Worth County Hires Brandon Allee Hired as Bus Driver; School Adopts Career Ladder

The Worth County School Board voted Thursday to hire Brandon Allee as a full time bus driver for the district. The board also voted to offer Career Ladder for the 2022-2023 school year. This program was implemented by the state to help retain high quality teachers. It will provide an opportunity for teachers to provide tutoring and other student support services, with reimbursement from the state for up to 60% of approved costs. Last year, the district spent $30,000 in tutoring to help with learning loss and intervention practices. This year, the hope is to provide increased opportunities for students in those areas with less shared cost from the district.

Westbrook & Company presented the district’s audit for the 2021-2022 school year. The audit found the district in compliance and in good financial standing with a fund balance of just under 50%. Currently, the district needs a fund balance of over 12% to avoid short term borrowing.

During the meeting, the board approved the program reviews for Federal Programs, Parents as Teachers, and Special Education Services. The board also approved the grant applications from the district for Roadway Safety, Lunchroom Equipment, and EPA Bus Grants.

Administration reported on the Continuous School Improvement Plan implementation that all districts in the state must implement. Worth County’s focus for goal 1 is critical thinking and problem solving. All classes focus on research based strategies to improve performance on higher level thinking problems and activities.

The principals reported on the enrollment of their buildings and other happenings. The enrollment of the district through K-12 increased by 9 students when compared to this time last year. They also discussed professional development activities that teachers participate in on a weekly basis. The Title I teachers will host a Morning of Champions on September 29th. Breakfast will be served and Mrs. Humphrey and Ms. Meek will be there to introduce the program and provide activities for students and parents.

In other action, the board approved working with an Applied Behavior Analysis company through Thrivergent. 

The next board meeting will be at Wednesday, October 19th at 7:30 pm.