Saturday, March 18, 2023

North Nodaway School Board Names Teachers, Awards Bid for Gym Bleachers

The North Nodaway School Board met Wednesday to hire or rehire teachers for the 2023-24 school year and to award a contractor to put in new gym bleachers. 

The board voted to hire or rehire Catherine Auffert (Middle School/High School (MS/HS) Special Ed), Troy Nally (MS/HS FFA Teacher), Heather Townsend (MS Math, 6th Grade Core), Victor West (MS/HS Social Studies), Angela Davison (Kindergarten), Sarah Emery (Elementary Special Ed), Danielle Johnson (2nd Grade), Leah Koger (1st Grade), Stacey Meyer (K-12 Art), Cynthia Martin (K-12 Librarian), Cody Bix (MS/HS Science), Emily Bix (MS/HS Language Arts), Cody Jenkins (6-12 PE), Sami Jackson (Elementary Title), Jessica Hilsabeck (4th Grade), Michael McConkey (MS/HS Social Studies), Emily Limback (MS/HS Business, Family & Consumer Science), Bethney Pedersen (MS/HS Language Arts), Audrey Trimble (3rd Grade), and Prent Eaton (District Guidance Counselor). All votes were unanimous.

The board voted to purchase new bleachers for the gym. Heartland Seating provided the lone bid at a cost of $95,667. The bleachers include two sets of five-row bleachers, six handicapped notches (three on each side), two aisles with railings, and brackets to prevent the sagging issue with the old bleachers. The school will remove and dispose of the old bleachers for a savings of $3,000. The old bleachers had shown signs of wear with complaints about them sagging during the last basketball season. 

The school calendar for the 2023-2024 school year was approved. School will begin on August 23rd. Thanksgiving break will start with an early dismissal on November 21st with school resuming on November 27th. The Christmas break will start on December 20th with an early dismissal and school will resume on January 4th. Spring break will be from March 28th to April 1st, with school resuming on April 2nd. Commencement will be on May 12th, with the tentative final day on May 17th with an early dismissal that day. The final day of school could be moved back due to makeup days. The school will provide 163 total days of instruction totaling 1079.6 hours.

High school principal Roger Johnson reported that there was a good turnout for the Academic Showcase on March 1st. Students did a science fair, a history day, Poetry Night, the Art/ELA project, and student written plays.

There are 12 out for spring baseball, 15 out for high school track, and 26 out of 34 junior high students out for track. There are 62 students enrolled in high school and 34 enrolled from 6th to 8th grades. FFA and Scholar Bowl have started contests; North Nodaway will be hosting an FFA contest on March 27th. Several hundred students from other schools are expected to be in attendance.

The school qualified nine from History Day to the state meet in Columbia on April 21st and 22nd. Qualifiers included Owen Martin, Caleb Stevens, Mason Richardson, Ethan Tyler, Wyatt Emery, Keith Riedel, Ridge Harger, Matt Sturgis, and Gavin Cruz.

Elementary Principal Ashley Marriott reported that there were 98 students in the elementary, and 15 in the preschool.

The school had a Dr. Seuss Day. Students rotated through multiple stations where they were exposed to different texts and challenged to build, create, and solve problems.

A team of teachers completed the Crisis Prevention and Intervention training on March 15th.

On March 16th, an awards assembly was held.

On March 22nd and 23rd, early childhood screenings will be held. Around 30 were signed up as of March 15th.

An elementary math team has been formed and is scheduled to compete on Saturday, March 25th. They will do an online assessment that students will participate in from their own classroom.

An elementary talent show is tentatively planned for the Roxy for Friday, March 31st.

A rough draft of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan has been sent out to patrons with a request for feedback and comments. A committee has been at work drafting the plan. Members are Superintendent Chris Turpin, Principals Ashley Marriott and Roger Johnson, Prent Eaton (Counselor), Sami Jackson (Title I), Tiffany Whipple (parent), Troy Nally (ag teacher), Samantha Brown (Board President), Allen Thompson (Hopkins City Council Member), Mark Hoover (business owner), Kristi Stricker (parent), Rick Woldruff (business owner), Angie Davison (teacher), Heather Townsend (teacher), Cody Jenkins (teacher), Emily Bix (teacher), Bonnie Trimble (community member), Catherine Auffert (resource teacher), Lindsay Alexander (parent), Lauren Herndon (student), Aydan Blackford (student), Cari Cline (post-secondary instructor), and Nicki Herndon (technology specialist). Turpin has asked that any feedback is sent to his email, and the committee will meet on April 1st. They will make changes, and the CSIP will be presented for approval at the April board meeting.

Discussion was held on 6th grade athletes participating in junior high sports. Turpin recommended keeping the present policy approved by the board last year, which allows them to play with parental permission. He said in his board meeting notes that it was a beneficial thing for their kids and they probably wouldn’t have had a junior high team without them this year. 

Tim Blackford was presented with a plaque for his years of service to the board. Representative Jeff Farnan sent each board member certificates of appreciation.

Discussion was held on health insurance plans and companies. The school is currently at MEHUP, and the board currently covers $517. This year, they added coinsurance amounts to their plans without making them better. The school is looking into switching to another provider and a committee will make recommendations for the next meeting.

One bus is broken down; the rear end needed to be replaced, and parts and installation may take until the end of April. The bus is under warranty. 

The board will discuss salary proposals, approve the list of graduates, and swear in new board members and reorganize the board. For staff salaries, Turpin is recommending adding 3% to the base salary, making it $35,020 and allowing the step down in service. He recommended that health insurance increase to $550 per employee. Non-certified staff will go up 50-75 cents if approved, plus a 13 cent step. Turpin is looking at adding a career ladder while it is being partially funded by the state.


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