The Board of Education met for its regularly scheduled meeting on September 22nd, approving the tax rate levy for the 2022-23 school year. The rate for the 2022-23 school year is set at $4.9271, a $.0008 increase from the 2021-22 school year ($4.9263).
     Dr. Nick Gooch, Assistant Superintendent, Support Services, presented details on assessments, debt service, and operating levies in advance of the meeting. 

     Breakdown of the $459,728,481 total assessment:
     $303,407,836 residential
     $1,416,562 agricultural
     $55,079,386 commercial
     $99,824,697 personal property

     The operating levy rate for 2022-23 increased slightly to $3.2271 from $3.2263 in 2021-22. The proposed debt service levy of $1.70 remains the same as the 2021-22 school year.
     During administrative dashboard reporting, Gooch also reported on several items, including the anticipated decrease in school lunch participation once universal free lunch concluded in the spring.
     School lunch participation is down 19% (from 66% to 47%), coming off of two years of free lunches provided through COVID-19 pandemic related funding. Breakfast dropped from 29% to 11%. Free & reduced lunch participation is up (currently 26.11%). 200 students qualify on a carryover basis from last school year – these students have until October 5th to reenroll in the program.  
     The food service department experienced challenges at the start of the year, losing nine employees, including a manager at the high school. Three more have been hired since the start of school, but the department is still 6 short of a full staff of 35.
    Construction on the district’s new central office is proceeding as scheduled, with interior/exterior metal framing complete. Roofing should begin in next 2 weeks, with initial asphalt for parking lot scheduled for the week of September 26th.
     Gooch also reported safety bollards will be installed at the entrances of each district building.
     Per board request, the technology department priced four options for classroom cameras and microphones. Gooch reported to equip each classroom in the district, 270 kits would be needed. The cost to equip each classroom ranges from $573,750 to $2,889,000.
     Board member Jeff Coleman asked for a per classroom cost, stating the estimates “went to the extreme with every classroom in Grain Valley”. Gooch shared the per classroom cost, not including installation based on the cheapest option, would be $2125. The costs for installing cameras and microphones in each high school classroom would be $133,875 for the cheapest option; equipping middle school classrooms would be an estimated $146,625. The topic of classroom cameras will be brought back to the board for further review.
     Gooch also reported the district’s E-Sports program is off to a strong start, with 60 students participating at the JV and varsity levels.
     Dr. Beth Mulvey, Assistant Superintendent for Academic Services, reported a new law recently signed by Governor Parson ensures that students earning a score of 3 or higher on AP exams will automatically earn college credit at in-state public universities.
     Dr. Amanda Allen, Assistant Superintendent, Student and Community Services, reported the high school and middle schools recently completed the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program.
     The suicide prevention program educates students on the connection between depression and suicide and encourages students to seek help for themselves or others through a trusted adult, using the programs ACT message:

• Acknowledge that you are seeing signs of depression or suicide in yourself or a friend and that it is serious.
• Let you friend know how much you Care about them and that you are concerned that they need help.
• Tell a trusted adult that you are worried about yourself or a friend.

     At the high school, there were 72 initial requests to speak with a counselor following the SOS program this year (compared to 54 in 2021, and 46 in 2020). At both the high school and middle school level, the majority of requests were self-referrals.
     Allen also pointed to the increase in families requesting assistance through the BackSnack program. 183 families are currently being served in the program. A food drive for the program will be held next week.
     The district also received 7,000 pairs of Bombas socks through a partnership with the Community Services League. Socks will be distributed to students and staff in the district.
     Superintendent Dr. Brad Welle highlighted the fentanyl crisis and educational efforts the district is undertaking to inform students and families of the risks. The district is investigating acquiring Narcan (Naloxone), used to treat narcotic overdose in emergency situations. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is offering Narcan to districts with medical provider oversight.
     The Board also reviewed three board policies, which Board President Jared English explained to an unusually large audience for a board meeting, is an ongoing effort of the board to regularly review all policies.
     No changes were made to the student dress code policy, but Welle explained language currently articulated in middle and high school handbooks will be added to elementary level handbooks. Welle reported all building principals worked with administration to review the current policy, which was last reviewed in 2005. Board member Jeff Porter that the policy be brought to the board once more for further review.
     Additionally, the board policy regarding teaching about controversial issues was asked to be returned for a second review. Administration recommended no changes to the current policy.
     Finally, the board reviewed the current policy and process for public concerns and complaints, which will also be further reviewed at a future meeting.
     The Board canceled its October workshop in order to tour the Fort Osage Career & Tech Center (CTC). 

