Superintendent Denney and the Board of Education were happy to honor JROTC award winners and the Junior Medal of Honor recipients for October.
Evan Denney, Student Council Representative filling in for Ellery Hill, gave a report on Student Council activities. The Student Council is discussing a new program for making a student who is new to Hanover-Horton feel welcome by having student council member mentor the new student.
Representatives from the American Heart Association attended the meeting to officially present the board and school district with a CPR in Schools Training Kit. With this kit, students will be able to learn CPR, choking relief, and AED skills. These skills will be a graduation requirement for students in the year 2022, and Mrs. Jacquie Melling will be coordinating the efforts to get the kit in use in the classroom. This kit was graciously donated by Mr. Kirk Mercer, of R.W. Mercer Company, who is also a former H-H board member. We appreciate Mr. Mercer’s donation very much.
Mrs. Chris Hobson gave the board an overview of the elementary’s Pancakes With Patriots program for veterans that was held in honor of Veteran’s Day. Over sixty veterans attended this school-wide event. Veterans were treated to a pancake breakfast. Fifth graders made and handed out poppies; students decorated the hallways and sang patriotic songs; students also lined the hallways and clapped for the veterans as they passed by during the Walk of Honor. The Hanover-Horton Historical Society set up a welcome table and invited the veterans to the museum’s military exhibit. The veterans visited the classrooms for a question and answer session with the students. All in all, it was a very moving event. Thank you to Mrs. Hobson and all the elementary staff for their dedication in making this such a special program for the students, staff, and community.
Superintendent Denney updated the board with some enrollment statistics that were received after count day data had been certified by the ISD. A couple of statistics that stood out is that our student body is currently made up of 35% school of choice students, the largest segments coming from Jackson Public and Concord School Districts. Also, 65% of our student body is considered At Risk. One of the qualifications of a student being At Risk is if they are not proficient in one area of the M-STEP testing. Additionally, we currently have 128 special education students and 31 students with a 504 educational plan.
The details of the upcoming proposed bond issue are still being worked out. Superintendent Denney has been meeting with administration of all three buildings for their input, as well as contractors and the school’s attorneys. He will be meeting with the Treasury Dept. in December. Discussion was also held about the plans for the proposed new gym that would share a wall with the current middle school gym. More information will be presented to the board in the coming months so the board can make a decision about putting the bond proposal on the May 2019 ballot.
Superintendent Denney reported to the board members on the following:
- A shout-out to the elementary staff for the great job they did in putting together the Pancakes With Patriots program.
- The December 17th board of education meeting will be moved up to 5:30 pm because of the Christmas concert being held in the high school gym that night at 7:00 pm.
- Congratulations to Kristin Flick, who was elected to the board as a write-in candidate in the November 6th election. She will take over in January for Mrs. Christine Vincent, whose term expires in December 2018.
- There will be a presentation for parents on November 26th from 6:00-7:00 pm in the MS/HS library on the dangers of vaping and marijuana.
- Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
The Board of Education members commented on the following:
- Welcome to Kristin Flick, who will be joining the board in January.
- Thank you and best of luck to Mrs. Vincent for serving on the school board for the last fifteen years. Her service to the district has been invaluable, and she will be missed.
- The board is extremely grateful to Mr. Mercer for the donation of the CPR in Schools Training Kit.
- The board expressed their appreciation of the elementary program to honor our veterans.
The board went into closed session at 7:29 pm to discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation.
A motion was carried 7-0 to accept the Superintendent’s evaluation of Highly Effective.
The Board came out of closed session at 9:26 p.m.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:29 p.m.
