Fulton County school board members are calling for more time to adjust to new federal regulations requiring healthier school meals.
Members approved at a Thursday meeting legislative and policy priorities for 2015, which included the push for greater flexibility with healthier school meals regulations. The board also wants a choice in how math is taught and tested in Georgia.
Fulton district leaders say despite efforts to create new menu options that meet both nutritional requirements and the taste expectations of our students, suppliers have not been able to keep up with the changes to meet these needs and students are not choosing the school lunch as often.
They say more time – up to a year — is needed to allow Fulton to adjust to all requirements of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
As for math, district leaders say students are struggling with the subject, and Fulton Superintendent Robert Avossa argues the state’s “integrated” method of teaching math in high school – which combines three disciplines such as geometry, algebra and data probability — is not preparing students well enough for college math.
Besides Fulton, Cobb school officials have also voiced concerns about the integrated math approach — a teaching method that’s been debated among educators since its implementation in Georgia classrooms in 2008. The change marked a shift by state education leaders from the more “traditional” approach, which focuses primarily on one kind of math in each course.
Some school districts rallied against the change, though, and current state superintendent John Barge gave districts a choice of traditional or integrated, with two options for End of Course Tests. But when Common Core performance standards were rolled out and implemented, the choice went away.
Georgia’s End of Course Tests for high schoolers assess math on the integrated model. The state is planning a new standardized testing system for this school year.
State education leaders are conducting a review of all standards, based on Gov. Nathan Deal’s request last year. That review should be completed and any recommended changes – including those to math — brought to the state board in late fall, state education leaders say.
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