Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joseph Harrison told the Beloit USD 273 Board of Education at their meeting last night that their contract with Ennovate Corporation based in Denver, Colorado is now 98 percent completed.
After months of considering proposals from different companies the Board made the decision to award the contract to the plan presented by Ennovate. The plan was structured to make energy efficient improvements at the Beloit Junior-Senior High School and Beloit Elementary School buildings to create overall energy savings and improve comfort through out the buildings while reducing overall costs and help conserve energy.
Dr. Harrison said Jennifer Zuka, an inspector from the Ennovate Corporation will be here this week to do a final walk through check with them to be sure every thing is done to their satisfaction. When this is done they will consider the contract completed. This however does not include the HVAC installation that is yet to come. They will have a crane present in the in the BJSHS parking lot the next two weekends to lift the heavy equipment up on to the roof. Instillation will be done on September 21 and 22. The 24th will be the day they coordinate every thing. They hope to have everything completed sometime in October.
A lot of new carpeting was put down at BES and there is a problem with this already fraying real bad after only the first two weeks of use. This will all have to be redone. A carpet inspector from an independent company came to inspect the carpet instead of a representative from the company it was purchased from, Dr. Harrison said. The whole carpet is just disintegrating. They hope to find out more with in the next five days as to whether the company will stand behind their product.
They are still in the process of students moving in and out of schools but Dr. Harrison expects the final enrollment count that will be taken on September 20 will be about one student off of where they were last year. This would be a head count of 821 students and an FTE of 787 students. Right now however this is a continually changing process, he said. Byron Marshall BES Principal reported a total of 433 students in that building at the present time and Daryl Moore, BJSHS Principal reported a total of 234 students in the High School and 115 in the Jr. High School right now.
Dr. Harrison said the Teacher's In-service Day will be September 24. The fall Kansas Association of School Board's regular meeting will be in Concordia on September 20. He asked board members to consider attending since it is so close. The Board approved the new Site-Council appointments for BES and BJSHS.
Donna Eck representing the Site Council spoke to the board. Both she and Principal Marshall talked at the New Friends of BES Program they have started to thank individuals, businesses etc. that go above and beyond to help BES Students and Staff. They will be sending out certificates to thank these people for their time and effort.
Marshall talked about the Grandparent Day that was held recently. He said would be a very memorable day for the students and grandparents as over 400 signed up and there were some 50 more that had not. He thanked the teachers for helping to making the day one to remember. Family Fun Night was a great success as they sold all the food that was prepared to over 600 people who attended. Parent's Night was down a little bit from last year with 442 people attending this year.
BJSHS Principal, Daryl Moore, reported on the activities at his building. He said the athletic teams have all gotten off to a fantastic start to the year. He said with 340 enrollment BHS is getting close to being moved to a 4A School. Football standings are set for two years at a time but the other sports standings are set each year. Moore said the gym lights have been completed and the courts are well lighted but they will still have a 60 percent savings on electricity. PE teachers and coaches say the gym is a great deal cooler with the new lights and they do not have the buzz. He has had a great number of positive comments abut the new bathrooms and the new concession stand at Trojan Stadium.
"Calamity Jane" has been chosen as he musical for this year and will be performed on November 8, 10 and 11. Auditions are being scheduled.
The MAP Testing is about 90% complete and will finished up this week and staff will go over the results on September. "We have had a great number of changes to the building, personnel and also to programs but this has been one of the smoother starts to the school year that I can remember, Moore said.
Karen Niemczyk, Special Education Co-op Director, reported on their department's activities. They were awarded a Targeted Improvement Plan Grant in the amount of $22,801.This is to fund the AIMS web which is an online progress monitoring software. Niemczyk shared the Roots to Resources Team they are putting together and the action plan they will begin after they complete their training.
The Co-op received an Indicator 11 for their compliance with sending in timely evaluations. She was also glad to report they have been approved for a Special Ed Waiver for Maintenance of Effort. This is great news for Kansas because it means they will not lose additional Federal funding and will have increased federal monitoring in the area of fiscal accountability.
Hunter Post, Student Council President, reported they sponsored a Back to School Bash, had about 140 students attend and made $120 on the dance. They hosted a fundraiser for Numana and raised $285. On Saturday, September 22, the council will have a "Drive On For Your School" event along with students from St. Johns.
They will receive $20 from Beloit Auto and Truck Plaza for each car that is driven. Post also discussed Beloit High Homecoming activities that are coming up.
Brennen Eilert reported the Parent Teacher Organization had their first fundraiser and made $18,416.75 which is a BES record. Back to School Family Fun night was a big success as was grandparent day. Their first box top competition will begin September 17 and ends October 12 with the winning classroom earning a pizza party at Pizza Hut. Miss Becker is painting the new cement slab on her own time at no cost to the PTO for paint. 6th grade students are helping her and should be done in the next 2 weeks.
Superintendent Harrison explained a new program called "The Walking School Bus" (WSB ) is a group of children who walk to school together under the supervision of a trained and certified adult leader. The leaders will pick up the children at their home and follow the safe routes that have been designed for the group to follow. Children will be delivered to the school just like the school bus does. Becky Draemel, a paid coordinator, will be in charge of the group's safety. She will register the children and train adult volunteers to be group leaders.
The program promotes good health, a cleaner environment, and reduced traffic around the school. It is part of the Campaign Against Obesity. The grant amount per school is $3,192.00. Beloit, Hillsboro and Cheney will be the first prototypes for this program in Kansas.
BES will be trying a Pilot program for five weeks from October 1 - November 1, 2012. A full Spring 2013 Program will run for 7 weeks from March 25 - May 2013 starting after spring break. A full Fall 2013 Program will run for 8 weeks, beginning at the start of the next school year. The children will arrive at school in time for breakfast and only walk when the weather permits, Dr. Harrison said.
Due to the resignation of Julie Parker whom is moving to California the board voted to appoint Kelsey Krier as the new Deputy Clerk of the Board of Education.
Dr. Harrison led the board in discussing the Kansas Educators' Evaluation Protocol and explained how it works. It will be used to evaluate teachers who are scheduled to be evaluated this year. School Board Members will evaluate the Superintendent and the two school Principals as well. This will help the board to judge their level of competence, see what goals each of the entities has set for their area of the system and how well they are performing in their jobs. The meeting was adjourned.