     The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the Semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program and two Grain Valley High School seniors have received this recognition. Semifinalists Carmen Myers and Evan Reich have the opportunity to continue the competition for the 7,250 National Merit Scholarship worth nearly $28 million that will be awarded in the spring.
      Of the 1.5 million entrants representing 21,000 high schools in this academic competition, these two distinguished individuals are among approximately 16,000 students nationwide to achieve this honor. They entered the competition as high school juniors by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen for program entrants.
     The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. They are now qualified to compete for a share of 7,250 National Merit Scholarships, collectively worth more than $28 million, and advance to the Finalist standing. The Finalists will be announced in the spring.
     "Over the last 15 years, Grain Valley High School has had a half dozen National Merit Semi-Finalists and more than a dozen Commended Students" Grain Valley High School Principal, Dr. Jeremy Plowman said in a district email. 
    "They represent everything we have been preaching since Dr. Mulvey became principal of the high school in 2007. They excel in multiple sports and activities throughout the year. Each has taken the most rigorous academic classes available."

     (StatePoint) Movement is an essential part of early childhood development. It encourages motor skills and helps kids grow to be healthy and strong. There are tons of fun ways to get little ones on the move! Here are some great activities, games and toys to try incorporating into children’s playtime:

     1. Rhythm of the beat: Play all kinds of music at home to inspire little ones to find the beat and move in time to the music. Wrist bells, maracas and egg shakers are all simple percussion instruments that are perfect for little hands. As kids get older, you can introduce musical games like “Freeze Dance” and “Hokey Pokey.”

     2. Baby steps to big steps: Seek out toys that adapt as children grow and gain new skills. The Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker from VTech, suited for ages 9-36 months, can be an essential part of the journey from crawler to walker. Start out with the easy-to-remove activity panel for interactive floor play, then once a child is ready, step it up with the walker. It teaches topics like shapes, colors, animals and music. Plus, the walker’s spinning gears, piano keys, rollers, telephone handset and light-up shape sorters and buttons can offer engaging fun, while helping develop motor skills and creativity.

     3. Works of art: Finger painting is a chance for kids to move around, get messy and express themselves. Just be sure to use age-appropriate supplies. New, eco-friendly, organic paints made from fruit and vegetable extracts can help ensure that art time is safe for little ones.

     4. Coordination fun: Provide children with opportunities to hone coordination with toys and manipulatives. 

     5. Go for the gold: Playing sports teaches kiddos cooperation and teamwork, improves physical and mental health, and is a great way to make friends. It’s never too early to pique their interest in traditional sports like basketball and soccer.  Practice kicking a soccer ball into a net, or tossing a basketball into a child-sized goal. 

     As babies and toddlers grow, a healthy dose of movement is important. From forays into the world of music, art and sports, to interactive learning toys, there are many avenues for getting children active during play.

     The Grain Valley School Board met September 1st for a workshop to review the academic program evaluation, 2022-23 annual priorities, and the Grain Valley High School Phase 6 planning update, which includes plans for a new gym at the school.
     Nicole Young with hollis+miller architects reviewed initial draft plans for a new gym at the high school campus. The draft plan includes a 2,000-seat court with upper-level seating (current capacity of gym is 1,400), an upper-level track with turf area and batting cages. 
     In reviewing the academic program evaluation, funding and teacher shortages were a recurring theme. The district continues to be challenged by reductions in Title IIA funding and teacher retention. Title I funding, which provides financial assistance to schools with a high enrollment of students from economically challenged homes, was reduced from $279,390 in 2021-22 to $268,021 in 2022-23. 
     The district has expanded its dual credit offerings from 6 in 2017-18 to 10 in 2022-23, with additional opportunities being explored with Metropolitan Community Colleges. 65 students are enrolled in career & technical education for the 2022-23 school year. The district's gifted program served 75 students in 2021-22, and the addition of an additional gifted teacher was cited as a long term goal. 
     The district's English learners program has seen a steady increase of students, with approximately 45 students in the program this school year, compared with 27 in 2021-22.
     The Board also reviewed the nine annual priorities outlined by the district for 2022-23:
1) As a part of efforts to improve early literacy instruction, by May 2023, all elementary teachers will complete foundational training in the Science of Reading. 

2) By May 2023, secondary counselors with input from the district's Counseling Advisory Council, will establish a process for individual career and academic plans.

3) The Board will review enrollment numbers and growth at all elementary schools, and determine the next course of action to address growth at Prairie Branch Elementary.

4) As a part of the district's goal to integrate critical thinking skills into instruction, teachers will receive training in integrating critical thinking and administrators will evaluate effectiveness of instructional strategies through classroom observation throughout the year.

5) Responding to community input, the district will develop instruction in conflict resolution for all students in grades K-12.

