North Nodaway Signs Contracts With Nodaway County Sheriff, City of Pickering

The North Nodaway School Board, at its regular board meeting Wednesday, approved a memorandum of understanding with the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office for the upcoming school year. It also approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Pickering concerning the new LED sign.

The agreement with the Sheriff’s Department will allow them to assign up to two deputies to the school to provide security. Duties include, but are not limited to:

--Raising student, faculty, and parent awareness of the relationship between criminal behavious and their legal consequences;

--Monitor attendance and resolve truancy issues;

--Educate students about alternatives to violent behavior;

--Create a positive rapport between students and law enforcement;

--Work with at-risk students to prevent behaviors leading to suspension and police referral;

--Participate in the district’s academic, social, and emotional support programs in some capacity;

--Provide general law enforcement duties such as incident response and investigation, traffic control, and crowd control;

--Obtain and maintain specialized training specific to policing in a school setting.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Pickering and the school involves the following responsibilities of the district and the city regarding the new electronic sign. The responsibilities of the district are as follows:

--Maintain the sign in good condition and make repairs as needed;

--Work with the city to post information regarding the school and the city;

--Maintain insurance on the sign. This does not include the property on which the sign is located.

--Pay for electric service to the sign.

If the sign becomes damaged beyond reasonable repair or obsolete, it will be up to the district on whether to replace or repair it.

The City of Pickering’s responsibilities are as follows:

--Maintain the easement where the sign is located and follow all requirements;

--Communicate with the school regarding any postings to the sign.

The parties will generally not allow third-party postings to the sign. However, community postings related to Hopkins will be allowed as long as they are of the type and nature posted by Pickering or the district. The district will determine what meets the requirements for posting on the sign.

The agreement has been signed by both parties.

The board conducted the annual tax levy hearing. The board set the tax levy at $4.6505 per $100 assessed valuation with $3.4304 going to the general fund, 59 cents going to the debt service fund, and 63 cents going to the capital improvements fund.

Superintendent Chris Turpin reported that the school was approved for a Real World Learning grant of $99,000 to build a pavilion in Hopkins. The funds will cover the cost of materials and labor for a lead carpenter. Tim Mooney will be the lead carpenter and the Ag Structures class, under the direction of Ag teacher Troy Nally, will build the pavilion. Students will be excused from class certain days to help with certain elements of the project.

Work on the basketball courts is finished, and they are open for foot traffic.

The school was randomly selected to participate in a mandatory wastewater testing program. The school will be doing the Civil Rights Data Collection and a food service review.