The Northeast Nodaway School Board, at its regular board meeting Thursday, voted to continue the status quo with its sports programs. Northeast will continue its sports cooperatives with Worth County in football, junior high football, and baseball, and continue its junior high softball cooperative with St. Gregory’s. The Bluejays will continue to compete separately in softball, boys and girls basketball, and track.
Previously, Superintendent Brenda Dougan had reached out to Worth County due to low boys basketball numbers for the Bluejays for the upcoming school year. Earlier in the year, a survey of students regarding athletic participation found that only six boys were interested in basketball for the upcoming school year. A discussion was held at the Worth County School Board meeting, with no votes or decisions being made. Had the process moved forward on Northeast Nodaway’s end, the next step would have been to have a community meeting according to Dougan.
The school will continue to monitor participation numbers for boys basketball. The school could form an emergency cooperative with someone until MSHSAA assigns districts for the upcoming district cycle. If Northeast Nodaway were to form an emergency cooperative with either Worth County, Stanberry, or North Nodaway, that would bump those schools up to Class 2. Such a move would be subject to approval from the other school.
Athletic Director Chaim Jenkins, who recommended the school keep the status quo, said that if Northeast only had a girls team, that would make it difficult to schedule non-conference games, since other schools would have to have a boys team to schedule. Tournaments would have to adjust their brackets, since there would be one fewer team on the boys side. And schools would have to pay officials for two games even if they didn’t work two games.
Like Worth County at their meeting, nobody at the board meeting wanted to give up their colors or their identity. Jenkins noted that the more teams than coop with each other, the higher the cutoff point goes, meaning Class 1 teams would have to play bigger schools in districts.
Ideas were discussed for building the current basketball programs. Board members noted that Platte Valley schedules a lot of JV games, which keeps interest high despite the high number of players on the program. Schools can schedule JV games on nights separate from varsity nights, although that practice has become rare in recent years. The majority of teams in the Highway 275 have junior varsity squads.
Board members took a tour of the greenhouse.
Lily Burns attended the meeting to talk about life after graduating at Northeast. She is attending North Central Missouri College at Savannah and is getting an Associates Degree in the Arts of Teaching. This will allow her to substitute teach.
Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Chaim Jenkins reported that the Scholar Bowl went 8-7 for the year. FFA is active in contests. Dalanie Auffert got her State FFA Degree. The Large Band Ensemble got a 1 rating at state. There are 16 boys (including Worth County students) out for baseball, five girls and seven boys out for track, and five girls and seven boys out for junior high track. Ten Bluejays qualified for state in Science Olympiad, which will be held in Springfield.
Principal Heidi Beatty reported that the school is getting ready for testing. There are 15 students on Reading Success Plans. Incentives are being given to students who went above and beyond reading expectations. There will be around 13-16 preschool students. A Pre-K and Kindergarten roundup will be held. Over 25 families participated in Family Reading Night.
Professional development will focus on wellness for teachers and training for testing.
Superintendent Brenda Dougan reported that she was monitoring legislation regarding schools regarding vouchers and charters along with efforts to raise teacher pay from $38,000 to $40,000. There are efforts to reduce or eliminate personal property taxes, which would affect school revenue. All positions have been filled for next year.
The school had emergency evacuation drills. There have been no accidents this year with the buses.
The state of the extracurricular programs was reviewed. 84% of students at the high school level participate in at least one activity or sport, while 77% of junior high students do, which is high considering that there are some activities offered at the high school level, but not the junior high. The school goes above and beyond MSHSAA grade rules with periodic grade checks. Every sponsor is qualified under MSHSAA or the appropriate organization. Currently, finding and maintaining coaches is the biggest challenge. The school is looking for a girls basketball assistant for next year.
The after-school program was reviewed. Currently, there are 21 families who use it, down three from last year. This includes teachers. Kristin New is student teaching first grade and has stepped up to do the after-school program as well. Hours have been reduced from 5:00 pm to 4:30 pm. They are looking for an after-school person for next year. Candidates must complete a background check, and some students may have special needs.
Superintendent Brenda Dougan presented certificates to the board members in appreciation for their service.
The board voted to offer a trap shoot program for students. There are 11 students interested at the high school level and five at the junior high level. Students must have their own gun, vest, air protection, and eye protection. At the junior high level, it will include teaching hunter safety. Cost is $15 per shoot. The 4-H shooting range near Ravenwood will be used for practice. Safety and insurance forms must be completed. Students at the high school level must be in FFA to join.
The board voted to approve Mevin Flooring for the gym floor for $28,000.
The board raised the starting pay for teachers to $34,000. State funding will push it up to $38,000, or $40,000 if the measure to raise starting pay in the legislature is approved.
The board voted to declare a fuel tank as surplus and offer it for sale.
The next board meeting will be April 16th at 7 pm. This will be the reorganization meeting following the election.
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