6) In response to feedback from teachers as well as student and parent feedback from CESO listening sessions and focus groups regarding the need to address the use of derogatory comments among students, common language and expectations at each grade level have been set. The district will measure by May 2023, teacher perceptual survey data to see if the satisfaction level has increased among teachers in terms of their ability to effectively address negative behavior and the amount of support provided by administration and other district personnel. 

7) The district will develop a budget plan by May 2023 to address the improvement of pay and/or benefits for teachers and staff. 
​
8) Professional development of staff was identified as a priority and address in items related to the Science of Reading, critical thinking, and addressing student behavior.

9) The district will create a welcome program at each grade span to formalize how new families are welcomed to the district. 
     

     The Grain Valley branch of the Mid-Continent Public Library, 101 SW Eagles Parkway, will host a number of educational programs for children preschool to teens in September. For a full list of events and to register for programs, visit www.mymcpl.org/events. 

Play and Learn
Enjoy a special preschool playtime that is designed to stimulate young minds and strengthen early literacy skills.
Tuesday, September 6th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday, September 7th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Tuesday, September 13th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday, September 14th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Tuesday, September 20th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday, September 21st: 10:30am - 11:30am
Tuesday, September 27th: 10:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday, September 28th: 10:30am - 11:30am

Teens draw caricatures with Marietta
Thursday, September 22, 2022
6:30pm - 7:30pm
Learn how to draw funny cartoon portraits of your friends and family with artist Marietta Williams. 

Teen Bad Art Night
​Thursday, September 29th
6:30pm - 7:30pm
How bad can you make your art look? Take an art break and create something truly tacky and terrible.

​

     Students attending Grain Valley Schools headed back to the classroom Monday, August 22nd. As of August 26th, Grain Valley Schools enrollment was estimated to have increased between 30-40 students. The attendance figures as of August 26th at each district school:

Early Childhood Center: 87
Matthews Elementary: 383
Prairie Branch Elementary: 590
Sni-A-Bar Elementary: 455
Stony Point Elementary: 480
North Middle School: 529
South Middle School: 575
Grain Valley High School: 1470

     The Grain Valley School Board met August 18th for its regularly scheduled meeting, approving prepayment of $1.725 million of the Series 2019B bonds.  The approval allows the district to maintain a Debt Service Levy of $1.70, and will save the district $233,250 in interest. The debt service tax rate will be set at a later date, but prepayment of these bonds allows the district to keep the rate at $1.70, where it has been since 2017.
     Under informational/discussion items, the subjects of teaching of controversial issues and dress code policies drew discussion. Superintendent Brad Welle opened the discussion, asking for board input regarding student dress code. Jeff Porter specifically pointed to the vague language of the current dress code policy, and shared information from another district's policy, citing restrictions on holes in jeans. yoga pants, and clothing or accessories that can be construed as costume wear. Board member Jeff Coleman suggested bare midriffs should not be allowed in school. After a lengthy discussion on proposed restrictions to include in a revised student dress code, Welle indicated leadership would look at changes to the dress code policy and bring back to the board for further review. The District's current policy on teaching of controversial issues will also be brought back to the board for further review. 
     Reached for further comment regarding the dress code concerns raised during the meeting, Jeff Porter stated he would hold comments for the board meeting. 
    To view the District's current policy on teaching about controversial issues, visit View Policy INB: TEACHING ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES (eboardsolutions.com). 
     To view the District's current student dress code policy, visit: View Policy JFCA: STUDENT DRESS CODE (eboardsolutions.com). 
      During patron comments, several patrons continued to press for a board level response to the Stakeholder Engagement Report, which came as a result of the controversy this spring over the removal of "safe space" stickers. Additionally, a number of patrons rose to speak in support of the board. 
     Valley News reached out to district leadership regarding a board level response to the Stakeholder Engagement Report. Dr. Amanda Allen, Asst. Superintendent, School and Community Services, stated that the cover letter attached to the Stakeholder Engagement Report "was meant to represent all district leadership. As superintendent, Dr. Welle is the district spokesperson for the Board."
     "An additional response to the Stakeholder Engagement Report will come in September with the adoption of annual priorities. These annual priorities reflect our Strategic Plan goals (2021-2026) and the commitments published by district leadership with the release of the CESO report. Through our annual priorities, the district will continue to pursue our goals of providing a learning environment that is collaborative, safe, and inclusive. These priorities will then be revisited three additional times this school year to monitor progress," Allen said.

     Families working their way through back-to-school lists can save a bit extra this weekend thanks to Missouri's Tax-Free weekend. From August 5th - 7th, certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only.
     The sales tax holiday begins at 12:01am on Friday, August 5th, and runs through Sunday, August 7th. 

