Schools

Principal 'Optimistic As Always Been' About Yearlong Courses

No school board members attended the consultant conference call.

UPDATE (11 a.m.): Bill McGowan also characterized the conference call with the as "positive."

McGowan declined to go into specifics about the nonpublic call, although he did make a few statements when asked if he thought yearlong math and English courses could be instititued for freshmen and sophomores next year.

"Again, we'll see," said McGowan. "I'm not going to comment on that. I'm as optimistic as I've always been that we'll make progress."

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McGowan has asked the Winnacunnet School Board to so he could have more time to rework a schedule, but has also said he will work to meet the board's request to instititue the changes next year.

See below for additional information about today's yearlong courses conference call.

Find out what's happening in Hampton-North Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

UPDATE (10 a.m.): Assistant Superintendent Barbara Hopkins was brief when characterizing the nonpublic conference call with the yearlong courses consultant Thursday morning, although she did say the session went well.

"We had a positive conversation with the consultant," said Hopkins. "I'll have a report on that for next Wednesday's (Winnacunnet School Board) meeting."

Hopkins declined to discuss the subject matter of Thursday's conference call, which began a little after 9 a.m. and ended around 9:49 a.m.

Bill McGowan was also in the conference call, although he wasn't available for comment after the session.

The conference call wasn't open to the public, and no school board members were present, although Hopkins said they were "invited through an e-mail."

When asked how she felt about that absence despite some board members' recent , Hopkins said she "did [her] best to try and portray the school board's concerns and opinions" during the call.

Hopkins declined to disclose possible dates for the consultant's trip to Winnacunnet, although she said she does plan to share those as a part of her report to the school board next week.

The school board had requested the consultant meet with them in December, and when asked if that would be possible, Hopkins said Thursday that she "think[s] it's a tough time right now to schedule anything before" Jan. 1.

The consultant told Hopkins in an e-mail last month that his trip to the area might not be until March. Hopkins said last month that she would try to find an earlier date, and no further updates were available Thursday.

Wednesday's school board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the WHS Lecture Hall.

ORIGINAL STORY (9:16 a.m.): No members of the Winnacunnet School Board are present for the conference call with the district's yearlong courses consultant at 9 a.m., which Assistant Superintendent Barbara Hopkins said means the session is not a public session.

Principal Bill McGowan told Patch that the call is a part of "normal school business" and as such, "isn't open to a reporter."

Hopkins said they have a draft agenda they'll be going over with the consultant, and said she will make a statement after the session.

No meeting notice was posted for the call, as the district is only required to do so for meetings involving a quorum of members of a public board or committee.

The yearlong courses was hired earlier this school year to help WHS transition to for freshmen and sophomores next year.

The topic has been , and teachers and administrators have been concerned about the short timeframe for enacting the scheduling changes.


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