Jamestown Public School District is making plans to improve education on all levels, according to Tim Mains, district superintendent.

On Tuesday, the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education approved a district comprehensive improvement plan and school comprehensive education plans for the 2016-17 school year.

The district was re-identified as a focus district for 2016-17, and five schools were also identified as focus schools, including Love Elementary School, Ring Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, Persell Middle School and Washington Middle School.

The district is required to make and submit these plans by the New York State Education Department, but Mains said the district is going a step further.

“Each of those plans are tied to the tenets of the diagnostic tool,” he said, referring to the Diagnostic Tool For School and District Effectiveness, which Mains said describes “what a good school looks like.”

He said the district decided that the plans were a good step for the whole district to take.

“Even though some schools came off the list, we made the decision that the process of going through, thinking about school improvement and aligning yourself to that rubric was a good exercise to continue doing,” Mains said. “So, all nine schools have submitted (plans) and all nine (plans) were given to the board tonight.”

The plans outline goals and actions that will be taken to improve student performance in groups that have been identified as needing more focus.

“Everyone is doing it, but (the school plans) will be tailored to each school,” he said. “Not surprisingly, the (school comprehensive education plans) have a very strong alignment to the (district comprehensive improvement plan).”

Mains said overall, he sees it as a sign of dedication to the betterment of the district.

“I think people are rolling up their sleeves to say ‘What do we need to do in a focused way to continue to improve the performance of our schools and the students?'” he said.

The board also had the first reading of an unmanned aircraft system policy.

Patrick Slagle, board member and policy committee head, said the policy covers the use of unmanned aircraft systems which include drones by district faculty and staff.

There had been some questions regarding use of drones for video purposes, but the board wanted to look into policies that may have addressed the unmanned aircraft systems, Slagle said.

He added the board found there were no previous policies, and found the need to draft one.

The policy, which has not yet been approved by the board, states drones or other such aircraft may only be used for instructional purposes by faculty and staff members who are authorized. Prior to use, the faculty or staff member must submit a usage form which should also include a lesson plan, and the building principal must approve the usage of the drone.

The drone must also be used within the statutory parameters for model aircraft operations.

Other safety rules are established in the policy, including that the drone may not be flown within five miles of an airport or the WCA heliport without clearance having been received from the airport or heliport.

Slagle said this policy does not cover the flying of drones by individuals not affiliated with the district.

“That is something that will be addressed in the future,” he said.