Hanover-Horton School District
Board of Education Meeting in Review
February 8, 2016
The Board of Education and Superintendent Denney recognized the Jr. Medal of Honor recipients for the month of January. They were Isabella Crabtree, Chloe Frye, Connor Johnson, Reed Matthews, Morgan Kuhl, Katie Stroede, Layla Bearden and Mrs. Becky Chase. Congratulations.
January was School Board Recognition Month. Cards and videos of thanks to the School Board members were read and viewed.
The Board approved the annual field trips presented to them from the elementary, Sauder Village, and the middle school, Mackinac.
The Board selected Dale Wingerd of Clinton to represent them for Region 7 of the MASB Board of Directors.
Kelly Sheppard and Susan Townsend of the Jackson County Intermediate School District were present this evening to explain some of the benefits of Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP). We were informed by the Jackson Community Action Agency that they no longer will be operating their Head Start program at Hanover Horton. The GSRP would be able to open their program up with more flexibility on who would qualify to enroll in the program. The Board had requested Mr. Denney to proceed with lining up more detailed information for the March Board meeting.
The Board approved the purchase of a used lawn mower and a plow truck not to exceed a total expense of $64,000. Our district has a lot of grounds and parking areas to maintain. Our current white plow truck is not equipped to move the amount of snow that sometimes burdens us. This causes additional wear and tear creating breakdowns and expensive repairs. The mower also has had to have multiple repair work and has exceeded the life expectancy of efficiency.
Superintendent Denney updated us on the Countywide Common School Calendar. Not much has taken place this past month. There are three districts that still need to have their Board approve the concept. That is expected to take place in their districts this month.
M-Step results were shared by each of the building principals. The overall result throughout the district was very good. Many areas of the elementary and middle school exceeded the state and county averages. The results of the high school, 11th grade, had us on top across the county in both ACT and M-Step. M-Step was new to everyone, and we foresee yet more changes coming down the road. The results of M-Step were not provided to the administrators in summary form. The administrators have to analyze the results based on individual student reports. This will be a lengthy cumbersome task.
Superintendent Denney reported on a few areas of interest in his superintendent’s report:
• The recent “Gag Order” bill that was signed into law by Governor Snyder has been suspended effective immediately by a judge. There will be hearings next week to look at adjustment or replacements to the bill.
• So far the school year has been smooth going.
• Night lights have started in the elementary.
The Board members are very excited and pleased with the Medal of Honor program. They extended their thanks to everyone for the cards and notes of appreciation. Also a big thank you to the principals for their hard work in trying to analyze all of the individual testing reports and keeping the Board informed of our students progress.
