School board looks at facility needs
Staff writer
Unified School District 410 Board of Education met Jan. 9 following a 30-minute board orientation on the staff evaluation process.
Long-term facility needs and cost estimates were discussed. At the elementary school, the list included classroom space, dining area, parking, windows, and an updated fire alarm system. Long-term needs at the high school/middle school included air conditioning and sound system for the RCB gym, replacement of the weight room/maintenance area, lighting in the HHS auditorium, science room, dressing rooms at HHS and adjacent to RCB gym, parking, automated sprinkler system, and updated fire alarm system.
Other improvements on the list were improvements to the track and facilities at Reimer Field and a multi-use auditorium. Estimated cost of all projects was $7,975,000.
The board asked superintendent Gordon Mohn to prioritize the list and specify which items could be capital improvements for the district.
Mohn said he would bring that back to the board in February.
The board gave approval to contract changes for Tisha Bielefeld and Karen Elliott, parent educators in Marion County Parents as Teachers program. Bielefeld asked to have her contract reduced from 37.5 hours a week to 10 hours per week. Elliott agreed to increase her contract from 10 hours to 37.5 hours per week.
"Basically, they're trading positions," said Mohn. "They each had a certain number of families they see, and Karen will take on some of Tisha's families."
Hillsboro Elementary School principal Evan Yoder said practice for the state assessments had begun at the elementary school. This is the first year for elementary school students to take the tests online, and the first year for testing for third grade students.
Middle school students are preparing for state assessment testing as well, said middle school principal Corey Burton. All state assessment tests will be administered after spring break, Burton concluded.
Hillsboro High School principal Dale Honeck told the board students transitioning from English fundamentals to regular English classes have passed the regular English class.
"Some of kids didn't get higher grades in fundamentals," said Honeck. "We think they're reaching a higher level. They're far better here than in a fundamentals class."
In his attendance report, Honeck said 12 students had no absences in the first semester, and 11 students missed a half day. He said those 23 students represented five percent of the student body.
"This has been the best semester of attendance in the six years I've been here," said Honeck.
After a 10-minute executive session, the board reconvened and voted to extend superintendent Gordon Mohn's contract for a three-year period.
Mohn presented the board with the Kansas State Department of Education building report cards. According to Mohn, Kansas law requires the state must produce a report card each year.
According to the KSDE report card, the school district is below the state average in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, but above the state average for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities, according to the state report card, are those who qualify for special education services. Mohn said the school district was above the state's required goal for percentage of students who score proficient or above, and that could possibly be attributed to the fact the district provided assistance to more students with special education services.
Complete information from the report card is available on the KSDE web site.
In regards to community child-care and early childhood services, Mohn has initiated the planning for a child-care summit with a tentative date of Monday. Representatives from the school district, Marion County Head Start, Marion County Special Education Cooperative, Prairie View, local preschools, day-care centers, churches, and others interested in community child-care will be invited to attend.
Mohn told the board a task force had been set up to focus on the guidelines for improvements to the football field and track at Reimer Field. Task force members are Tabor College athletic director Don Brubacher, HHS athletic director Max Heinrichs, Tabor College board of directors president Lyndon Vix, board of education representative Rod Koons, Superintendent Mohn, and Tabor College president Larry Nikkel.
Mohn said the task force would solicit outside advice when needed, and all expenses would be shared equally.
"I feel very good about this," said Mohn. "We need to be good stewards of taxpayer money. We do this best if we can figure out how to collaborate to best serve the needs of both these entities. We can be an example. Of course the down side is that if we try this and it fails, we're also an example. We need to make sure this works, or else we're a horrible example of collaboration."
Mohn said he had met with Darryl Driggers about the cost of utilities used by Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church while having services at the school. Driggers told Mohn he would take the information to the church council, and recommend they make some sort of contribution back to the school.
"I like that," said Mohn.
He said he didn't want to change the current policy that allowed community non-for-profit organizations to use district facilities at no charge. The board agreed that was acceptable.
Mohn also reported the district had begun photographic documentation of its inventory and should be done with it by the end of January. The district still will have to complete an inventory of technology.
The district will be hiring another wrestling coach on a day-to-day basis to help with a special needs wrestler.
Finally, Mohn reported because of some misuse of blogs, web logs used to have current time web chat, schools were having to enforce tougher restrictions. Mohn advised parents need to be aware of where there children go on the Internet.
The board of education will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 in the technology center at Hillsboro High School.
