The North Nodaway School Board, at its regular board meeting Wednesday, named Cody Jenkins as its High School Principal to replace Roger Johnson. Johnson is taking retirement after 32 years of teaching in Missouri and has accepted a teaching position in Diagonal. Jenkins told the Express he will not be returning as boys basketball coach. The board will do extra duty contracts at next month’s meeting. The board will also be doing non-certified staff.
In other personnel moves, the board voted to accept Kristi Stricker’s resignation as the Middle School Student Council sponsor. The board voted to accept Linsey Byrd’s resignation as the fifth grade teacher at the end of the 2024-25 school year. The board voted to hire Mattie Riemenschneider as an elementary teacher for the upcoming school year. The board voted to rehire Catherine Auffert as the Special Ed teacher, Troy Nally as the Ag teacher, Victor West as the Middle School Special Ed and Social Studies teacher, and Cody Bix as the Middle School and High School Science teacher.
Also hired or rehired for next year were Emily Bix (High School Language Arts), Danielle Johnson (Elementary Teacher), Sami Jackson (Elementary Teacher), Stacey Meyer (K-12 Art), Cynthia Martin (K-12 Librarian), Bethney Pederson (Middle School Language Arts), Audrey Trimble (Elementary Teacher), Nathan Schoonover (Business), Jake Hoy (High School Math), Kyle Fitzgerald (K-12 Music), Jess Greiman (K-12 PE), Cameron Morrison (K-12 Counselor), Reid Hart (Middle School/High School Social Studies), Brooke McMahon (Elementary Teacher), and Mallory Kirby (Elementary Teacher). All votes were unanimous except that Vicki Riley abstained on the vote for Cameron Morrison. Board member Samantha Brown was absent.
The board voted to apply for a grant for more equipment for the ag department. The school is seeking to purchase two Canon cameras, a DTF printer, an HP printer/copier/scanner, six Lenovo desktops, a 3D printer, and two ThinkPads. Estimated total cost is $30,550. If approved, estimated reimbursement is $17,075 if the grant is approved.
Elementary Principal Heather Townsend reported that Title intervention has been working on multi-syllabic words. The school has done spring fire and tornado drills. Second graders are making volcanoes. First graders are comparing numbers.
The school had Dr. Seuss Day March 13th. There were four stations that were 20 minutes long, and the North Nodaway A+ students came down to run the stations and help out.
High School Principal Roger Johnson reported that parent/teacher conferences were well-attended. The school had its awards assembly.
The Academic Showcase focused on Greek gods, a Pi recital, musical performances, a science fair, and a middle school play.
Spring baseball has started and track has begun practices.
FFA has started area competitions and Scholar Bowl is underway as well.
Middle School students attended EmpowerU in St. Joseph to learn about problem solving, city government, and working through committees.
Superintendent Chris Turpin reported that the Teacher Baseline Grant will open on June 17th and is due on August 18th. The current base is $36,420 for the school, while the state is pushing schools to pay at least $40,000.
Open enrollment legislation passed the House this week. It moves over to the Senate for debate. It allows schools to opt in to accept students who live outside their district, but they can’t stop students from leaving. The outgoing number would be capped at 3% of the prior year’s enrollment; for North Nodaway, that would be six kids. The concern is that such safeguards may not exist in the future. There are also concerns about funding and transportation. Rep. Jeff Farnan voted no.
The school had bus inspections recently. There were issues on a few buses such as lettering, tail pipe hangers, and a couple of tires that needed replaced. They will be reinspected on March 24th.
Helzer Fencing will come to install vinyl fencing at the high school.
The school is in the process of getting bids for teacher desks for the high school, asphalting for a few parking areas, and possibly drop ceilings and lighting for the high school and elementary hallways.
The next meeting will be April 16th, 2025.
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