Monday October 10th USD 273 Board of Education Meeting

USD #273 Board of Education Meeting

Monday, October 10, 2016

By Terry Bailey

The Board of Education for USD #273 conducted their monthly meeting at the Board Office on Monday evening, October 10^th.

First up was a very sharp looking group of young men and women representing the officer corps of the Beloit Jr. Sr. High FFA Chapter. Accompanying the group was Brandon Callaway, the FFA advisor. The group was composed of five boys and two girls, each of them responsible for a part of their presentation regarding the past year’s activities.

These students took turns presenting the activities and successes of the 64 members of the Beloit High chapter. Some, but not all of their efforts included: participation in a Ropes Course in Manhattan, providing hay rack rides for children at the Mitchell county Fair, 28 students submitted entries at the Kansas State Fair with several winning honors including Jace Adams as a Reserve Grand Champion.

Upcoming activities include the fruit sale, horse judging, and the all-school FFA Week in February. Six members plan to attend the National FFA conference where the emphasis is on team building and leadership skills.

The Chapter has four goals for the upcoming year: Community development, apply for and win a Proficiency award, teach elementary students, and organize and gain permission for a FFA bonfire to create awareness about their group.

In his report Superintendent Jeff Travis introduced the idea of the district buying a skid steer implement to help with many chores the machinery they have cannot do or do well. He had secured four bids on four used skid steers. He told the Board he would present the information later in the evening.

Work continues on organizing an educational foundation. The Board will meet early next week to discuss the progress. School Finance continues to be a hot topic across the state. The Supreme Court will rule about the legality of the current school finance formula soon. Travis said many districts would like a three year budget so that predicable planning could be made.

Travis told the Board that 49% of the students in USD #273 qualify for free or reduced lunches.

There will be a surplus auction held at the Tech College on Saturday, November 12^th

Liz Fixen gave a high energy report on the activity of the P.T.O. In their back to school fundraiser, the P.T.O. raised $16, 252 slightly more than last year.

The Spirit Wear program continues where people can donate good used Trojan black and orange T-Shirts to be made available for children who do not have any to wear on special spirit days.

The PTO is planning to organize back to school kits for all students next year containing many of the necessary items to successfully start the school year.

Finally a project to provide classroom supplies will take place in November. A turkey display complete with feathers will be at Gray Drug and Fountain. Each feather has a list of a few items the teacher usually buys for their classes out of their own pocket. Those picking a feather will then buy those items for the teacher and their classroom.

The student council updated the Board on the many activities of the STUCO. The group decorated the interior of the school with festive fall decorations. There was also a decorate-a-pumpkin contest. The contest had about 20 entries. STUCO is also sponsoring a Wacky Wednesday activity where a theme is announced and students can dress up with that theme once a month. Also a Sock-To-Ber activity will be held at a home football game where attendees are encouraged to bring a new pairs of socks to donate. The Beloit Ministerial Alliance will distribute the donated socks to needy people.

Karen Niemczyk, Director of the Beloit Special Ed Co-op, reported about recent activities. The Co-Op has replace 8 para-educators from last year’s staff with 8 new employees. Additionally, she had four addition paras to add to her staff. She plans to meet with Building Administrators this Friday to discuss and remind those attending of strategies, interventions, and progress monitoring before a referral for special ed services can be made.

In early November Niemczyk and assistant director Cassie Kopsa and the school psychologist plan to attend a Tri-State Law Conference in Omaha, Nebraska.

Brady Dean, assistant Principal of the Beloit Elementary School, said that the enrollment at Beloit Elementary was 449 students compared to 454 last year.

The first quarter data sweep indicated students are beginning to master pro-social skills included in the Boys Town model. Last year at this time 32 referrals had been made to the office. This year only 17 referrals have been made.

The school has received a $1,000 grant from Shopko. The money can be used to purchase needed school items from SHOPKO.

Casey Seyfert Principal of the High School, reported that the cast and crew of the play Once Upon a Mattress are hard at work preparing for opening night on November 10^th.

Seyfert praised the students and the staff of the school for the Homecoming festivities very enthusiastic and successful.

Parent-Teacher conferences will be held from 12:30 p.m. until 10:00 pm. on October 20^th. The Service learning day will be October 12^th. The high school band will take a field trip to Wichita to attend the musical Wicked.

Assistant Principal and Activities Director, Kyle Beisner, gave an update on a very successful fall sports season. Beloit will host a sub-state basketball tournament.

The Board voted 6-0 to terminate the employment of Christine Smith at the Early Learning Center.

In final action the board voted 6-0 to purchase a used skid-steer implement from Stillwell Sales for $2,000 including various trade in equipment.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA