Hume School Board hears report on Amendment 3

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The Hume R-8 school board discussed pending legislation and passed a number of policy updates during a regular meeting Wednesday evening.

During his report to the board, Superintendent David Quick said there was an item on the November ballot that could affect the school.

"If that passes, local control will be taken away from us," Quick said about Amendment 3 on the November ballot.

According to ballotpedia.org, Amendment 3, otherwise known as Missouri 60 Cent Cigarette Tax, will raise the tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes from 17 cents to 77 cents by the year 2020. More than 75 percent of that money would be earmarked for early childhood education.

The amendment will also create the Early Childhood Health and Education Trust Fund that will be supported by money from the new tax and administered by the Early Childhood Commission.

"They are going to tell us how to evaluate teachers, promote teachers, retain teachers, hire teachers. It's not good legislation. Nobody knows better what a school district needs than the school board," Quick said.

Principal and Assistant Superintendent Scott Morrison described to the board, professional development the Hume faculty took part in before school started.

"It was very good. The guy teaching it was very good," said Morrison of the active shooter training the Hume staff attended at Nevada High School. The training detailed a 2013 incident in Alabama where a man befriended a bus driver for the purpose of abducting two children from the bus.

Morrison said out of the 2016 MAP test scores, there were 14 below basic, 48 basic, 86 proficient, and 64 advanced scores. Based on grade level, some students took more than one test. Out of the more than 100 students that tested, 78 will be added to the wall of fame, one more than was added last year.

According to Morrison, enrollment is down 11 students from last year.

"We've got some small classes in the high school," Morrison said, adding that the students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade outnumber the students in grades nine through 12.

Hume has started a "Courteous Student of the Week" program. Morrison said the goal was to motivate students to be kind to each other and to the faculty. The program is divided into two categories: Kindergarten through fifth grade, and sixth through 12th grade. There was laughter from the board when Morrison relived an incident in the hallway where a student purposely dropped a book in front of Morrison so their friend could pick it up for them.

Quick reported the new school bus has been delivered.

"There are a lot of improvements they made since we last bought a bus," Morrison said.

* The board voted unanimously to accept Gail Yarick's resignation. Quick said Yarick is moving out of the area. The board may appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the April 2017 election.

* The board voted unanimously to appoint Brad Steuck as board treasurer

* The board voted unanimously to approve a $2,500 per year duty stipend for music teacher Annelise Dale. Morrison said the music program is popular amongst the students. "She has had several students transfer in," said Quick.

* Quick reported an inspector from the insurance company did a walk through of the building last week and found a number of items that needed to be taken care of including changing the S hooks on the swings to a closed link, removing the teeter-totter frame, installing a vent over the kiln in the shop, adding an eyewash station to the shop, and adding a fire blanket to the Family And Consumer Sciences classroom.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 6271 regarding conflicts of interest.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 2526 requiring all high school students to take and pass a social studies test before graduating. This test became a requirement with the passage of Missouri Senate Bill 638. The test must be 100 questions and reflect the type of questions found on the United State citizenship test. It will be applicable to all students in ninth grade after July 1, 2017.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 2550 regarding dual credit scholarships.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 2755 which requires all high school students to receive training in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. Morrison said the PE department would be teaching this program as a two-week unit of instruction.

* The board voted unanimously to pass policy No. 2785 dealing with student suicide prevention awareness. Staff will attend suicide prevention training on Sept. 26.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 4121 requiring the district to notify new or prospective teachers about student loan forgiveness programs available to teachers at low-income schools.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 7131 which requires use of the design/build method for new construction. Using the design/build method, the school will only have to contract with one company to complete a construction project. This will prevent the design contractor from blaming the building contractor for delays and cost overruns and vice versa.

* The board voted unanimously to adopt policy No. 7132 which requires schools to have a project manager for construction projects. Quick said this is a result of several schools adding safe rooms and going over budget.