The Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting Jan. 13 began with presentations about standards-based grading and reporting. This means larger subjects are broken down into smaller, individual objectives, which will help teachers measure student learning and where they may need assistance.

Students are not given a traditional number or letter grade, but rather are graded by skill and standard measurements.

Within the Whitehall-Coplay School District, Gockley Elementary School will be the first building to lean into the new system.

This new system will include trimesters, instead of two semesters, to help teachers and faculty meet with parents more frequently to assess the academic needs of the students.

With this new grading system, students will be assessed based on characteristics of a successful Zephyr, which include questions like how adaptable are they, are they a problem solver, are they responsible, etc.

Parents will also be sent short videos to inform them about this new transition. The videos will explain what exactly standards-based grading is, how trimesters will work, what being a “successful Zephyr” means and more. Parents can expect further details as this initiative continues to develop.

The Jan. 27 meeting opened with public comment. The first individual to speak was Kimberly Day, the mother of a second-grader at Steckel Elementary School. Day asked the board about President Donald Trump’s executive orders surrounding immigration.

The orders focus on the “enhanced vetting” of visa applicants, birthright citizenship, border security, the U.S.‑Mexico-Canada Agreement, asylum and refugee program.

“My question to all of you is what our plan is for those, in the event that ICE were to present themselves on campus, because it just came up in Chicago and it’s happening in other places throughout the United States,” Day said.

“Having a second-grader, it’s very sensitive if something like that were to happen. What is the plan if it were to happen? It’s something parents are talking about, wondering, making sure the kids are going to be safe if ICE taps on the door and wants to enter,” Day added.

She also acknowledged the diversity of the WCSD as a whole.

“It has been at the forefront of our mind, but, with it being so recent, we’ve been working with our solicitor about what our plan and procedures will be,” Superintendent Chris Schiffert answered. “At this point, any type of school visitor would have to go through the process of working through our typical process, and our principals would have to be made aware of that situation.

“I have not had the chance to meet with the principal group, but I do have plans this Wednesday to talk about that process,” Schiffert added.

Schiffert said he will be following the guidelines of the district’s solicitor, working through what the procedure will be for WCSD and will take whatever steps the district needs to when it comes to informing parents and the public.