At the September board meeting, the board approved the hire of Joe Harris as the MS/HS Science teacher, and the board approved the minutes of the July and August 2023 meetings.
In the superintendent’s report, Ms. Nieraeth discussed HB 2753, which allowed for school board members to receive a monthly stipend of up to $500 per member. She included an FAQ document as well as Board Policy BHD to allow the board to decide if this stipend were something they would like to implement in the future and the steps that would be needed to do so. Discussion on this topic will happen at a later board meeting. Ms. Nieraeth also discussed that the district will be doing reviews of their Title III program and the Food Service program with ODE this year. Both reviews are to help the district ensure compliance with all state and federal regulations that are associated with both programs.
Ms. Nieraeth talked about the start of the K – 6 school year, which includes students being assessed for Reading and Math knowledge through the I – Ready program. The district will assess all students K – 12, and students who attend LaHO, to give the district data on student growth, as well as where the highest needs are for students. This program, after students have taken the diagnostic, will then help students in grades K – 6 work on skills that they are lacking and help enrich those students who are above grade level.
Mrs. Shunk, the LaHO principal, talked about how the teachers at LaHO are working on creating classroom routines, systems, and procedures to build rapport with families and students, as well as provide more of that one-on-one time (What I Need Time = “WIN”) between the teacher and individual students to either work on remediation of skills or enriching knowledge. Mrs. Shunk also introduced LaHO an Exploratory Block time, where students rotate through all the teachers each week to work with the teacher on a focus that the teacher enjoys and is sharing with the students.
Mr. Rothenburger, the 7 – 12 principal, discussed in his report what the teachers are excited about in their classes at the beginning of the year. He is proud of the tremendous start that our staff and students have had and is excited that our staff is always wanting to put kids first. He also gave kudos to the HS volleyball and football teams on their great starts on the year and is excited to have Cycle Oregon at Alsea this weekend.
Mr. Staehely presented two financial statements, one from last fiscal year, and the most updated one for this year. Alsea will be having an audit in October, which will then finalize the financials from last year. After September’s payroll, Alsea’s budget for this year should be more accurate with all payroll costs encumbered and the numbers for grants updated.
Chris and Nancy Giggy presented their bond updated. Panel room construction is almost complete. There were issues with documentation for the HVAC system to ensure that what Alsea received is what was in the original plans, and luckily, the proper documentation was submitted, and the units are ready to be installed. The final design for the new Vocational Building is being worked on and should be completed and ready for bidding by November/December of this year. The district will advertise the contractor RFQ this coming week to generate a list of qualified contractors for the bid phase, and there will be an RFQ review committee formed.
Ms. Nieraeth has updated Alsea’s Integrated Guidance Plan, which must be presented to the board for approval. The board has set a special board meeting for Wednesday, September 20 at 6:30pm, to review the plan and vote on approval. This step is necessary to receive grant monies from the state.
The board formally adopted the Leadership Operating Plan that came from an August work session. This plan will be available to the public via the Alsea School website.
