November 13, 2023 at 6:30 PM - Monthly Meeting

Discussion:  Mrs. Dole thanked the board for their continued support of the preschool program at Northern Valley.  Kansas Reads to Preschoolers was held last week in the Long Island Community bldg.  The Long Island Library provided sausage and pancakes for those in attendance; there were fewer than last year and Sandra stated that she is open to suggestions on how to increase participation.  One thought she suggested was adjusting the start and finish times.  

Discussion:  Mr. Tharman updated the board on the progress of repairs from the July and August hail storms.  

Discussion:  At 7:06 PM the meeting returned to open session; no action taken.
 

Discussion:  Mr. Tharman shared an updated copy of the annual evaluation rubric.  Board members commented that they liked the feedback and comments from the staff each year. Mr. Tharman will send this out and Kacie will compile the results for the next board meeting. 

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Discussion:  Discussion was brought up about the increasing opioid crisis in the United States and the possibility of having Naloxone (Narcan) on hand if it was ever needed.  Mr. Tharman has been in communication with the school nurse and Phillips County EMS over the past year and currently has training lined up for staff on the February 23rd in-service. Once training is completed, the plan will be to purchase this medication for emergency use. 

Discussion:  Over the past few years, the HS gym sound system has been a topic of conversation a couple of different times.  There were several comments made to board members about not being able to hear the KAY Veterans Day program.  Mr. Tharman was asked to check into this to see if it was the speakers, control system, microphones, or a combination of these. It was suggested to ask Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) to check it out when they are here installing the new lock system. 
 

Discussion:  Parent / Teacher conferences were well attended (85%) attendance at the HS / KAY Veterans Day was also well attended (Thank you to everyone that helped make this a memorable event) / Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 15th (all board members invited) / Cheerleader send-off on Friday, Nov. 17th / Thanksgiving Break / WKLL Academic testing on Monday, Nov. 27th / BB Jamboree on Tuesday, Nov. 28th in Phillipsburg / First official BB games on Dec. 1st in Almena / Dec. 11th board meeting in Almena @ 5:30 PM due to the MS & HS Christmas concert @ 7 PM. 

Discussion:  Mr. Gebhard shared they had 100% attendance from GS parents and 92% from MS parents at the recent parent/teacher conferences.  Kansas Reads to Preschoolers was a success with special thanks to Mrs. Dole, Ms.Wright, and Mrs. Knuth. Prairieland Electric came to the GS today to present a bicycle, to the winner of the safety poster contest, Blakely Dole.  They also presented a check for $150 to the classroom teacher, Jill Gebhard.  Mr. Gebhard also wanted to express gratitude to the Dane G. Hansen Foundation for sponsoring two opportunities for our students to attend theatrical performances in Logan and a performance in Almena. JH basketball is in full swing with the next game this Thursday in Grinnell.  

Discussion:  Board members discussed the control box for the football field scoreboard.  The current one has buttons that do not work correctly.  There was discussion of having it rewired and the possibility of getting a new one.