The regular meeting was held starting at 6:00 p.m.
Board of Education officers for 2022 were elected as follows:
President – Chris Blackledge
Vice President – Kristin Flick
Secretary – Joe Childs
Treasurer – Leon Densmore
January is School Board Recognition Month. Superintendent Denney expressed his appreciation to the board members for the time and dedication they put in as members of the board. A certificate and small gift was given to the board members.
The high school Student Council is planning Snowfest activities. The theme for Snowfest will be “decades,” and there will be a glow dance after the boys basketball game on January 28th.
The meeting agenda, December minutes, and treasurer’s report were approved with no changes.
Public comment: An elementary school teacher informed the board that the 5th grade M-STEP scores excelled every state level in every subject except math, which was only under by 1%. Fifth graders will be participating in a presentation by Trooper Don Stuart, where he will talk to the students about cyber bullying, positive relationships, etc. The M-STEP window for 2022 is April 4-May 11.
The board discussed the MIOSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), NEOLA policy 8450.06, “Covid-19 Vaccination , Testing, and Face-Covering Policy.” This gives the Superintendent the authorization to issue necessary administrative guidelines, with input from the board, if/when MIOSHA implements any rules related to the ETS released by the Department of Labor.
The board voted to approve the Superintendent evaluation tool, process, and timeline that is currently in place. The board may look at adding more detail to Board Goal #2. The board also requested that facilities meetings be resumed to look at where our facilities are at and what may be needed to be updated in the future.
The Cascades Conference Constitution and Bylaws were approved, after they were recently revised by the Cascades Conference Executive Council. The school board of each school in the conference must approve the revisions, which by rule, must be reviewed on a regular basis.
Superintendent Denney reported to the board members on the following:
- The Hanover-Horton Athletic Booster have draw-down tickets on sale.
- We now have a full occupancy permit for the new gym.
- Thank you to everyone on the board for the work you do, behind the scenes and at the meetings.
The board members commented on the following:
- It’s nice to hear the positive public comment. Staff has done a great job in all grades.
- Thank you to the educators who have worked so hard, especially in the last two years.
- Thank you to Supt. Denney for the work he did to host the recent Jackson County School Board Association meeting. The JCSBA will have a presentation on February 10, 2022 at the ISD to present ways to better education the people in Jackson County. All are invited.
- Jr. Medal of Honor is missed.
- The board received correspondence from someone who is concerned about feeling uncomfortable attending meetings in person because we don’t mandate masks at the meetings.
- Thank you for the school board recognition gifts.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
