Vincent Adams from Oregon School Board Association walked the board through the calendar for the superintendent search. The calendar for this process is a living document although some dates are non-negotiable. Selection should be concluded by the end of February, with the new hire taking the helm on July 1st 2023. The Alsea School Board (ASB) needs to complete several steps soon, such as clarifying contractual requirements. A public survey will be available from Sept 28-Oct 19 to allow for public input to the selection process. To see the calendar presented to the Board, please visit Public Meeting Agenda: September 22, 2022 at 7:00 PM – Alsea School Board Meeting – Boardbooks Premier .
LAHO Assistant Principal Heather Shunk gave a video presentation created by a LAHO parent showing how she has created a learning environment for her daughter through their daily morning ritual. Cheryl Doe, Special Education Coordinator for both LAHO and Alsea School, presented a Teacher of the Month award to Leslie Boser. Leslie offered how much she enjoys working at LAHO and how much she has enjoyed her visits to Alsea School’s physical location.
Mary O’Brien was presented with Teacher of the Month for Alsea School for her monumental project of sorting the library over the summer, remaking it into a vital and refreshing learning space for students. Board member Linda Montanez was presented with a banner to replace the one she lost from when she was prom queen in 1967. When the school heard of this, Mr. Crowe was happy to create a replacement.
The superintendent’s report included updates on the many projects required by the state Department of Education (DOE), as well as Alsea School internal projects like the HR reset. Next week the Secretary of State and the DOE will visit the school to start the onsite audit of prior activities, which the district welcomes with open books. Certified contract negotiations will begin next week. Expenditures have been tightened to an extreme, and a report on budge sustainability should be available after the HR reset is concluded. A midterm Budget Sustainability Reset can be expected in Jan or Feb of this school year. The district is transferring student records to Synergy, which is used by LBL-ESD. This is a comprehensive internal database that puts all parts of a students records in a secure location appropriately accessible to staff. New Math Curriculum is in place, and new language arts curriculum is on its way. Performance test results for last year will be publicly available soonby the Oregon Department of Education.
There has been much communication and progress on determining hard numbers for the Alsea Bond Project. The district is seeking some outside support in trying to regain the Seismic Application grant to apply to the Bond project. The ASB is still pushing for hard numbers for the Guaranteed Maximum Price for the contract with CB Construction. The ASB hopes to retain HMK Company as Project Manager at the next board meeting. A special meeting of the board may be required when hard numbers are submitted by CB Construction, which is expected soon.
There was a lengthy and itchy discussion of head lice policies with information presented by Betsy Brooks, the new school nurse. There are multiple documents on this topic that can be viewed if you visit the attachments to the meeting agenda in Boardbooks. Betsy is advocating for not using poison to treat the scalps of affected children and to reduce unnecessary absences due to head lice for students who have already missed so much school due to COVID restrictions.
There is a Board Retreat scheduled for this Saturday from 12-4. Homecoming Dance is scheduled for October 1st, with a call out for volunteers.
