School Board Wrap-up

by Rachel Dahl -- The Churchill County School Board of Trustees met January 8th in a regular meeting where Kim Beeghly, representing the Quarterback Club made public comment to thank the board of trustees and several businesses for the new snack bar at the football field which she called a “first-class facility.” Instrumental in coordinating the completion was Ozzie Henke, and for funding, the Churchill County Federal Credit Union. Beeghly also thanked Frank Woodliff, the Hammond family, Kent’s Supply, Louie’s Home Center, John Hancock, Hotwire Electric, Oasis Heating, Dan O Construction, Hiskett and Son, Lumos Engineering, D&D Plumbing, One-Horse Overhead, Just in Time, the City of Fallon, Steve Ranson, C Bar R, and the Fallon/Churchill Volunteer Fire Department for their involvement in making the project happen. Garrett Kalt reported on the upcoming youth leadership summit, LEAD On, scheduled for January 18^th at the high school. This will be the fourth annual summit and is attended by students from Churchill County High School and Oasis Academy. The mission of LEAD On, a locally run non-profit organization, is to develop high school students in Churchill County to be leaders in their communities. Dr. Summer Stephens, superintendent, serves on the board of directors. The theme of the summit this year is Vision 2020 and presenters at the summit will provide information and workshops to help students with life after high school, community service, and leadership development. There will be eight workshops and a keynote speaker, as well as lunch and dinner provided. Kalt said LEAD On will also host an event on February 25th to discuss pursuing higher education, their annual teacher and staff appreciation dinner will be March 26^th, and on April 23 will hold a development night. Dr. Stephens provided an update regarding district related matters, reporting that the efficiency studies have begun with the consultant meeting so far with the transportation department, business office, and the superintendent’s office. Phyllys Dowd added that the visit to the business office prompted some questions that were very good ideas and she feels that everyone on operating side will see improvements. The study should finish by January 30^th and a report during the first meeting of February is expected. Dr. Stephens also reported that she will attend a meeting with the state department of education along with Kevin Lords, Kimi Melendy, and Derild Parsons and is looking forward to a roll-out of the state strategic plan. She has written a grant application for a teaching and learning grant for $77,000 for the next school year to support Social Emotional Learning professional development opportunities. Relating to that, the district will be hosting a summit on March 7^th, a Saturday, which is open to educators for a professional development opportunity and presented by Deb Oliver of Mindful SEAD, who also is the Executive Director for Nevada Association of School Boards. Stephens said because the district did not receive the grant for this program last year, “we want to make sure we were bringing SEL professional development in any way we can and this will be an opportunity for early adopters and those who are super interested to gain information and learning and get credits.” Additionally Stephens reported on the effort the district is making to address the issues of the “whole child” with the counseling team and resource liaison employees in addressing the needs of students from mental health, crisis intervention, and basic needs of housing, food, and shelter. Business Services Update – Phyllys Dowd reported on the annual investment report saying between the regular interest and the CD the district earned $144,000 in interest, which was $97,500 more than in 2018. “The balances that run that CD are the debt service fund and capital projects funds,” she said. Athletic director Brad Daum presented results from the fall sports student and parent athletic survey. The survey was open for 14 days with surveys being sent to 258 student athletes and 271 parents. A total of 56 athletes and 40 parents completed the survey, which Daum said is the largest response received during a season survey process. The surveys are sorted by sport and level, with surveys being turned in for each sport by parents and students except for cross country, in which case there were no student surveys received. Daum presented a breakdown of the ratings by each sport for both students and parents which were generally positive, with some negative comments toward first-year coaches. Daum said this survey tool is useful to help him strengthen and improve the coaching staff. Discussion was held by the board on regulations related to graduation requirements and honor school policies. The conversation revolved around the standard diploma, the college and career ready diploma, the alternative, and the adjusted diploma. Dr. Stephens said the state also offers an advanced diploma. Last year, 177 of the graduating class of 233 received standard diplomas. There were 37 who earned the advanced diploma but did not receive the CCR diploma. There will be more information regarding this issue in further meetings. Dusty Casey, a member of the Commission on School Funding for the State of Nevada provided an update and report on the activities of the commission, and funding for Nevada schools. Casey serves as the chief financial officer and athletic director at Oasis Academy and was appointed to the commission by Assemblywoman Robin Titus. He reported on the new Pupil Centered Funding Model that was passed during the 2019 legislative session and expressed his concerns for how the model may affect rural and charter schools. According to Casey, Senate Bill 543 established a new education fund which would identify and pull together all the resources outside of the federal funding dollars that go into funding K-12 education in the state. Secondly, these sources cannot revert to the state as part of the bill, and the bill creates an education stabilization account as a “rainy day” fund. This fund provides an account where any unspent local taxes and legislative appropriations from the state will be retained. Additionally, the bill creates a pupil centered funding formula to replace the Nevada Plan that the state has been working under since 1956. Lastly, the bill created the Commission on School Funding to analyze, enhance, and monitor the new funding model. Casey said the commission expects that there will be opposition to the new funding model and ultimately litigation. There are several advocacy groups that have attended the meetings of the commission, as well as the education associations that have spoken at every commission meeting. The next meeting of the school board trustees will be held on January 22^nd, at 5:00 p.m.   https://bit.ly/378x8wN       Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.