Waitsburg School Board Update

FFA Presentation

FFA officers reported on State Convention. FFA Advisor Nicole Abel said the chapter plans to attend Nationals in October where Tom House will receive his American Degree and the chapter will submit a refined National application. Abel presented High School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak a plaque for being named 2018 District 6 (Touchet to St. John/Endicott) FFA Administrator of the Year.

Reports

Secondary Principal's Report (Stephanie Wooderchak)

Students are completing Smarter Balanced testing which should be finished by the first of June.

Combined 7th/8th grade band concert is June 3 at 7 p.m. in the Dayton gymnasium

Preston Hall students will leave for Camp Wooten on May 28 and return May 32

Graduation week is May 28 with Class of 2019 graduation at 8 p.m.

8th Grade promotion/transition day is June 6 with promotion ceremony at 7:30 p.m. in the WHS auditorium

Athletic Director Report

(Stephanie Wooderchak)

Spring football starts soon

Football and volleyball schedules are available upon request

Facilities/Maintenance/Transportation

Report (Colter Mohney)

Bus inspections went well

Leaks in the high school gym and ag shop roofs continue to be an issue. The band room and ag shop are top priorities and need to be completely replaced. Mohney will bring quotes to the June school board meeting.

Blue Mountain Environmental determined that there is lead paint in the annex so the building cannot be prepped for painting. Mohney will get numbers on professional stripping/painting as well as abatement. There is possibly asbestos under the roof shingles as well.

Mohney requested that the board pursue selling two District properties on Coppei that are difficult to maintain, an eyesore and not beneficial to the District. The board agreed that Superintendent Mishra should begin looking at the process of moving the properties.

Elementary Principal's Report (Dr. Jon Mishra)

Grades 3-5 are testing

Move Up Night is June 6

Field Day is June 7

Superintendent Report (Dr. Jon Mishra)

Mishra reviewed initial outcomes of the legislative session that ended April 28. See Page 1.

The Summer Food Program will provide breakfast and lunch to all children 18 and younger, Mon. – Fri., June 17-Aug. 16.

Public Comment

Reese Hubbard asked if contract negotiations with Mark Pickel have been finalized and asked which teaching positions were open and being replaced. He asked for a description of staff end-of-year evaluations, if the board is involved in "civilian complaints" and what citizens can do if they don't feel issues have been resolved.

Old Business

Enrollment Update (Dr. Jon Mishra)

Enrollment is up three students to 273 students with a FTE of 264.83

Combine Update (Dr. Jon Mishra)

A replacement is needed for alumni member Michele Paul who resigned the board

ECEAP/Preschool Update (Dr. Jon Mishra)

Moving the ECEAP preschool from Waitsburg to Prescott has been finalized. Of 20 students, 13 are from Prescott, one is from Dixie, one is from Dayton and five are from Waitsburg. Transportation for Waitsburg families wishing to remain in the ECEAP program is yet undetermined. Waitsburg students can attend the levy-approved preschool at no charge.

The Waitsburg levy-approved preschool is expecting to have a large 4-year-old afternoon class of more than a dozen students. The current 3-year-old class is small, but numbers increase in August, Mishra said.

The District will consider options for the large class including: additional staff support, reconfiguration of classes based on groupings other than age, addition of another class, limiting the number of out-of-district children allowed in the program.

Board confirmed that tuition will not be pro-rated for June.

Superintendent Advisory Update

(Stephanie Parrish)

Parrish presented an overview of the Advisory Committee action plan in the areas of communication, alignment, transparency, consistency, and "All means All."

Graduation Requirement Alignment

Board approved proposed handbook language for graduation requirement alignment with State standards.

New Business

District Summer Hours

Food Service Supervisor Susan Wildey will man the elementary front desk during the summer from 6 a.m.- 2 p.m. Elementary Administrator Hannah Peterson will be off from June 21-August 16. Wildey, Becky Dunn, Linda Henze and the superintendent will be available via phone and email.

Superintendent's Contract

The board unanimously approved a superintendent's contract with Mark Pickel, effective July 1.

Personnel

The board approved the following.

Appointments:

Colby Starring – middle school math/science

Erin Elsey – food service assistant

Kathleen Goodnight – high school math

Resignations:

John Donnelly – high school girls basketball

Justin Gleason – food service assistant

Shelby Pomerinke – District music teacher