Two NEVC teachers announce retirement

Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Elementary principal Kendall Ogburn gives his report at the NEVC Board of Education meeting Thursday. Gloria Tucker/Daily Mail

Nevada Daily Mail

Patty Frankenfield, Northeast Vernon County sixth grade teacher for 12 years, and Linda Eckard, Title I teacher for 30 years, gave letters of resignation to the NEVC Board of Education during its meeting Thursday. Both teachers plan to retire at the end of the school year.

In other business, elementary principal Kendall Ogburn told the board a fifth grade teacher applied for a $5,000 technology grant through CenturyLink. Gina Ensor is planning a garage sale and will donate the proceeds to upgrade the school's technology.

"If we get the grant, we're going to apply that so every classroom can project lessons," he said. "We've already got a couple of thousand stockpiled."

Superintendent Charles Naas told the board plans are progressing to enter the school into a self-funded model for insurance. Under the new model, NEVC would partner with several school districts to create and control an insurance package tailored to their specific needs. He said he hopes to have an idea of the new rate to present to the board next month.

"I'm hopeful we can reduce our rates," Naas said. "If our school was to go out by ourselves and bid insurance, we would close because there is no way we could afford it."

Naas also said he is considering adding another bus to the NEVC fleet.

"A church in Crain, Mo., is wanting to sell one of the short buses for $2,000," he said. If we could get a mechanic to look at it and get it to pass inspection, I want to know if you think we should get it. It's a 12-passenger short bus."

Naas said plans are underway for a family education night with guest speakers, displays, a traveling animal exhibit and food prepared by FFA in February.

In other business, Ogburn asked the board to look into changing the school's cell phone policy.

"It's tough to enforce the elementary policy when the high school has a different policy," he said. "I don't think the bus drivers fully understand it."

In his report, Naas told the board of Gov. Jay Nixon's announcement that he plans to release more funds to schools next year -- an increase of $83,000 to NEVC.

"It's encouraging," he said. "It's better than going the other way around, but we've kind of heard this before. He promised more money to early childhood, to parents as teachers, to transportation and to alternative testing. I think we're heading in the right direction with funding."

Naas explained legislators are restructuring the standardized testing in Missouri and should reduce the cost to $3.5 million.

"The amount of time the kids spend will be reduced, and the new testing system will kick back scores within 10 business days," he said.

In his report, Ogburn said despite cancelations he plans to have guest speakers, a highway patrol officer, a judge, a doctor, a speech pathologist, a veterinarian and a nurse, present their careers to the elementary students. He also said the winner of the elementary spelling bee would be competing in the Joplin Globe spelling bee.

In her report, high school principal Chris Hudson said with all the effort put into the homecoming crowning ceremony, the ceremony doesn't last long enough.

"The girls get all dressed up and then they only have 10 to 15 minutes," she said. "Possibly we could do the crowning next year between the games, or at least half-time."

As for counting the homecoming votes next year, Naas suggested using the school's Chromebooks.

"We could limit each computer to one vote," he said. "A program would do all the tabulating, and all we would have to do is print the results."

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