Board of Education meeting recap

by Cole Arndorfer

 
The Grain Valley Schools Board of Education met on Thursday, November 16th with a full agenda for their monthly meeting. The board held recognitions for athletes of three high school athletics teams and one for school resource officer Danny Iams, seven items under reports, three items of new business, and two policy discussions. 
 
First, the board recognized the state runner-up girl’s tennis team led by coach Randy Draper. The team went 24-3 this season and earned a trip to State as a team for the third time in as many years.
 
Following the girl’s tennis team, the board recognized two girl’s golf state qualifiers, led by coach Randy Hughes. Junior Mallory Crane was recognized first. Crane is a three-time state qualifier, placing 12th and earning All-State honors this year. The second state qualifier was senior Seena Tyler. Tyler is also a three-time state qualifier, finishing 49th this year.
 
Next, three cross country state qualifiers, led by coach Nick Small, were recognized. David Roberson and Landon Barnes were recognized first, followed by Rylan Smith. This was both Barnes and Smith’s second year in a row qualifying for state. Small said that he is thankful for the team and he looks forward to seeing what they will accomplish next season.
 
The final recognition from the board was for school resource officer Danny Iams’ tenth year of service. Officer Iams has served at all eight of the districts’ schools over the past ten years, as well as serving as the districts’ DARE officer. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nick Gooch described Iams as a valuable part of the districts’ team and that they are very thankful for his service to Grain Valley Schools.
 
Following recognitions, the board moved onto reports. The first report was an evaluation of the Grain Valley Education Foundation program, delivered by Jerry Vaughan.
 
Vaughan said that just last year, the Education Foundation was able to award 92 scholarships to graduating seniors totaling $104,650. Vaughan reported the Foundation is always looking for new ways to maximize the amount of scholarship money the foundation is able to help students receive because, “a $500 scholarship or $400 scholarship that we gave 14 years ago, doesn’t have near the impact now,” Vaughan said.
 
One option for helping students get more scholarship money, Vaughan said, is to use a program called VU Scholarships. In this program, students input their criteria and that is sent to over 50 colleges in the region. Those schools then send the student a list of scholarships they would qualify for based on the information they input.
 
Another priority for the program is to allow students to save their scholarship money in order to use their A+ award for their first two years. Vaughan explained that the foundation could put the scholarship money in a bank for the student in order for them to be able to use it once they complete their A+ program, that way students would not have to choose between using their A+ award for two free years of community college or using the scholarship money they have been awarded.
 
The board then heard a summary of the community survey results from Rick Nobles, from Excellence K-12. Nobles said that in the category of college preparedness, Grain Valley Schools received the highest score that they have ever seen from any school district. As for strengths, strong academics as well as good and caring teachers topped the list. Nobles also said that the overwhelming consensus of respondents said that they were in support of the district and back their mission.
 
Dr. Amanda Allen then provided a recap of the state assessment report. In each grade level and in each content area, students scored above or significantly above the state average.
 
The second part of the report is the district’s cohort comparison. In this section, the students continue to exceed the state averages. Allen said that the data the district is seeing shows a trend back toward pre-pandemic levels, though there are still a few challenges. Students are returning to those pre-pandemic levels a bit quicker in math than they are in reading, so the district will continue to focus on literacy, according to Allen.
 
Allen continued with the next report over curriculum. Allen said that on October 30, they held their curriculum review committee meeting. The group was prepped by choosing their curriculum group and reading through related materials. On the night of the meeting, the teachers that wrote the curriculum came to present the curriculum, explain it, and answer any questions committee members may have.
 
No major concerns were recommended, just minor tweaks such as bolding priorities in order for them to stand out. Other than small changes, most of the other feedback was praise and support for what was presented. The board was then presented with post curriculum review, revised curriculum standards.
 
In his superintendent report, Dr. Brad Welle highlighted the recent college and trade school fair hosted at the high school on November 2. The school hosted over 60 colleges and trade schools in attendance to give students information about their programs.
 
Welle also commended the team for their actions and support in response to the recent tragedy that occurred in the parking lot of Milestone Academy. He said that counselors were made available the first day they were back in school and that he appreciates everyone’s leadership in a time of need.
 
Moving to new business, the board discussed a potential tax levy ballot issue for the upcoming April election. One of the district’s priorities is to make sure teacher pay is on par with other high quality metro area school districts. In order to do this the district needs to generate more revenue, Welle explained. One way to do that would be increasing the tax levy, which those polled in the community survey showed they would support.
 
The district is seeking more information from L.J. Hart and Co. and hopes to have a report from them at next month’s meeting. The deadline for the board to decide whether or not to make an increased tax levy a ballot measure would come in January.
 
The second piece of new business was over the filing for school board candidates, also for the upcoming April election. That period will open on December 5, at 8 am, and run through December 26, at 5 pm.
 
The last section of the meeting was board policies. First up was the third reading of three policies regarding prohibition against illegal discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, school board member ethics, and food service management. These policies passed unanimously.
 
The last policy discussed was the first read of a policy regarding board member qualifications. Dr. Welle pointed out a change in this policy. A potential board member now must have lived within the district for at least one year prior to them being elected to the board. This policy will be brought back as an action item at the next meeting.
 
Following this, the board moved into executive session. The next school board meeting will be held at the Leadership Center on December 7 at 6 pm.