Marion board OKS all-day kindergarten for 2005-06

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN CAROLYN MOORE
The Unified School District 408 Board of Education found consensus on a number of issues during their Feb. 7 retreat-or maybe Valentine’s Day was the harmonizing instrument.

Preceded by Kiwanis Honors Banquet for students, the meeting began at 8 p.m., Feb. 14, with members agreeing on most agenda items.

All-day kindergarten

All-day kindergarten will be offered beginning in 2005-06. Superintendent Lee Leiker assured the board that federal funds of about $5,000, normally received for transitional first grade (T-1), will not necessarily be lost by eliminating the T-1 program.

“But those students were going to be in first grade,” he said. “The only way we’d get extra would be holding students back in kindergarten. Students who are in kindergarten this year, if in the same classroom all day, can still be a T-1 class, because you can have multiple grades in the classroom.”

Leiker estimated 38 to 40 children will enroll in kindergarten for 2005-06.

Rex Savage, board president, cast the only dissenting vote, but added, “For me, it’s darn near a tie,” in making his decision.

After the vote, he said, “That done, I wish you success and all the best in the program.”

Principals’ Contracts Renewed

Following an hour-long executive session, the board offered contracts to incumbent principals Ken Arnhold (high school), Tod Gordon (middle school) and Stan Ploutz (elementary school) through the 2006-07 school year.

School calendar

An updated, but not final, calendar for 2005-06 adds May 25 as a student contact day and moved a teacher inservice day into August.

New teachers will have inservice on Aug. 11, followed by a workday for all staff Aug 12, then all-staff inservice on Aug. 15 and 16.

The first day of school for all students will be Aug. 18, but new students and those in grades K-7 and 9 will begin Aug. 17.

The changes were made to comply with the requirement of 182 student contact days and 190 contracted days for teachers.

Board members said the calendar looks good, but wanted some assurances about Dec. 23, since teachers often request leave on that date.

Elementary After-School Program

PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies) is a new after-school program at the elementary school. Principal Stan Ploutz said the program, which focuses on character building, receives funds through a federal grant for drug-free schools.

Linda Ogden, director of Marion County Communities in Schools, is working to enlarge the grant. Cindy Vinduska and Sarah Waddell coordinate the PATHS program, with Anne Collett and Laurie Secrest as assistants.

The grant runs from October to October, Ploutz said, so it could continue into the summer.

The board approved the program unanimously.

Extracurricular sports and P.E.

Physical education credit at the high school may be waived if students participate in extra-curricular sports. The state requires one-half credit of physical education and one-half credit of health for high school graduation. But USD 408 requires an additional one-half credit in P.E.

While the credit would not be awarded for sports participation, that requirement could be waived, allowing students to take an extra elective.

The board approved the concept, awaiting details at the March meeting about which sports or zero-hour exercise would qualify for the waiver.

Savage asked, “What would that do to our random drug testing policy?”

Leiker agreed that additional research should be done to deal with possible disparity in policy.

High school schedule

The latest high school schedule, according to Principal Ken Arnhold, shows a daily schedule in the morning and block in the afternoon.

Dividing the day will be lunch period from 12:05 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Arnhold said that sharing teachers and facilities with the middle school, especially for technology, music, and physical education, makes scheduling more difficult.

The schedule shows at least one seminar during each hour of the day, with five seminars available during Block 8th Hour, giving additional flexibility to students in choosing electives.

Middle school changes

The middle school schedule is nearing completion, with major changes caused by the high school’s move away from block schedule.

Eighth graders will choose between vocal music or reading class, but no art elective, and will have Spanish, math enrichment, and technology in 12-week classes that rotate.

Seventh graders will have a semester of computers and art.

All middle school students will have a last-hour seminar for extra reading time, study, or extra help from teachers.

Principal Tod Gordon said the teachers are pleased with the proposed schedule. Bill Darrow will teach eighth-grade science, Tina Kraus will teach seventh-grade science, Deanna Thierolf will teach all math except one algebra class taught by Missy Stubenhofer.

Steve Janzen will have six hours of language arts, Chad Adkins will have six hours of social studies, and Sean Spoonts will take over middle school physical education.

“The only downside is we don’t have much wiggle room for lunch,” Gordon said. “Lunchroom staff will miss the current 20-minute interval between middle school and high school lunch times.”

Baseball and softball numbers

Marion-Florence and Peabody-Burns will have combined teams for softball and baseball this spring, according to Activities Director Tod Gordon.

Coaches Charlotte Waner and Sean Spoonts report that 30 girls and 27 boys have indicated they intend to play. Of the 30 girls, 18 are from Marion-Florence, 12 from Peabody-Burns.

The baseball team will have 15 from Marion-Florence, 12 from Peabody-Burns.

Resignations accepted

Resignations were accepted from bus driver Tim Young, effective March 1, and elementary teacher Susan Best, effective March 26. Best’s resignation was approved by a 4-3 vote, with board members Gene Bowers, Rex Savage and Chris Sprowls voting against.

The board approved the request of Missy Stubenhofer to give up most of her teaching hours-keeping one class of middle school algebra-while remaining as curriculum and assessment coordinator on a part-time basis for 2005-2006.

Principal Gordon said, “I couldn’t have made the middle school schedule work without Missy staying on to teach algebra.”

Closing comments

Savage gave the audience, press, principals and board members the opportunity to ask questions or make comments, yielding a few announcements, kudos and questions:

— the MHS forensics team, after three meets, has won three first-place trophies and has 10 students already qualified for state.

— An ESU printout sent to Leiker shows that our alumni are scoring higher than the average grade-point average in all areas we are teaching.

— Foreign language plays will be held Feb. 23 in the elementary gymnasium; on Friday, March 4, 3 p.m., a pep assembly “Team Up for Success” will be part of Fine Arts Day, with multi-age participation; March 5 is the Elementary Carnival.

— FFA alumni work auction and hog roast will be Thursday, Feb. 24.

— Audience member Deanna Bryant asked to have an issue placed on the March agenda regarding high school graduation.

— A car clipped the front of a school bus last week, but no one was hurt and parents were immediately informed that students would arrive home slightly late.

— A lobbying letter recommended by the Schools for Quality Education was read but tabled so that each board member could communicate in his or her own words if they wish to influence Sen. Jim Barnett or Rep. Don Dahl about low-enrollment weighted funding.

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