Salisbury Township School District was recognized by Apple at the March 10 curriculum and technology committee meeting for being a part of the Apple Distinguished Program through 2015.

Apple Education Development Executive Dr. David Diokno said "fewer than 240 schools and programs across the United States" are chosen for the Apple Distinguished Program.

Diokno said Apple looks to those schools who display the five best practices including visionary leadership, innovative teaching and learning, ongoing professional learning, compelling evidence of success and a flexible learning environment.

Also discussed at the meeting was Board Policy 121 - Field Trips/Education Tours with a history provided on the policy development and the administration's request for changes to be considered.

Board President Russell Giordano provided the history of the policy.

"There were tremendous inequities in field trips," Giordano said. "If the trip was tied to the curriculum, the board felt an obligation to fund it." Secondly, there were the budget realities to consider such as what the schools could afford, parameters, etc. Lastly, Giordano said they considered the amount of instructional time lost due to the field trip.

"A lot of thought went into this policy when it was developed," board member Tom Mantz said. "I can live with tweaks not massive changes."

The board discussed the thought process around the policy which was developed to address loss of instructional time for the students and to provide uniform access to field trips.

Discussed was the fact due to recent budget cuts, the parent teacher organizations have been funding the field trips at the elementary levels. Ziegenfuss suggested the language in the policy be adjusted to reflect the district does not pay for the elementary school trips.

Ziegenfuss said it is difficult to determine the number of field trips each class should take and suggested the language be changed to "leave it to the principal's discretion."

In addition, the educational tours allow the students to miss a maximum of one school day.

Salisbury High School Principal Heather Morningstar said the students who participate in the Model UN conference miss an evening event because they are unable to miss two school days. Ziegenfuss suggested to change the language of the policy regarding the loss of instruction time to the "principal's discretion."

Board member Sam DeFrank said he was fine leaving it to the principal's discretion but would like to see a maximum number of days missed allowed before acquiring board approval. He was also concerned about equalityhow to ensure all students have a field trip especially in grades kindergarten through five.

Morningstar said trips at the high school are usually curricular related.

Policy chairman Bob Fischer said he would like to see elementary field trips handled at the grade level together with both schools participating.

Harry S Truman Principal Barbara Samide said the funding is at the discretion of the PTO and what can be funded. The PTO currently funds approximately $1,500 per grade level each year.

Western Salisbury Elementary Principal Grace Hartman said the PTA funding has been going down and it continues to be a challenge each year.

The policy discussion will be on the next curriculum and technology committee meeting agenda scheduled for April 14 at the administration building.