The 411 - News You Can Use About Broward Schools

Ask the Superintendent

Q: I understand that Universal Pre- Kindergarten is supposed to start this fall. Can you tell me if it will be available at all Broward elementary schools and how and when I can register my child?

A: Legislation establishing the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program (formerly called Universal Pre-Kindergarten) was signed in December 2004. The program, which is open to children who are four years of age on or before September 1, 2005, is intended to provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum that includes the school readiness skills children need to perform effectively in kindergarten.

While Voluntary Pre-Kindergarken is scheduled to begin with the 2005-06 school year, many questions concerning the program remain unanswered. Implementation details and funding decisions have yet to be determined by the state. Additionally, on February 1
4, 2005, Governor Jeb Bush announced a joint resolution to amend the class size amendment. If adopted, the amendment will set specific requirements related to compliance with class size reduction, available capital outlay funds, facilities, and projected student enrollment that must be met by a school district before it may offer a Pre-Kindergarten program. Certification packets are being sent to each school district by the state. Districts are to fill-out the packets and return them to the office of Florida’s Commissioner of Education for its review.

If the District receives certification, we would like to offer the Pre-Kindergarten program where classroom space is available and when appropriate funding is provided, but it is unlikely that state funding will be adequate to offer the program at every Broward elementary school.

Unfortunately, at the time this newsletter was printed, so many unanswered questions remain that it is difficult for the District to move forward with its plans. However, the state’s Office of Early Learning has posted a pre-application form online at (www.upkflorida.org) to allow parents to express their interest in the program. The form is only for pre-application purposes and asks for minimal information.

NOTE: The information in this column was current as of February 17, 2005.

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“There were no other indications of a problem. Nothing could be seen with the naked eye and school personnel hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary,” Gillen said.

The thermographers were able to catch and correct the problem early, before there was an equipment failure or a fire. Gillen said it could have required closing the school while repairs were made, due to the magnitude of such a failure, inconveniencing staff and students. If the problem had gone undetected, according to Gillen, it could have cost the District hundreds of thousands of dollars to make needed repairs. In addition to equipment and labor costs, the District would have encountered increased transportation costs resulting from the relocation of Taravella’s students while repairs were made.

The cost saving benefit of infrared thermography is not limited to the District’s older buildings. Thermographers also scan the electrical equipment of newly constructed schools, pinpointing any trouble spots while equipment is still under warranty.

The Broward School District’s Physical Plant Operations Division will continue to explore the latest in technology to improve and enhance its operations.

Change is Good
When Managed Well
Vijay Sonty, Chief Information Officer, came to Broward Schools from a multinational advertising agency in New York City and quickly found that Broward’s technology infrastructure rivals the complexity of Fortune 500 companies. Technology in the District is so inter-related that a “simple” change in one place can bring down someone in another place. So Vijay made it a priority to institute Information Technology (IT) Change Management, an industry-standard best practice to improve customer service.

That might sound good if you’re a ”techie” but what does it mean to the average user? Simply stated, the goal of IT Change Management is to minimize unplanned down time. It stresses that more time spent on planning and communicating results in less time needed for damage control and re-fix.

To accomplish this goal, the Education Technology Services (ETS) staff has developed a formal process to submit, review and approve changes to make sure that one change does not cause a new problem. It is important that all Broward’s technology users understand that ETS needs their cooperation to implement Change Management. User requests will be taken through the Change Management process as well and, if indicated, a communication plan or a training plan will be developed before the change is implemented. ETS has started Change Management procedures for mission critical applications and will expand it over the next months to include all IT operations. is good when managed well, and this is one change that will be good for all technology users in the District.

CAB CORNER
Are you an E-mail pack rat?

Do you let messages pile-up in your mailbox? What will happen if you have too many? To ensure that CAB's resources are shared equally by everyone in the District, each CAB user has been allocated 500 MB of disk space on the centralized server at ETS.

At your limit of 500 MB, you will not be able to send mail - but you will be able to receive messages. At 1000 MB, you will be locked out of the E-mail system, until you save and then delete messages from your mailbox. While you are locked out, those sending you E-mail will receive an "undeliverable" message and you will be unable to receive or send messages.

So, check your disk space frequently and don't let it get to more than 250 MB before you begin saving, then deleting your messages.

It's easy to find out if you are getting close to your space limit.
•Log on to your CAB E-mail account
•Double-click on the BCPS Resources icon (conference)
•Double-click on the "disk space" iconFor more information, refer to Message
Management/Archiving. You will find it at
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/cab/learningresources.htm

Don't be left by the roadside - sign-up for CAB training today! Customer Staff Development Services offers monthly trainings at Wingate Oaks Center. You'll find a copy of the training schedule posted each month on the Internet at
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/etscsds/trainingcalendars.htm
Training schedules are also posted in several CAB
conference areas.

Too busy to attend training? Check out the CAB Video Tutorial Library at http://broward.atomiclearning.com

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