District board meeting recap Jan. 31

Grace Altenhofen, Editor-in-Chief
January 31, 2019

The following is a summary of the Jan. 31 SMSD Board of Education meeting.

 

  • Adoption of agenda; approval of minutes from Jan. 14 regular meeting and Jan. 28 special meeting

 

  • Report by Superintendent Michael Fulton
    • The strategic planning committee begins their work Jan. 5
    • The members of the technology task force are being finalized
    • Hocker Grove Social Studies teacher Patti Winkler was one of 20 national finalists in the ‘Help Write Their Life Stories’ contest
    • SMSD hosted the Johnson County Spelling Bee
    • A student from SM West received an honorable mention in a video contest sponsored by the Student Television Network
    • Hocker Grove Middle School placed first in the district ‘Battle of the Books’ middle school competition
    • Construction on Brookwood Elementary and the new aquatics center is still underway

 

  • Reports from Board Members
    • Heather Ousley traveled to Washington D.C. last week as part of the National School Board Association’s advocating for special education funding
    • Deb Zila and Mary Sinclair attended the Advocacy in Action event in Topeka

 

  • Chief Financial Officer Russell Knapp gave the yearly reports on Petty Cash and Student Activity Funds. He also gave the monthly board financial report, in which he discussed how five out of the 13 Title I elementary schools in SMSD are losing their Title I status starting next year.

 

  • The board heard a report about a proposed Community Diploma Completion Program, in which adult residents in the Shawnee Mission area could take online classes to obtain a high school diploma if they did not already have one

 

  • Dr. Leigh Anne Neal, Assistant Superintendent of Early Childhood and Strategic Engagement, gave a presentation about Jump Start, a three-week-long program each summer that allows incoming kindergarteners to experience school for the first time

 

  • Approval of consent agenda items

 

  • Approval of action items, including the Community Diploma Program and construction services at SM West

 

  • Approval of an agreement to allow Deputy Superintendent Kenny Southwick to retire effective July 4

 

  • Comments from Board
    • The board collectively thanked Dr. Southwick for his service to the district

 

  • The board dismissed to executive session to discuss litigation and personnel issues