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School board discusses professional development
Members of the Nevada R-5 Board of Education received Missouri School Board Association certificates of appreciation from Superintendent David Stephens at Wednesday nights board meeting in honor of School Board Recognition Week, Jan. 25 to 31.
"School board members contribute a great deal of time and effort to making the district a success," Stephens said. "It is my pleasure to present them with these certificates."
Stephens told the board he was speaking with Mike Hamm about the tuition for out-of-state clients of Heartland Hospital who were being instructed by R-5 personnel. Stephens said that when the arrangement was first proposed there weren't that many out-of-state clients but that the percentage had climbed to nearly 50 percent. The arrangement also reflected the fact that Heartland patients might be present for only a part of a school year and so while there might be a total of 21 students there were only seven students at any one time.
"When we started we had an arrangement where tuition was charged for the first seven students, then the next seven weren't charged, then the next seven were charged," Stephens said. "Now that the percentage of out-of-state students has increased to 48 percent we need to come to a new arrangement."
The board approved a policy that would allow the Osage Prairie YMCA to distribute literature to students anytime since it is a business partner of the district and would allow other groups who are not partners to distribute literature through the Parent Teacher Organization sponsored meetings such as open houses or other school events.
Nevada High School Principal Bryan Thomsen reported to the board on the progress the faculty was having with the Professional Learning Community's efforts to reduce the number of Ds and Fs students receive and to improve their scores on the ACT test.
During an update on the budget Stephens said the district's revenue was in line with last year with $9.5 million of an expected $24 million received.
"As of right now it's looking OK," Stephens said.
Strategic planning is underway and Stephens told the board he would appreciate their participation on at least one committee noting that he had received only two replies to an e-mail he had sent. The board is composed of seven people, five men and two women, a fact that is important to remember in order to understand the humor of Stephens next statement.
"I'm not going to mention any names," Stephens joked. "But those ladies know who they are."
Several board members replied that they would happily serve on whatever committee that Stephens asked them to with Scott Kennedy joking that he wasn't technically minded, a fact that Stephens should keep in mind when placing him on a committee.
"I still keep my calendar on paper," Kennedy said.