Tawas Area Schools will offer tutoring
by John Morris

TAWAS CITY - Facing a tougher state-mandated core curriculum, junior and senior high school students at Tawas Area Schools will soon be offered before- and after-school tutoring.

Tawas Area High School Principal James Kiblinger gave a presentation on the proposal to the board of education at its meeting Monday. The school board took no action on the proposal at the meeting. However, President Elaine Brown said none was necessary as the district earlier budgeted for tutoring.
Kiblinger said, after the meeting, tutoring could begin as early as next week, possibly on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“Many districts are looking to slow down their curriculum or lessen their content for all students to master,” he told the school board. “I am proposing to continue our high level of expectations with curriculum and content by increasing the availability of time for students in need of remediation in grades seven through 12.”

He said the one tutorial session would be held prior to school from 7 to 8 a.m. and a second would be held immediately after school from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. “The morning and afternoon times will also lend itself to accommodate different family schedules,” he said.

Kiblinger said the sessions could be staffed by the same teacher or by different instructors who would split the two. He added National Honor Society (NHS) students could also be available to help with the tutorial sessions and would earn NHS-required service hours.

Tawas Area students have traditionally outperformed their state and county counterparts on the state’s proficiency tests. Kiblinger also passed out a handout to school board members, showing the districts scored among the highest in the region on the state Michigan Merit Examination tests.

Still, there is concern at the local level with student progress in math - particularly with meeting the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) Algebra II requirements. Kiblinger said the district has an on-line curriculum software called PLATO that mirrors the state’s K-12 benchmarks and Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE). He said teacher Tim St. Aubin currently works with PLATO with special education students to keep pace with the new MMC requirements.

“Any student can use this software before or after school hours,” Kiblinger said. “Mr. St. Aubin stated that he would help cover the morning tutoring to get our math tutoring students signed up and work with this time session.”

Kiblinger said compensation would be similar to the district’s after-school detention requirements as staff is only compensated if students show up and sign in for help. He said the “maximum cost to the district would be $754 for the remainder of the school year.

“Benefits to our district will include students having the opportunity for additional exposure to our core content and parents having another avenue for help,” he said. “Tawas schools will be able to continue with its high level of content expectations and show they are willing to help all families with the new state MMC requirements.”

Kiblinger said he would eventually like to see tutoring offered district-wide.

“Any student can use this software before or after school hours,” Kiblinger said. “Mr. St. Aubin stated that he would help cover the morning tutoring to get our math tutoring students signed up and work with this time session.”

Kiblinger said compensation would be similar to the district’s after-school detention requirements as staff is only compensated if students show up and sign in for help. He said the “maximum cost to the district would be $754 for the remainder of the school year.

“Benefits to our district will include students having the opportunity for additional exposure to our core content and parents having another avenue for help,” he said. “Tawas schools will be able to continue with its high level of content expectations and show they are willing to help all families with the new state MMC requirements.”

Kiblinger said he would eventually like to see tutoring offered district-wide.