Joyce to be Council HS Principal
On May 21st the Board of the Council School District met for their regular meeting. All board members were present.
Outgoing Superintendent Mike Howard reported on campus projects and that the High School Track & Field saw success at the State meet.
Current Elementary Principal and incoming Superintendent, Pat Griffin, reported that the standardized testing was complete - both ISAT and IRI, but they are waiting on results for the elementary students. Mr. Griffin also reported on recent field trips that students at the elementary were able to participate in. They had boat safety & fishing day at Ben Ross Reservoir and a Bike Rodeo at the school. Both were put on by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. The 1st grade held a science and there were graduation ceremonies for the Kindergartners and the 6th graders. It was also reported that the FFA plant sale was a success. Trista Robbins stated that there was ‘huge community involvement’ this year.
Mrs. Ramona Beyuka came back to request the purchase of the CPM math curriculum for Geometry and Algebra 2 for grades 10 and 11. The most recent ISAT scores were presented to the board. Board member Steve Ryals expressed concern for using this curriculum in lower grade levels, although this request was for 10th & 11th. The CPM curriculum is already in use in grades 6-9. Board members Henderson and Pate expressed concerns about students working in groups with others of varying ability. Beyuka explained that her grading metric counts group work as 5% of a students total grade. A motion was made to make this purchase but was not seconded, so the motion failed.
The second issue that Mrs. Beyuka came before the board for was reducing the number of math credits that the district requires of students in order to graduate. Currently, the district requires 8 credits, but the state requirement is only 6 credits. This 8 credit requirement has made it difficult for some students to transfer in and graduate on time. Additionally, the district has had difficulty finding staff to teach enough math courses so students can get the required 8 credits. This action was approved by the board.
Athletic Director Mrs. Tucker gave a report on what sporting equipment purchases need to be made for the following year. Tucker is working on adjusting the purchasing schedule so that purchases made from year to year are predictable and their are no surprises financially. The board approved $6,000 for her to get started on this year’s purchases.
Jim Main with Hedrick Engineering came to inquire about their contract with the district. This was the firm that helped the district explore options for new school buildings in recent years. The effort was shelved after a survey of people in the district indicated that the needed bond to build these future buildings would fail by a large margin. The board elected to suspend the contract with Hedrick Engineering indefinitely as they do not foresee pursuing a bond for new school buildings in the near future.
Two projects were approved to be put to bid - ceiling replacement in room 5 at the High School and to assemble the already purchased green house for the Elementary.
A first reading of Policy 5320P was on the agenda for the evening. This is the policy for drug and alcohol testing for applicants of jobs with the district as well as current employees. The district recently spelled out the procedures for testing students who participate in any extra-curricular activity and next intends to make sure their policy and procedure for staff is updated.
After an executive session, it was motioned and approved to offer Brian Joyce the job as the High School Principal.
