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Superintendent Spotlight #1

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The first Superintendent Spotlight. This quarterly communication features William S. Hart Union High School District Superintendent, Mike Kuhlman highlighting big things happening in the Hart District.

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[upbeat music]  Greetings Hart District, my name is Mike Kuhlman and I'm the superintendent of the district I'd like to introduce you to a new quarterly video News segment called the Superintendent Spotlight, our strategic plan calls for us to improve Communications with families, and through these short video segments we hope to make you aware of some of the big things that are happening in our district recently we launched a new campaign in the Hart District called "Be present in school and in life!" this campaign is intended to highlight two important issues that we believe are critical to every student leaving the Hart District opportunity ready. First, the be present campaign emphasizes that being on time and present in school has benefits for students in both the short-term and in the long run the Hart District not unlike districts throughout our nation has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism since the students returned from covid. So our goal in the Hart District is to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences that are necessary for them to succeed in their next opportunity. And we know that positive School attendance leads to improve grades higher test scores and an increased overall connection to the school site. Students who feel connected to the school tend to adopt healthier behavior patterns and feel better about their time at school. Being present and on time or habits that will benefit students as they move on to college and into the Working World and we want to reinforce the message it matters being present and on time so across the Hart District school sites are putting together plans to incentivize positive attendance patterns while also implementing logical consequences for unwarranted tardies and absences you know the cynics among us will assume that this is all about money since California's school finance system is tied to average daily attendance rates and while it's simply not true that our primary motivation for seeking to improve attendance rates is about funding, I make no excuses for highlighting the fact that truancy limits our ability to meet student needs. Average daily attendance funding equates to text books and teachers and programs, facilities, and activities over the past several years the Hart District has forfeited millions of dollars that could have been applied to these areas So please partner with us in this worthwhile effort I invite you to have a conversation with your child about the benefits of being present and on time in school and together I'm confident we can really make a positive difference in this area You know, the be present campaign is also a call for students to make conscious decisions about being present in life and by this we mean consciously choosing to limit time on social media studies increasingly demonstrate the negative effects of social media usage and screen time on our teens. Links to the negative impact on Mental Health have become so widely accepted the China is now looking to mandate restrictions on the internet for use for young people. While we don't want to take our cues from China, we are implementing a no cell phone policy at our junior high schools this year all cell phones are to be turned off and stored in backpacks during the school day and we hope this policy helps create conditions that encourage students to be present and to engage with one another in a healthy fashion on September 25th we're hosting a workshop for parents called "Parenting in the Digital Age" led by Mr. Tom Kersting, author of a thought-provoking book titled "Disconnected: How to Protect Your Kids from the Harmful Effects of Device Dependency" The event will be held at the Heart High School auditorium at 6 p.m. and families across the district are invited to attend. We hope that this presentation spurs additional conversations in your own family about consciously choosing to put down the cell phone and to be present with one another, you know I'm trying to model that in my own family as well. So please partner with us in our effort to teach students how to make smart conscious choices about using social media in this technological age set reasonable boundaries re-establish healthy patterns of communication together we believe we can make a positive difference in the lives of our students so when you see our new motto "be present in school and in life" understand now what we hope to accomplish and join us in this worthwhile effort more on that in the coming months encouraging healthy social media patterns doesn't necessarily mean no use of social media like it or not this part of the world that we live in so I'm encouraging you to keep up-to-date on what's going on in the Hart District by following us on Twitter (X),  Facebook, and Instagram, just don't spend too much time on those sites okay? Thank you for joining me and we'll see you next time on the Superintendent Spotlight [upbeat music]

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Superintendent Spotlight #1

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