August 11, 2020 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  President Jeff Olsen called the meeting to order 6:01 pm.

Discussion:  No public comment.

Discussion:  AD Troy Hauxwell began his report stating Fall sports started Monday, August 10th. There are 26 out for football, 18 out for softball, 26 out for volleyball and 15 out for cross country. Last year total fall athletes were 87, this year 85. Athletes have been doing impact testing and getting their athletic paperwork completed. Hauxwell noted he attended the NSAA meeting in McCook to discuss the upcoming football season and what it may look like. As of today the NSAA is continuing to move forward. Colorado adjusting their sports season has affected our sports schedule and due to that, we needed to adjust as needed our schedule. 

Discussion:  Principal Mr. Sorensen started his report citing he started meeting with 7-12th staff July 14th & concluded meetings July 28th. He said that the general findings from those meetings was that tardiness and weekly eligibility needed to be tightened down and a focus on ACT/academics along with the moral of staff needed to be addressed. Principal Sorensen stated his goals would be to continue to build/mold culture of teachers, gaining trust, showing support, giving encouragement along with high expectations. He also wants to focus on the culture of the student body which also included instilling tradition, high expectations and accountability. Sorensen continued his report by stating ELA teachers had a curriculum training August 6th, Administration team met last week to go through all handbooks. Mr. Herbert is meeting with students this week to go through schedules, student computers are being checked out this week. New teacher orientation was Tuesday from 9 am to 3 pm. Principal Sorensen ended his report noting he will meet with 7-12th student body Wednesday, August 19th from 8:00 to 8:55 am to discuss expectations and procedures for the upcoming school year. 

Principal Odens began her report talking about teacher inservice & that teacher's have been in the building & IEP's have been held & will continue as school gets closer to starting. She said that interviews for paras will start this week as well, there are two 2nd grade para positions available. She mentioned the K-12 ELA teachers had their initial training with the ARC coach on Tuesday, August 4th. The training was completed via Zoom. They will all meet again on Wednesday August 26th & the she will be meeting with teacher teams as well as observing and coaching in classrooms with students present. Principal Odens remarked that she met with kindergarten teachers for their last meeting to plan some type of Kindergarten Open House/Round-up Replacement. The Kindergarten students have appointments set up for next Tuesday, August 18th, where the students and parents will be able to visit their classroom, meet their teacher, see the lunchroom, etc. Principal Odens ended her report noting the current K-6 classroom numbers:
Kindergarten: 45 Students (3 sections)
1st Grade: 28 Students (2 sections)
2nd Grade: 43 Students (2 sections)
3rd Grade: 52 Students (3 sections)
4th Grade: 44 Students (2 sections)
5th Grade: 56 Students
6th Grade: 62 Students
Total Students K-6 is 330 Students
 

Discussion:  Superintendent Lambert began his report talking about the weight room exterior doors being installed and now finishing electrical work. He stated the re-opening plan has been communicated/posted online. Lambert praised AD Troy Hauxwell & Principals for working so hard getting everything ready for school to begin, he also praised teachers & custodial staff for all their continued hard work as well. Superintendent Lambert ended his report explaining that the new school year will definitely look different but he is excited to start the school year.

Discussion:  No committee reports.

Discussion:  Pres Olsen discussed the weighted scale in regards to the Valedictorian process. The hope is to challenge students to take the harder classes and not just all the lower level classes.  Board member Willy questioned the class rank and how a student knows where he/she is ranked & if they are tied/or how the tie breaker fits into the process. Moved to discuss end of the year.

Volunteer hours:  Board Member O'Neil questioned the 10 hours of volunteer time to graduate, he felt maybe it might be looked at as another hoop to jump through. Principal Sorenson believes in keeping the volunteer program as it's important for students to be committed to their community and some students might not attend college, or maybe go to a trade school etc.and colleges will look at a students volunteer history.

Driver's Ed: Supt. Lambert asked about the history of the Driver's Ed program. 

Discussion:  Meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm