The Superior Express -

The Rock Hills Board of Education met Monday at the district office. Those present were Kenny Mizner, Brenden Wirth, Marc Grout, Brandon Hollerich, Lori Slate, Rex Boley, Sam Meyers and Janet Higer. Guests present were Dennis Beckman, Russell and Kayla Dunstan, Lane and Ashley Underwood, Brett and Beth Walker, Amanda Womack, Nick and Katherine Colson, Vanna Harr, and Doug and Michelle Piper.

Ashley Underwood was the first speaker. She addressed the board regarding the mask mandate. Russell Dunstan addressed the board. Nick Colson spoke to the board followed by Dennis Beckman.

Mr. Boley gave the monthly bus and facility and grounds report.

The board clerk report said a check was received from the Grizzly Pride organization for a donation at the high school. KSHSAA was contacted for clarification on booster club donations.

Mapes and Miller was at the district office Tuesday to conduct the district’s audit.

Title paperwork on the two busses that were totaled during the hail storm has been finalized.

The 6-12 principal’s report was given. Rock Hills Junior-Senior High School continues to operate with all students and staff wearing masks anytime they are in the building. Staff members recognize and take mask breaks as needed where students and staff go outside and social distance removing their mask for periods of time throughout the day.

The Jewell County Health Department will administer flu shots on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

High School Scholars Bowl season began Tuesday.

All students in Agriscience completed District Greenhand Conference

which included watching pre-recorded workshops hosted by the district officers to help them learn more about FFA and leadership. They also took part in a Greenhand test which covered FFA history and knowledge as well as district information. Raylynn Anderes tied for 11th answering 39 of 50 correct. Abbey Schleifer and Selena Luong were the next highest scorers answering 37of 50 correctly.

Rock Hills senior Karrigan Dunstan has been busy as North Central district president hosting a workshop for Greenhand Conference on Unity and using differences to build stronger relationships. She also had her first chapter buddy visit with Clifton-Clyde on Friday over Zoom where she spoke to them about seeing the bigger picture, especially in times on COVID.

Spotlight on Learning

7th Grade Advanced Math students completed a project involving rates, proportions and percentages where they picked out a dream car to buy and calculated cost including price, tax, registration fees, insurance, loan interest and price for gasoline during the life of the five year loan. They researched online and presented their findings to the class.

This summer Mrs. McKeown K-12 art teacher, attended a class and workshop on cross curricular teaching in the art class. Currently middle school and high school are working on (Math-Art Collaboration) One, Two, and Three Point Perspective Drawings: Students are using a ruler for measurement. They also have finished “Selfie” self-portraits which included symmetry.

Students in business communications are working on their research-based electronic career portfolio where they go through the process of researching a specific career-job and creating a portfolio which includes their resume as well as provides facts and information about the career (taken from the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (online) as well as from trade journals, organizations in that field, college websites. They have to include sections on the classes they have taken in high school that have started the preparation stage for that particular career, and include

the skills required for a person in that career and then show the skills that they have started accumulating that shows they have started a career path. Career portfolios are something the state wants students to have and this helps meet that need.

The PreK-5 principal’s report stated students are receiving 18 minutes of lunch time.

Student numbers are continuing to grow.

Mrs. Warne gave the PreK-5 curriculum report. She ordered additional resources for second grade since they gained three additional students. Arrangements for dyslexia training have been made for the Oct. 15 morning in-service time.

The superintendent gave his report.

He interviewed and offered positions for a para, suburban driver and housekeeping.

He has collected information on negative air machines to place in the elementary music room. Gerit Garman was contacted. The district worked with him on design and installation of the HVAC system at the elementary. He recommended a Carrier negative air machine based on the school’s conditions and space. The estimated cost would be $2,300. These machines are used in the medical profession. It is on order.

The district received the SPARKS reimbursement from the county. The district is implementing a plan to meet the federal spending deadline of Dec. 20, 2020.

The replacement bus was to be delivered Monday. A Suburban was ordered.

KSDE has changed Remote Learning Student Learning Log requirements.

Staff will receive Dyslexia Training.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held over ZOOM or In Person from 12:30 to 8p.m. today (Thursday).

Dr. Watson informed superintendents that Hybrid and Remote Learning works to control and COVID-19 infections in schools. Districts that have moved to Hybrid and Remote Learning because of increased cases in their communities or schools have reduced the virus cases. The recommendation was made that school districts look to reduce educational groups to cohort groups of 15 or less. The state does understand the three major hurdles to overcome, staff, space and funding in the district bussing is a factor.

The second and third grades have added students and will have class size of 22 and 20 students. They are working on a plan to provide them support and try to reduce class size for effective teaching and safety as it relates to COVID-19.

The board is finalizing building reports and district reports with the official count date numbers.

Guidelines for using USD 107 Rock Hills substitute teacher were discussed.

Mr. Boley reviewed Student Learning Options, consisting of Hybrid, Remote, On-Site, and Modified On-Site.

Mr. Boley reviewed COVID-19 and reported to the board, the results of the certified staff survey that was sent out regarding COVID-19. He recommended that they not make any changes to the current policy at this time.

Brenden Wirth addressed the current mask policy, provided handouts and recommended some policy changes based on his research. Board members asked for additional time to review the handouts.

Dennis Beckman addressed the board regarding the mask policy in regards to bus students. After a lengthy discussion, the board requested Mr. Boley to get input from staff and parents by way of a survey.

The board held a discussion on the league’s proposed basketball attendance protocol and agreed to plan according to the league draft.

Mark Grout reviewed the procedures and steps to follow in the superintendent evaluation process. Mr. Boley will present a self-evaluation to the board at a special called meeting, then the board will fill out evaluations and hold a board discussion regarding the evaluation at the November regular meeting. The third and final step will be the final evaluation to be conducted at the December regular meeting. Oct. 26 was set as the special meeting date to begin the superintendent evaluation process as well as discuss any pertinent COVID-19 issues.

Mr. Boley reported he had met with Elizabeth Johnson, principal director of marketing and Zach Snethen, architect with HTK. They toured the district’s buildings and discussed the best use of space and developing a long range plan for facilities.

Janet Higer presented a check from the Guaranty State Bank & Trust, Blue Jeans for Charity in the amount of $65 donated to the Rock Hills Elementary Library along with a letter of explanation. The gift was accepted.

The board approved the following hires:

Judy Hancock – housekeeper

Anita McChesney – special education suburban driver

Audrey Felio – special education transportation para

Sherry Partridge, para – emergency substitute

Amy Rice, para - emergency substitute

Kristin Underwood, para - emergency substitute

Kristin Thronson, para - emergency substitute

The next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16, in the board room of the district office.