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Bronaugh R-7 board hears program evaluations
"By necessity, school board agendas are filled with details that range from hiring staff to building maintenance but having program evaluations done in person, instead of in a written report, reminds us what we're really about is education," said Dr. David Copeland, superintendent of the Bronaugh R-7 school district.
On hand at Thursday's board meeting to make those reports were Brittany Haynes, art and yearbook teacher; Brook Boulware, band and music teacher; and Leanda Shaw, teacher of family and consumer science, speech, and theater.
"I absolutely love my new classroom and its location," said Haynes. "The extra space means I have separate areas for art and yearbook and I'm close to the kiln when we fire pottery."
By her report and from comments by Principal Jordan Dickey, art classes are not a series of busywork projects but each unit begins with demonstration and practice of particular skills and techniques.
"The school band is on the grow," said an enthusiastic Boulware. "Last year, the high school band had 10 members and this year we have 15. Our marching band will participate in several parades."
The board welcomed news that a pep band would perform at home basketball games and the middle school band has grown to a point that once those students are in high school, the band could number over 40 members.
Shaw covered the range of her classes but spoke at length about one she is teaching on entrepreneurship.
"All students need to exercise their minds but some things are best learned hands on," said Shaw. "By starting our own small business -- we're going to make and market T-shirts, hats and other items -- students will learn about developing a business plan, manufacturing, marketing and finances. They will learn about the many different things it takes to get a business up and running."
The board approved her request for a cutter for the silk screen operation.
Under old business, the board learned that the audit of last year's income and expenditures appeared to go well but due to a backlog of work at the audit firm, a report of findings will likely not be made until the November meeting.
"The auditors did point out one thing to me," said Copeland. "Apparently, we've had an account for years that was mislabeled 'Booster Club' even though it has nothing to do with them since they are a separate entity from the district and have their own accounts. So it has now been renamed 'Athletic Account' since primarily, we use it to pay referees."
In the few weeks since school began, drills have been conducted using the new emergency address system which begins with an initial tone followed by a recorded voice stating whether the alarm is related to a fire, weather or an intruder situation. Drills include the securing of doors using the Guardian Angel system installed this summer.
Until the arrival of Dr. Copeland, district superintendents have resided at a house in Bronaugh, owned and maintained by the district. The 2½ bedroom house, currently being rented by a faculty member, recently sustained water damage to the floor of one room and a hallway. The board authorized necessary repairs.
Principal Dickey began her report with an update on attendance.
"Attendance at the elementary school is at 97.4 percent which is pretty good," said Dickey. "But at the high school it was only 95 percent. We've been in school for so few days which can easily skew the numbers but I'm going to concentrate on this and speak with the parents to see what we can do to help them get their children to school consistently. After all, when students are absent, they fail to learn, they fall behind and they start creating a bad habit that can hurt them throughout their life."
The last part of what Dickey said about attendance reflected the next part of her report, which was about promoting character education. Dickey has been leading the faculty in reading, discussing and applying the book, "The Essential 55," by Ron Clark. With a copyright in 2003, this book identifies 55 areas of character education that students need for learning and as life skills.
"Rule 5: If you win or do well at something, do not brag. If you lose, do not show anger. ... To show anger or sarcasm, such as 'I wasn't playing hard anyway' or 'You really aren't that good,' shows weakness."
"Rule 7: Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough."
"Rule 16: You must complete your homework everyday."
"Rule 52: "Accept that you are going to make mistakes. Learn from them and move on."
The superintendent's report began with a review of district enrollment.
"Looking at historical data, it appears we have slowed down the decline in our student count," said Copeland. "The last six years (including this year) are: 2011-12, 232 students; 2012-13, 204; 2013-14, 187; 2014-15, 178; 2015-16, 168; and so far, for 2016-17, our count is 168 students."
A load of dirt will be delivered to the agriculture building to help with a water drainage problem while a load of bark will be added to the playground.
"One of the ways the state tries to help smaller districts such as ours is through the Small Rural School Achievement grant," reported Copeland. "We just received the first half of this year's grant in the amount of $5,887.50. While it's not huge, it all helps."
The district received the results of the Special Education Review. Bronaugh received the highest possible marks in each category. Copeland thanked those in the special education program.
"The auditors pointed out that last year we had thousands of unspent dollars and asked why that was," said Copeland. "I tell everyone we must be good stewards of public dollars. Besides, at some point we're going to need to replace some heating and cooling units and install some new lights and this will help us have the funds when we need them."