Northeast Nodaway BOE

The Northeast Nodaway School Board of Education met on January 16 to address the following.

After approval of the minutes from the December BOE meeting and the bills for the month, Interim Superintendent Jason McDowell recognized board members with a certificate of thanks as part of the upcoming School Board Appreciation Week. McDowell thanked the board members for their dedication to the school district.

Special education teachers Lori Stoll and Katlyn Meiners reported on the annual special education program evaluation which included recommendations for outside training and materials for life and special skills students. The board accepted the evaluation as presented.

Mid-year budget amendments were brought before the board as McDowell explained changes were necessary to align the district with changes to state requirements. McDowell said he’d been working with the district’s financial advisor at LJ Hart Company to make the adjustments. Amendments included the purchase of a new school van as well as additions to personnel, both already approved by the board. McDowell explained how the additions to the expenditures will be offset by revenue changes to local, state and federal funding line items which went into effect mid-year leading to higher projections than anticipated in the original budget passed in the summer of 2018. McDowell said the numbers are still projections since the final budget amendments will come toward the end of the school year, as in years past. The board approved the amendments to the budget as presented.

Principal Bryan Grow reported enrollment saw an increase at the beginning of the semester with the addition of two new students to the district. He said he had been sending home a lot less attendance notices to parents this year for five and 10 day absences than this time last year which helped boost the attendance numbers.

PTO announced they are continuing to work on the basketball tournament which is set for February 9 and any volunteers are appreciated.

The CTA report included the salary committee will present their requests in February to the board.

Grow’s principal report discussed ongoing activities for Homecoming Week, as well as the busy month ahead with other second semester happenings.

McDowell’s superintendent report included that administration is in the early stages of discussions regarding moving junior and senior high from eight periods to seven to lengthen instruction time and add a few minutes to students’ lunch schedule.

Administration is also working with staff on adjustments to the student handbook dealing with end of course testing. McDowell said the current requirement is teachers made the EOC test 15 percent of the grade to help students take the tests or projects seriously. Options for the change include allowing teachers to set the percentage of the EOC test/project or whether there would be one at all, but that a decision would happen in the coming months after further meetings with staff for recommendations.

The board went into closed session for the purpose of personnel.