     When many people think of school and summertime, the two don’t necessarily mix. As Dr. Glenna Bult, Grain Valley Schools Director of Curriculum and Instruction, says, it is the district administration’s busiest time.
     “At the district level, your busiest, craziest time is the summer,” Bult explains. “That is when we are working our tail-ends off.”
     Director of Operations, Gary Goetz adds with a bit of a chuckle, “In three weeks my favorite question will be ‘what’d you do all summer?’ Well, we were here getting ready for you all.”
     There is so much that goes on over the summer within the schools that nobody really thinks about because they don’t ever see any of it. Things as simple as wiping down each and every desk, to much larger items such as complete overhauls of kitchens and bathrooms.
     Director of Maintenance, Josh Elefson, as well as Goetz described their work as having two seasons; the first being the school year maintenance and the second being the summer prep.
     Elefson explains that each building gets a deep cleaning every summer which consists of each desk being cleaned, along with carpet cleaning or replacement, and new paint. Each principal also receives a summer request list around March where they are able to mark down the needs and wants for each building for that summer.
     Goetz says that with nine buildings over four campuses, it can be a tall order trying to get everything done in the relatively short amount of time summer provides.
     “We look at their lists and determine what’s a wish and what’s a need.”
     After they determine that, they take care of the needs first and if they are able, they can take care of as many of the wants as they can.
     “A lot of that is budget driven,” Goetz says. “Costs of everything is going up so that limits how much we are able to do each year.”
     The world of technology is a rapidly changing environment and especially in the education field. Director of Technology JaMere Waddy explains that he does everything he can to keep schools, classrooms, and kids up to date.
     “One of the things I am proud of is our four-year refresh cycle for students and staff,” Waddy said. The four-year refresh cycle means that the longest any student or staff member in the district will have a Chromebook or computer will be four years.
     “This allows us to stay current and it allows us to be sure that the technology is useable.”  
     After that, Waddy says the student or staff member will receive a new piece of technology. His department will look at their old one and determine if they can use it somewhere else, in some cases they may find that they will be able to get another few years of use by sending it to one of the elementary schools in the district.
     Waddy says that it is very important to stay creative with technology in the classrooms. Something they have done is using Apple TVs in order to let teachers move around their classrooms freely instead of being stuck in one spot while projecting something to the class. He says they like to try out new things with focus groups of teachers in the district who welcome the technology and embrace it in their classrooms.
     The Technology Department was also able to replace a whole computer lab at North Middle School this summer, another project Waddy is very proud to have been able to do.
     One of the critical tasks tackled over the summer is curriculum, which is Dr. Bult’s job. When building a curriculum, the Missouri Learning Standards are the legal guide, but after those standards are met, there is a bit of flexibility.
     Bult said that it usually takes about three or four years to build a full curriculum so there isn’t always a whole lot of change from year-to-year; rather, it comes in waves.
     “I pull groups of teachers, I believe that teachers need to be heavily involved in writing the curriculum,” Bult said. Within those groups, they take the standards from the state and apply it to the district by writing essential questions, learning targets, and essential vocabulary.”
     Bult mentioned that she has a particularly busy week this week as she is meeting with different groups of teachers for various reasons almost all day each day.  She says what gets her through the busy times is teamwork and the fact that everyone is working toward the same goal.
     Everyone at the table nodded in agreement when Bult said that the first step in preparing for a new year is expecting that not everything will go perfect. She said that somewhere along the line something will go wrong and they will have to roll with it and adjust what they are doing.
     While not everything may be able to go perfectly, each of them are excited for a new school year and they are ready for what’s in store.

     The Grain Valley students below are among the more than 6,200 Jayhawks named to the spring 2022 University of Kansas honor roll:

​Katelyn Garland, Grain Valley, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Alexander Griffitt, Grain Valley, School of Music
Hannah Gulick, Grain Valley, School of the Arts
Rhiannon House, Grain Valley, School of Nursing
Alex Kroenke, Grain Valley, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Lanie Miller, Grain Valley, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

     Park University announces its Spring 2022 graduates. The list of graduates includes those from the University’s flagship campus in Parkville, Mo., as well as its 40 additional campuses across the country and online worldwide.
     The University had 963 students eligible to graduate — 214 students received a master’s degree specialist degree and/or graduate certificate, and 749 students received a bachelor’s degree, associate degree and/or undergraduate certificate.

Bachelor of Arts
Ava M. Page, Communication Studies, Independence, (attended Grain Valley High School)​
Natalya M. Nalivaiko, Multimedia Journalism/Public Relations, Grain Valley, (attended Truman High School, Independence)

Bachelor of Science
Nicole L. Herder, Social Psychology, Blue Springs, Mo. (attended Grain Valley High School)