The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The La Harpe Community School District #347 board met Tuesday, June 22, 2010 in the district library. Board members in attendance were President Cindy Wear, Dan Horton, Pam Campbell, Rex Huston, Deanna Stambaugh, and Darren Spangler. Also present were Superintendent Jo Campbell, Principal Lila McKeown, and Jeanne Clayton.
The school board held the required hearing to amend and approve the updated fiscal year 2010 budget as presented. The amended budget will be available to view on the school website.
Superintendent Campbell gave the financial report adding that the State has not, at the time of the board meeting, settled on a budget, but the State Superintendent believes the Preschool grant may be provided at 90% as it was last year, and although the General State Aid foundation level may not be decreased, additional State reductions are not yet clearly defined. The board discussed staffing for the coming school year and will continue discussion on this item in July when an education budget from the State should be finalized.
The board viewed and discussed the multi-phase plan received from the architect to renovate existing areas, to enclose district programs under one roof, and to demolish obsolete buildings should School Construction Grant funding become available.
The La Harpe District applied for this grant years ago and has been awaiting the State to catch up to the applied-for funding year.
School Construction spending is limited to buildings and grounds and requires a certain amount of new construction. At the time the grant comes through, a plan may be scaled back, but it may no longer be added to, so every necessary phase of work must be included in the strategic plan.
The grant usage restrictions, the potential of this grant providing 3/4 of the necessary funds, and the possibility of receiving the grant in a few years, cause the responsibility for having a strategic construction plan in place to fall to the current school board, even in this time of economic uncertainty.
In addition to approving previous board minutes, financial report and payment of bills, the school board adopted the FY2011 Prevailing Wage Ordinance, approved technology items to be purchased with REAP funding, and approved the administrative intern program for Dale Therrien.
The board also approved the first reading of student and faculty handbook updates including the 2010-11 fee schedule which will remain the same as last year, and authorized the deletion of closed session recordings made at least 18 months prior to the current meeting according to district policy.
The school board accepted with regrets the resignation from bus driving submitted by Marita Cox, approved Delbert Kreps as a bus driving candidate, and employed Christopher Schwartz as junior high science teacher for the school year 2011.
Principal McKeown's report included an account of the 8th grade trip to the Saint Louis Zoo and City Museum. Twenty-six 8th graders participated in Junior High Graduation on May 21. McKeown thanked Cindy Wear, Rex Huston and Darren Spangler for participating in the ceremony. La Harpe student attendance on report card day was up from previous years. Several teachers have attended summer workshops on the Behavior Model of Response to Intervention (RTI) and "Eliminating Chronic Behaviors in the Classroom", and Principal McKeown attended an additional RTI-related workshop at the Regional Office of Education. Cindy Pollock has held two weeks of volleyball camp, custodians are making rapid progress on the many summer projects, and additional electrical protection has been added to the Central Office in an effort to minimize interruption of internet/server access.
Regularly scheduled LCSD #347 board meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month in the school library at 7:00 p.m. We invite you to view agendas, news releases and approved minutes on the school board section of the La Harpe Eagles website at www.laharpeeagles.org