NEVC hopes to revamp breakfast

Friday, June 23, 2017

Wednesday’s meeting of the Northeast Vernon County R-1 school board focused on school breakfast, the gym floor and the upcoming budget.

Children need a good breakfast in order to be able to concentrate and learn in school. Student participation in breakfast at each of NEVC’s two campuses could be improved, especially at the elementary school in Walker.

First and foremost this helps the learning process and secondarily it helps offset the high costs of operating a food service program.

To remedy this, Charles Naas, NEVC superintendent, reported on his application for a “Breakfast in the Classroom Grant” through the American Association of School Administrators, funded by the Walmart Foundation.

The traditional model is arriving at school well before the day starts and then selecting and eating one’s breakfast in the cafeteria.

“We haven’t made any final decisions but we’re looking at three other ways of getting breakfast,” said Naas.

He began with the “grab-and-go” and the “second chance” breakfast.

The former consists of a bag which may contain cereal, an apple, a bowl, spoon and a carton of milk. The latter allows students a bit more time between first and second period so they can get to the cafeteria, make their selections and take them to the next class.

A third way involves wheeling a cart of breakfast items from class to class, letting students make their selections without any need to adjust the schedule or for any mad dash to the cafeteria.

Said Naas, “When schools began serving hot lunch in school. Some folks asked why lunch in a brown bag or lunchbox wasn’t good enough. Not that long ago, when we started serving breakfast, people asked questions about that too. And I’m sure some will ask why we need to make this change too.”

The superintendent stressed the importance of having every student eating a good breakfast so students can learn and teachers can teach.

The mention of teachers led Naas to add, “Whether we get a grant and some new equipment or not, the most important piece in all this is the help of the teachers.”

In conversations about this with the two principals and a number of teachers, he heard concerns about the disruption it will make in first and possibly second period and the sure to come spills.

When asked, administrators and teachers had suggestions on how to help the process run as smoothly as possible and acknowledged the importance of every student eating a good breakfast.

The grant deadline is July 7.

Naas has consulted with a number of people about how best to handle the thin coating in areas on the gym floor. The board approved having Henry Kraft Inc. come in and apply multiple coats of sealer and finish on the floor and so maintain the light color yet protect the wood and striping.

With board members not shuffling paper but reviewing documents on laptops, the superintendent did a cursory look at how this year’s budget will turn out.

With well over $100,000 yet to come from the state, Naas tentatively projected a year-end surplus in the mid-$50,000 range.

He acknowledged residents do not pay taxes so the district can have a large bank balance but being smaller in size requires a decent sized reserve because with old buildings, any serious problem can be costly.

Naas said he is looking at the baseball field, trying to solve drainage problems.

Board member Deland Prough said, “It’s pretty much a bowl. I think we’ll have to install some sort of tile and drain system.”

Naas is consulting with a number of people and will report on this later.

The superintendent said he is changing out the digital video recorder at each campus with an upgrade enabling each to be accessed by school computer.

“While later we’ll upgrade the cameras, the system’s already been a big help,” said Naas. He related an incident where a graduate using the ball field found his car had been hit. Contacting the school, Naas was able to call up the appropriate video and get the license and description of the offending vehicle.

In his report to the board, elementary principal, Kendall Ogburn reported 18 students participated in summer school, all of the sixth-grade students passed the hunter safety course, and he is waiting to hear from Hammond Glass on the design and cost for a new security door for the entryway. An interior double doorway has been remodeled to be a single door which can be more easily secured.

Chris Hudson, high school principal, asked the board to consider looking next month at raising the level of sick pay from $20 per day to $36, which is half of the current pay for a substitute teacher. She said several teachers have commented to her that it’s hardly worth coming in to finish out the year at that rate. Some area districts pay $50 per day.

Hudson said, “I know it seems we just got out but the first day of school will be Aug. 17.”

The superintendent reported NEVC will be the site of the Vernon County emergency preparedness drill on Aug. 8. The situation will be a mock propane explosion with several who are dazed in the explosion wandering off towards the lagoon, requiring a search and rescue to be initiated.

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