November Board Summary

St. Paul Middle School Recognized with Challenge Award

Chetopa Elementary Named Great Expectations Model School

The following is a summary of the USD 505 board of education meeting and does not reflect official minutes.

The board of education of USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul met for its regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 9, 2009, 7:00 PM, in the board room at Chetopa Schools.  Board members present were Doug Moses, Jeff Corn, Mark E. Smith, Kandi Midgett, and Craig Sanders.  Sandy Krider and Elaine VanLeeuwen were absent. The meeting was called to order by president Doug Moses and the agenda was approved with no revision.

The board approved all items in the consent calendar which included checks presented for payment, transportation report, minutes from past meetings, and financial reports.

Kirby Honeycutt, technology director, shared summary of Tech Committee meeting; gave an overview of repairs and installations; reported virtual school enrollment is growing and that they system is handling it well.

Roberta Carter, director of curriculum and school improvement, reviewed the early reading assessment results; reviewed the recent Allan Johnson seminar at Chetopa and rescheduling issues for St. Paul; the board approved Test Security and Testing Protocol as required by KSDE for state assessments; reported that Chetopa Elementary School had their Model School on-site visit and that CES is, once again, named a Great Expectations Model and Visitation School; the GE Model School celebration will be held December 10 at 2:00;  shared the results of Standards of Excellence from the 2009 State Assessments.  They are as follows:

USD #505 Chetopa – St. Paul

Standard of Excellence / Kansas State Assessments / Spring 2009

Mark LaTurner, St. Paul K-12 principal, shared the good news that SPMS was recognized with a Challenge Award in 7^th grade reading.  This is a big deal and the recognition will be celebrated.  The annual Veterans’ Day program will be held Tuesday, November 10, at 9:00.  The HS volleyball team made it to sub-state playoffs.  The final two security cameras purchased with SOCS grant have been installed and the monitoring system is being moved to the new offices.  The community is helping fund final renovations with the campus and road work. 

Ebony Hart, Chetopa K-12 principal, provided additional information about the virtual school: enrollment, registration, required on-site trainings.  Reported progress of teacher evaluations; the number of disciplinary referrals are down; status of Chetopa staff receiving Data Quality Control (DQC) training; scheduling motivational speakers; golf cooperative with Oswego was approved; first grade Thanksgiving play is scheduled for November 24 at 9:30 and again at3:00; reviewed information of Three Rivers League and Mineral Belt League; reported that several high school groups will be participating in Pecan Fest on November 21.

The superintendent, Kim Juenemann, shared several thank you notes from staff and students; provided further information about district-wide DQC training.

The board discussed the status of the building projects and physical improvements.  The bid opening for the St. Paul kitchen renovation will be Tuesday, November 24, at 2:00 in the board room. The board reviewed communication from PBA Architects.  The board received two bids out of nine invitations-to-bid for excavation work at the proposed St. Paul athletic complex site and accepted the lower bid of $20,000 from O’Toole Construction.  The St. Paul playground and road repair is 90% complete. The board directed the superintendent to seek bids for a bus barn at St. Paul. The board directed the superintendent to have ready in December a map of the Chetopa campus with recommended sites for additional security cameras. The design plans for the Chetopa athletic field house were reviewed; the board suggested larger public restrooms.  New chain link fence has been ordered and will be installed around the Chetopa playground. Chetopa City has agreed to reconfigure placement of power poles so that no power lines run over the playground.  The LED sign for Chetopa will be completely installed by Thursday of this week.

The board took the following actions: approved purchase of a 2002 Dodge Caravan with 31K miles for $7200 from Federal Surplus; approved the low bid (out of five submitted bids) from Lakeland for three new copiers at a cost of $18,393.76; approved a buy-out of existing copier leases from Lakeland; approved purchase of a Dixon 25hp 61” mower for Chetopa; accepted a bid of $836 from Danny Knight  for the St. Paul custodian pickup and a bid of $4500 from Chetopa City for the Chetopa custodian pickup; approved sale of bus 18 to Welch Schools for $3000.

The board entered in to a short executive session for non-elected personnel issues.  Upon return to open session, the board took the following action: ratified the returned contracts of Linda Dayhuff (Chetopa kitchen helper) and Orville Brown (revised supplemental duties); reluctantly accepted the resignation of St. Paul high school volleyball coach Paula Jacquinot; approved Laura Baker and Carol Smith as teacher substitutes. 

The board approved the district’s Acceptable Use policy.  The board gratefully accepted several donations:  scholarship money from Dr. Ron and Mrs. Dorothy Sprouse; Magic Treehouse books from student Cooper Glenn; Chronicles of Narnia, Guinness Book of World Records, and four Beverly Clearly books from student Patrick O’Brien; a 23-volume set of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch books from library clerk Melissa Petty; 3-ring binders from Chetopa State Bank; $500 each to Chetopa Elementary and St. Paul Elementary to purchase winter wear for students from an anonymous provider; accepted labor and parts from Jeff Corn to install the St. Paul LED sign.

The board approved a change in the calendar:  no classes in Chetopa on Friday, May 7, so that Chetopa may host the Mineral Belt League music festival.

With no other business to discuss, the board adjourned at 9:11.  The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 14, 7:00 PM, at St. Paul in the library. ###