Staff writer
The USD 410 Board of Education came together Monday night, hashing over the present and future of Hillsboro learning.
“What is acceptable?” Superintendent Steve Noble asked of the high school’s ACT scores and college-readiness. “Whether it is one-half or two-thirds, I know one-third is not.”
Noble was referring to the percent of 2012-13 seniors who met college readiness benchmarks on all four subjects.
From 2009 to 2013, Hillsboro High School’s average composite ACT scores fell from 24.5 to 22.3. Board President Eddie Weber suggested that academic scores, much like athletic talent, fluctuate from each class to the next.
Middle school principal Greg Brown told the board that, in addition to teaching with new common core standards, the elementary and middle schools were updating their math curriculum and re-evaluating their English and language arts curriculums.
The board said it would consider the middle school site-based council’s request for $5,000 to replace lockers in the girl’s locker room because they are too small.
Currently, each girl has a locker for her valuables and another for belongings.
Brown said lockers should be big enough to hold normal-sized gym bags, and the site council received two bids for 15-by-18-by-36 inch locker systems for $9,767 and $8,865.
The site council already has $4,669, not including current fundraising money.
The board also:
- Approved the use of a district bus and driver for the city recreation commission’s Oct. 21 field trip to Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina. The trip is a part of a professional development day for the district.
- Approved the retirement of bus driver and mechanic John McMinn, supplemental contracts for middle school basketball assistant coaches Adam McCormick and Jesse Allen, and work agreements for bus driver Steven Talbott and mid-day route driver Eldon Funk.