West Nodaway BOE

The West Nodaway R-I Board of Education met in open and two closed sessions on December 13 to handle the following school district business:

The cooperative sports committee, made up of three board members each from WN and North Nodaway, plus the school superintendents, has agreed to combine booster club activities into a North-West Nodaway Booster Club.

The schools are going to combine Homecoming into one game starting with the 2018-19 school year. NN will host Homecoming and the fall sports banquet. WN will host during the 2019-20 school year. WN will host the tailgate and senior night in 2018-19, with NN hosting those two activities the following year.

During Homecoming, the schools will stick with the traditional times of crowning the royalty. NN will be before the game; WN will be after.

Board member Troy Brady said that this was a logical step forward and that it was good to focus on positives. The schools will continue to grow this cooperation going forward.

Seven board policies and regulations were given a final reading and approved, including PR2921, allowing non-traditional students to participate in MSHSAA activities. There was concern voiced that the students wouldn’t have to meet the school guidelines for play eligibility. The qualifier in the policy is that the students must attend two hours per day at the school. It was determined that the board could look at the policy in the future to see if citizenship and other requirements need to be added.

It was approved to pay $15 for each staff and board member meal at the winter social.

Approvals included the 2016-17 audit report and donating $250 to the Adult Education and Literacy Program.

Superintendent Shannon Nolte and Principals Holly Brady and Chuck Fox met with area DESE Supervisor Nancy Greeley to go over the 2017 APR results. Some highlights and strategies for improvement that were discussed include the following:

• Administrators should ensure teachers become familiar with the new Missouri Learning Standards, especially the priority standard at each grade level and subject area.

• Teachers should review test blueprint copies which identify the standards and frequency tested.

• Teachers should begin to use practice tests produced by the testing vendor to prepare students for spring testing.

• Students who earn a Below Basic score on the EOC or MAP test should be retested in the fall to try to improve their score.

• WN finished with good subgroup achievement scores and needs to maintain this to avoid the possibility of becoming a focus school.

• Check all ACT and ASVAB scores to be sure that the most recent and best score by a student is entered. ACT is downloaded by the state and ASVAB is recorded locally.

• The district needs to add the WorkKeys Assessment, an ACT-type test geared toward a vocational field rather than college prep.

• The district should find a way to test all juniors with the ACT despite the cost and have seniors who could improve their score retest.

• Follow up with 2016 and 2017 graduates who may not have been counted for postsecondary placement.

• Be sure students who could take an Industry-Recognized Credential test and Technical Skills Attainment test are given the opportunity to take the test and achieve the standard that earns a point.

In the second closed session of the evening, the following were hired for the 2017-18 school year: Melissa Cook, junior high girls basketball cheer coach; Matthew Peacher and Lucas Blum, assistant varsity baseball coaches.