coaches talked about new math strategies,
such as MathScape and Power Algebra.
MathScape gives teachers options
to make math more engaging
to individual students. Power Algebra uses PowerPoint
presentations to illustrate math concepts;
• recognized a team of four
students from Roswell Kent Middle School for winning
a national science competition. The team will be one
of five groups of American children who will move on
to a global science fair in South Africa.
• accepted a $190,000 grant
from the city of Akron to support after-school programs
in the elementary schools; and •
passed a resolution to support a congressional override
of President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program.
“The veto would directly
impact our poorest students,” said Hardy, who
introduced the resolution.
In other district news, Helen
E. Arnold Community Learning Center (CLC) families,
school staff and city and state leaders will officially
dedicate the new building at 450 Vernon Odom Blvd. The
ceremony will take place
Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.
The Arnold CLC is the third building
completed as part of the Imagine Akron CLCs program.
The Resnik CLC opened Dec. 18, 2006, and the Voris CLC
opened Jan. 10.
During regular school hours,
CLCs serve as school facilities. After school, on weekends
and during the summer, many CLCs can be used for recreation,
adult education, after-school and summer school programs
and a variety of community activities.
Imagine Akron CLCs is a partnership
of Akron Public Schools, the city of Akron and the Ohio
School Facilities Commission.
The next board meeting is scheduled
for Oct. 22 at 5:30 p.m. A location has not been set
as of presstime. For more information on the location,
visit www.akronschools.com.
Stephanie Kist contributed to
this report.
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