Superintendent Denney and the Board of Education were happy to honor the Junior Medal of Honor recipients for January.
The board approved the annual middle school Mackinac Island/Wilderness State Park trip on May 15th – 17th. Students will participate in certain science activities while on the trip, such as collecting water samples from various sources to conduct water quality testing and a Dune Ecology activity. Also included on the trip are a tour of the fort and a historical tour of the island, as well as a stop at Hartwick Pines State Park.
Superintendent Denney updated the board on the proposed bond. There are many differences between doing projects with the sinking fund and the bond money. By law, we are required to hire an architect for prints, and every piece of our project that has a labor and materials cost of over $24,000 must be posted locally and on the state bidding website. It is necessary to hire a general contractor in order to maintain compliance with all of the “red tape.” Mr. Ted Moore and Mr. Tony Hollow of Moore-Trosper were on hand to let the board know what their company can do for the district throughout the bond project, and the board agreed to hire their firm as the general contractor, if the bond passes.
A letter was sent out to families through email and social media explaining the situation with snow days and the school calendar. As of this date, our district has had nine snow days. Because we received a waiver from the state for an additional three forgiven days, we do not have to make up any days as long as we don’t have any more snow days. The state legislature is considering also forgiving two additional days that were considered “state of emergency” days due to the wind chill, but it probably won’t be until later in the spring that a decision is made regarding those days.
Our spring count day numbers remained the same as the fall count, at 1135 total students. Most years, the spring count is 10-20 students less than the fall count, but we held steady this year. The district is up 18 students from the 2018 spring count.
Superintendent Denney reported to the board members on the following:
- In basketball news, congratulations go to Brinna Melling who scored her 1000th point in the game against East Jackson. The boys’ basketball team will at least share a conference title. District playoffs start next week for boys in Reading. Districts for girls will start the week of March 4th.
- Hats off to all teachers in dealing with the many snow days we have had.
- There was damage to a fresh air intake at the elementary building during the polar vortex days in January, which caused pipes to freeze and flooding. Thank you to the maintenance department for the work they did to fix everything and get the affected classrooms ready in as little time as possible.
The Board of Education members commented on the following:
- The board is excited to see plans moving forward on the bond project.
- Questions about the plowing of the elementary parking lots.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m.
