Strasburg C-3 Board of Education
November 17, 2022 Board Meeting- Media Summary
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Addition/Removal of Items from the Agenda
Approval of the Agenda
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of minutes for October 13, 2022
B. Approval of minutes for November 1, 2022
C. Approval of November bills
D. Approval of Financial Report for October
E. Cass County Kids First 2022-2023 Legislative Priorities
F. Superintendent’s Report
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
I. Fall District Benchmarking and Reading Plans:
Mrs. Lovell is currently working on reading success plans for all students that are more than one year below in reading level. This isn’t required by law until January 1, 2023, but we are trying to get ahead of the game. These reports will be sent home to parents quarterly.
Some current data and comments:
-According to iReady, 43/113 of our students are two or more grade levels below.
-22/35 of those students are in grades 6-8, 12/35 are in grades 3-5, and 1/35 are K-2.
With interventions being put in place, we're closing the gaps.
-In 1st and 2nd grade, there are NO students more than one grade level below based on ALL reading diagnostics our building uses (this includes I Ready, Fountas and Pinnell)
-In 3rd grade, there are only two students who are two grade levels below according to ALL reading diagnostics. Two students are one grade level below. One student recently tested out of title reading (woohoo!!!)
-In 4th grade, the major issue we're seeing is comprehension. We are implementing plans to fix those skills.
We are currently brainstorming how to increase support for the students in grades 6-8. This is a group of students that did not receive Title Reading or Intervention Supports prior to July 2020.
1. A possibility would be moving the 5th grade into middle school. This would allow us to have smaller class sizes with the incoming 5th and 7th-grade classes, help us deal with/split up behavior concerns, allow for more exploratory courses, and allow grade-level teachers to specialize instruction in one content area. I have just started brainstorming this idea and think it would provide more specialized instruction for our struggling classes without hiring new staff.
2. Hire another middle school teacher and move Mrs. Silva (5th Grade) down to the 2-4 Hallway. This would require us to also move Coach Clark to a new classroom space.
* I would rather hire a full-time counselor/gifted teacher.
III. EDUCATION CAMP – PD AT SHERWOOD ON 12/12/22
Superintendents from Sherwood, Drexel, Appleton City, and Strasburg are coordinating efforts for a PD Teacher camp at Sherwood on our 12/12 Professional Development Day. This PD event will allow our staff the opportunity to collaborate with 200 other educators in our area. Lunch will be provided and costs will be split between the attending districts by the percentage of people in attendance. PD funds will cover the cost of this initiative.
The tentative schedule:
9:00am-9:10am Start / Open in the Gym
9:15am-10:00am 1st Round of Presentations
10:10am-10:55am 2nd Round of Presentations
10:55am-11:40am Lunch (boxed meals 3-4 pick-up stations)
11:45am-12:30pm Grade Level & Disciplines Collaboration
12:40pm - 1:10pm EdCamp Session 1
1:20pm-1:50pm EdCamp Session 2
IV. SRO OFFICER UPDATE
We are currently waiting on The Cass County Sheriff’s Office to find a SRO to train that will be shared between Strasburg and Drexel. Cass Midway has decided not to hire a SRO for this school year. Once we are ready to make it official, I will bring the contract to the board to sign.
V. CSIP SURVEY RESULTS
Staff, Community/Parent, and Student Surveys were sent out on November 1, 2022. The community/parent survey could also be found on the district website.
Once I have compiled the qualitative data and aligned it to our CSIP, I will share that information with the board. It will probably be December or January before I have it all tabulated and aligned. I will also be breaking the survey down from a qualitative perspective and looking for emerging themes in the data, I will share those themes as well.
VI. ESSER III EXPENDITURE UPDATES
At the end of the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year, we have a remaining budget of $157,000.00. Of that amount, we have $39,061.00 budgeted for staff salaries and benefits for tutoring. Currently, teachers are working on an after-school tutoring plan. I increased the amount from $35/hour to $60/hour for tutoring (similar to surrounding districts). This will allow up to 550 hours of tutoring services for our students. Teachers will be required to turn in a time sheet and attendance logs for tutoring.
We have not purchased testing materials for the Special Education Department in over fifteen years, we have been borrowing testing materials from Kingsville and East Lynn. We would like to have our own. Katey and Jeff have made a list of needed testing supplies and materials and we will be using $5,971.55 of ESSER money that is budgeted for materials and supplies to purchase those testing materials.
OLD BUSINESS
A. McKinstry Update – the ridge caps and sealed crickets on the gym roof only took care of one HVAC leak. We now also have 3 other areas of the gym roof with leaking concerns. McKinstry believes that it is due to the pitch of the roof and a new coating on the gym roof may fix the concerns. I will be contacting a company to come out and provide specks about how to fix the roof problem. Once I receive the specks, I will have the board approve going out to bid to fix the additional problems. This will be at the district's expense, we have been putting money into our capital projects fund for emergencies like this. Hopefully, the $30,000 that we have in that fund will be enough to cover it.
NEW BUSINESS
A. The board approved the Title I program evaluation for the 22-23 school year.
B. The board approved the Speech Services program evaluation for the 22-23 school year.
C. The board approved the Parents as Teachers program evaluation for the 22-23 school year.
D. Th board approved increasing the Speech Service Contract which would contract our provider for three days a week instead of two. The provider would use that time to take on the role of process coordinator for the district. The board also approved job descriptions for the Director of Special Services and Process Coordinator.
E. The board heard and approved a report about lead testing in our drinking water supply. Currently, we are under the ratio that would cause modifications to our fountains. The report can be viewed on the website.
F. The board approve the Board Filling Announcement to be posted in the newspaper. There are currently three seats available on our Board of Education. Eric Stevens and JC Utterback will not be seeking re-election.
THE BOARD ADJOURNED TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO RSMo. 610.021 (3) FOR HIRING, TERMINATING, DISCIPLINING, OR PROMOTING & RSMo. 610.021 (1) LEGAL ACTION INVOLVING THE DISTRICT, ATTORNEY COMMUNICATIONS.
CLOSED SESSION
A. The Board approved the closed session minutes from the October 13, 2022, executive session.
B. The Board discussed communication between the district and our legal team.
C. The Board approved the continuation of bookkeeper training that is currently being offered by Darlene Eslick. She is providing a contracted service and isn’t a district-hired staff member.
D. The Board of Education adjourned the executive session.
RECONVENE OPEN SESSION
ADJOURN
The board voted to adjourn the meeting.