One contract was not renewed when the Manawa School Board approved teacher contracts for the 2014-15 school year.
The board approved a non-renewal notice for Kim Poli, high school math/physics teacher, during a special meeting on April 30.
“I have been teaching physics and advanced physics on an emergency license for the last two years,” said Poli. “The non-renewal is due to the fact that I decided not to take classes to earn a physics license.”
“You will find under the DPI website what is required by the federal ESEA for highly qualified teachers of core subjects,” said District Administrator Ed Dombrowski. “The teacher was not a highly qualified staff member to teach a core subject area.”
“The school district’s evaluation from the DPI was ‘fails to meet expectations’ in math,” said Poli. “My opinion is that there is more than enough work to do to improve this rating.”
According to Poli, the physics classes have been moved to the science department.
Dombrowski indicated that this position will be refilled for the 2014-15 school year.
“We will search for a highly qualified instructor,” he said.
Poli expressed his concerns about the district.
“The students and parents are not getting the quality of education that they need and deserve,” he said.
Poli has been teaching at Little Wolf High School for two years.