The Broadus School Board met for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Monday, August 9th, as smoke from fires to the west blanketed the area – the taste of smoke was even evident within the HS auditorium where the meeting was held. Board members present at the meeting included Dan Johnson, Patrick Emmons, Waylon Billing, and Raquel Mader, while Lori Fortner was present via phone.
Major points of interest included approval of the school budget for the 21-22 school year, several employee hirings, approval of a mental health assessment, approval of the student handbook, and approval of several board policies including the newly enacted state policy which will allow home school students to play public school sports.
Superintendent Hansen spoke to the board about the budget, noting that the number of mills had gone up, though the mill value had gone down, and the school was positioned fairly well from a budget standpoint – cost to taxpayers in the high school would go up $5,000, but down by $20,000 in the elementary, meaning local taxpayers will save $20,000 in total for the coming year, which the board noted that saving money was a good thing to hear with the ongoing drought affecting so many local taxpayers.
The board approved the hiring of Amy Minow as part-time Family Consumer Science and Tech teacher, Chrystal Mitchell for ½ time JH/HS Math Teacher, Miranda Sturdevant and Cody Earley as Teacher’s Aides, Wyatt Williams as the JH Football Coach, and Frankie Schoonover, Dan Krantz, and Wrye Williams as volunteers for JH Football.
School Counselor Dori Phillips met with the board to discuss the potential of giving a mental health screening assessment to 8th and 9th graders, mentioning that an increase in mental healthcare visits has been documented nationwide through the COVID-19 pandemic, and this assessment might be used to better gauge the mental health, anxiety levels, and potential thoughts of suicide within the student body. The cost of the assessment was $6 per student, with one class receiving the test free. The board voted and approved a motion to administer the assessment to 8th and 9th graders.
A great deal of time was spent going over the student handbook, especially the dress code section (particularly regarding headwear) and punishment for being caught drinking or doing nicotine while in a school activity sections (with the number of days kicked out of the activity for being caught, as well as whether or not being “associated” with an incident would result in a suspension from the sport). The handbook was eventually approved with a few revisions.
The board went over a number of board policies put out by the state. One policy of note was the allowance of home school students within the district to participate in extracurricular activities. This came about due to passage of Senate Bill 157, and allows children ages 5-19 who reside within the county to play sports or attend other activities in the Broadus Schools system, with the stipulations that they must apply with the county Superintendent of Schools Molly Lloyd, submit a request through Principal Denise Ternes, and for sports that require it, get a physical and the associated paperwork. High schoolers must also submit grades to determine eligibility under MHSA rules, while JH and elementary students would be under Broadus School rules. Additionally, the students would pay participation fees.
School begins today, Thursday, August 19th.
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