Search for science teacher continues

The Odessa School Board met May 23 in the high school library to the disappointing news that a new science teacher, to whom a job offer had been made to fill the position being vacated by Jeff Wehr, had decided not to accept the Odessa job. The search thus continues for another candidate.

In other personnel-related matters, the board approved paying bonuses to Duane Pitts and Marianne Iksic based on their National Board Certifications. They also accepted the resignation of Amy Hunt as the Pep Club Advisor.

Coaching contracts for the next school year were approved for Bruce Todd (head football coach), Heath Voise and Paul Horak (assistant football coaches), Mark DeWulf (volunteer football coach), Ken Scherr (head volleyball coach), Lanae Carper (assistant volleyball coach), Larry Weber (junior-high head football coach), LaMarr Larmer (JH assistant football coach), Travis Schuh (head boys basketball coach), Jason Spakousky (head girls basketball coach) and Alan Tanke (assistant girls basketball coach).

The board approved personal services contracts for Jerry Schwab for counseling services; Debra Stotts for occupational therapy services, and Beverly Scherr for curriculum and assessment services.

Ads are running for paraeducators for the district for next year.

Principal’s report

Principal Ken Schutz reported on how well student-led conferences went, with almost every student participating. Senior project presentations were also well done, he said, expressing appreciation to board member Marcus Horak for the article he submitted to the newspaper about them.

State assessments are in progress and will be completed by the end of the month, he said. Results will not be returned to us until August. Some minor problems were encountered with online testing but not nearly as bad as those encountered by many school districts throughout the state.

Schutz informed the board that he and head custodian Justin Parr have been working with the ESD the past two years on the Odessa School District Readiness and Emergency Management Plan, which is in the final stages of completion.

Superintendent’s report

Superintendent Suellen White's report began with an accolade to Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) president Suzie Deife for her efforts toward the purchase, installation and troubleshooting of the new reader-board sign downtown at the Festplatz.

School improvement

White reported on school improvement efforts that have resulted from early-release days, whereby time is provided for teachers to improve the curriculum, work together to coordinate the work for students and to plan for future efforts.

White said that when the state stopped providing funding for teachers to work on learning improvements, early-release days were the mechanism chosen by the Odessa district for providing this invaluable time for the staff. White added that comparison with other schools show that in-class time for Odessa students is still very high if when the early-release days are taken into account.

Different groups worked on improving the school’s effectiveness. The English/language arts group evaluated and made changes in the district’s K-12 writing curriculum, examined the remediation program and made changes to the program as the year progressed and evaluated a new reading curriculum for adoption.

The science and math group worked on the STEM Lighthouse Grant Award and in the process was able to evaluate the math and science programs. Teachers not in these groups worked individually on their own curriculum and programs.

White reported that Nancy Glines is preparing for the summer food program. Some changes planned for this summer are that children can eat breakfast and lunch free each day of the program from the end of this school year until the beginning of school next fall. Breakfast will be served at the school, and lunch will be served at Reiman Park, so students can easily eat lunch and then go swimming for the afternoon. The pool will not be open on Mondays, so activities will be provided for students, including the summer reading program at the public library, as well as demonstrations and crafts. The PTO is working with Glines on these arrangements.

Finances

Enrollment in May stayed the same as in April at 195.5 students, with an average for the year of 198.5. The district’s ending general fund balance was $874,448, but White reminded the board that the amount will drop next month due to a lower apportionment amount from the state and to a payment made on the debt of $125,000. Business manager Juli Weishaar reported that future payments on the debt were reduced from $25,000 every six months to $18,000 due to the advanced payment already made.

Curriculum

Bev Scherr presented the curriculum adoption for 3-5 grade reading. The curriculum committee recommended the series “Treasures” published by McGraw Hill at a cost of about $12,000. She described the process for determining the need, the research and evaluation that was done and why the program was selected. The board approved the adoption and purchase of the materials.

Facilities

The board discussed the long list of items needing attention under the heading of facilities, including remodeling of the high school gym foyer; sanding of the floor in the multipurpose room and refinishing of the gym floor (annual maintenance); carpeting of the elementary hallways, four classrooms and library; building of a new storage facility at Finney Field; application of “Dry-vit” to north wall of elementary school where there are loose bricks; installation of a backstop on the playground; completion of the fencing of the playground where there is not currently a fence; evaluation of the ag shop for major remodeling or replacement; inspection of roof and adding mats to absorb the impact of ice falling from the gym onto the roof below which annually causes tears and leaking.

Meetings

The next board meeting will be a special meeting May 30 at 6 p.m. to deal with the sale of the bus barn and choose the summer maintenance projects. The next regular board meeting will be June 27 at 7 p.m. following a board workshop on the budget.

The semi-annual meeting of the Odessa and Harrington school boards was discussed. The athletic cooperative agreement says the meeting should take place the second week in July, but last year it was held in June to accommodate Harrington. After some discussion the board proposed June 13 or June 19 for the coop meeting.

The agenda called for the board to establish an asking price for the bus barn, but since the appraisal report had not been received, the board decided to hold a special meeting next week, May 30, at 7 p.m. in the school library.