Ashlie Wilmes of the Northeast Nodaway Hope Foundation reported to the school board that the group had raised $1600 this year. Of that, $400 will go to Heifer International, which provides cows to poor people in Africa and which also helps people in poverty in the South and Appalachians in the US.
The rest of the money went to address various technology needs throughout the school, which will help more students participate in dual credit programs, among other things.
The board recognized various students in the area. Among those recognized were Jason Henggeler (elected to FBLA District Officer), and Sarah Teaney (FFA/Diversified Horticulture, 1st in district).
The board voted to renew the contract with Lunchtime Solutions and to raise lunch prices by 10 cents across the board.
The board heard a report on their technology situation. The school is working on ongoing safety training, improved supervision of students using school resources, sharing of computers and resources between staff, and monitoring when students are logging in and what they are doing when logged in.
The school has gone paperless in many areas such as forms. The school’s technology allows the administration to monitor their budget and rule on expense requests immediately depending on whether there is money in the budget. Next year, the computer lab will be moved to a bigger room in order to accommodate another class and to create more space. The new computer room can be used as an extra classroom.
The school plans to educate parents on how to use the Internet so that they can monitor student progress online. Among areas in need of improvement, the printers were not working because of the heat sensors. The server was overheating and battery backups only last 3-5 hours in the event of an outage.
The board evaluated the guidance counseling program. The school meets with students and parents during the 8th and 10th grade years to help students plan their future after they leave the school. Various activities were held with the students that would help them plan their future; the school is planning a career fair this October. The school conducted an ACT workshop for underclassmen in which 12 students participated. 10 students attended all four classes and three took the ACT and scored above average.
The health insurance for the school went up only 2% this year.
The school voted to renew their membership with the Missouri School Boards Association.
The school has one bus in the repair ship and is looking to replace their smaller bus, which has a lot of miles on it.
The board passed the financial operations policy, which details the different funds and how the money is to be spent.
The PTO gave the teachers some extra money that they could use for their classrooms.
The board heard feedback on last year’s move to a one-site school. Overall, it was felt by the board, administration, and CTA that it was a positive move despite the challenges involved. Superintendent Jeff Mehlenbacher said that he would not know the school’s exact financial picture until the end of the school year, but that the move to a one-site school definitely helped.
One of the biggest positives was the older students helping the younger students. There were several areas listed as in need of improvement. Most of the areas dealt with the logistics of the move. The gym was difficult for classes to use especially during home games; there were scheduling conflicts between the elementary and high school classes. The computer labs were not big enough; it will move to a bigger classroom next year, which the school hopes will alleviate that problem.
Another area in need of improvement was that high school students were forgetting to log off their computers, meaning that future classes had trouble getting onto computers. Another area was climate control; the school heating system is set too low, meaning that teachers have difficulty getting their printing done for next week’s classes. Another area was access to Principal Linda Mattson; teachers reported that there were sometimes long lines of people waiting to talk to her. The special ed teacher had twice the workload, meaning that many special ed students who normally would be sent to special ed were put in classrooms instead, creating a strain on staff. The school had reduced staff from two to one special ed teacher, but will go back to two for next year.
Among positives listed from the move to a one-site school were the fact that teachers had twice as many resources to turn to as before. Staff felt that there was better communication with everyone on one site. For instance, cadet teachers did not have to go to Parnell every day in order to help with classes. Teachers could communicate with cadet teachers instead of waiting for the next time that they came to Parnell.
In-school suspensions were more effective because a high school student would be embarrassed to run into one of their favorite elementary teachers while serving ISS for disciplinary actions.
Other areas listed as in need of improvement were library accessibility. The library was in a really small classroom far off from the main school area, meaning that there was much less foot traffic. The library size was too small, meaning that some classes had to send two and three students at a time to check out books. The school is limited on the number of new library books they can get or ask for in funding requests because of the lack of space.
Storage was much more of an issue with the one-site school.
The school heard many positive comments about the recent senior trip to Osage Beach.
The school is in the process of setting policies regarding student access during late starts due to supervision issues.
Principal Linda Mattson reported that the PTO had the Family Fun Night on April 20th with a great turnout.
Mrs. Menggeler and Katrina McIntyre submitted a grant to Monsanto while Miss Henry has submitted a library grant.
The secretaries were presented with gift baskets from the district on April 25th. The staff brought in items for breakfast for them as well. Nurse Terry Runde received a personalized smock jacket from the district for the school nurse’s day.
17 High School students were treated to Applebee’s on April 26th for scoring advanced on their EOC tests last year.
Kindergarten, first, and second grades went to the Junie Jones play at the Missouri Theater in St. Joe on April 27th. Preschool went to Pagliai’s and the radio station in Maryville on April 4th. Third and fourth grades went to Arbor Day farms in Nebraska City on May 8th. Fifth and sixth grades toured the Steamboat Arabia exhibit on May 11th. All these trips were paid for by the PTO.
Taryn Farnan and Michelle Schulte qualified for sectional track meet.
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