The board meeting Tuesday evening lasted about an hour. Other than staff and board members, three community members were present for the meeting.
1) Superintendent’s Report: Mr. Olney updated the school board regarding the progress being made on the installation of the wireless network being installed by Vector. He said that it was nearly ready. He added that there will be three types of user accounts available on the network (staff/student/guest) and that the county will continue to filter what’s available from the internet in order to ensure that students don’t have access to inappropriate material. Since employees will have access to the internet without filtering, they will be required to sign internet use agreements specifying their responsibilities regarding their enhanced level of access. For instance, if an employee allows a student to use a computer logged onto a staff account, the employee will be required to constantly monitor the student while the student is logged in as such.
2) Old Elementary - The old elementary buildings and their contents were declared surplus. Declaring property surplus is necessary before the district can sell or dispose of it. Contractors will be submitting bids for demolition of the old elementary by end of next week and a contractor will be selected for the job within a month or two.
3) Back To School Night - Thursday evening, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
4) Public Comments: a) Parent requested that lights be turned on for little league football practice. She also expressed concern regarding the safety of elementary school children who walk home and requested supervision of students to the back gate. She also had a question about Common Core. Mr. Olney promised to talk to her individually at her convenience. b) Another parent expressed concern about elementary students riding home on bicycles without safety helmets.
5) Unaudited Actuals - Mr. Olney talked a little about financial matters. Referring to printed reports he pointed out that the ending balance for the 2013/2014 school year was $10.3 million.
6) Public Hearing - A public hearing was held regarding textbooks. It last approximately one minute. No one had anything to say during the hearing. After the hearing was officially closed, Mr. Olney talked briefly about upcoming state adoption of new textbooks. It is expected that there will be many new textbook adoptions across all subject areas due to the switch over to Common Core. Several textbook adoptions in a shorter period of time than usual will result in increased expenditures by the district for the acquisition of new textbooks.
7) Policies and Procedures - A number of updated policies and procedures were reviewed by the school board. These policies covered a number of topics including Goals for the School District, Fees and Charges, Tobacco-free Schools, Tobacco, and Employee Notifications. The most interesting items were the ones regarding tobacco in which language was added to the policies regarding “electronic cigarettes, electronic hookahs, and other vapor-emitting devices.” One board member shared with everyone that she had never heard of a hookah.
8) Next Regular Board Meeting: October 09.