Board of Education receives positive economic news
The first order of business for the Cameron Board of Education, which met Monday, October 17, was the approval of the district’s 2015-2016 audit as performed by Westbrook and Company., P.C.
Brad Steele reviewed the audit for board members. “You’re a healthy district. Your reserve ratio has been consistently staying up in the 30% to 35% range, and that’s a good sign.”
The board also approved a General Obligation Bond Refund with L.J. Hart & Company, saving the district nearly two million dollars, and shortening the final maturity of the bonds by two years.
Administrative reports
Cameron High School principal, Mark Wiegers, reported student attendance grew from 83.3% in 2015 to 89.5% in 2016. Recent data collected indicates an attendance problem with the “free lunch” students, with an attendance rate of 80%. Strategies to address the deficit include counselors monitoring the subgroup and meeting with students who fall below 90%. Assistant principal, Brett Jones, will continue to send attendance letters every two weeks notifying parents when their student falls below 90%.
Improvement plans for the high school include increasing the average ACT score to be at or above the Missouri state average. To accomplish this, a practice ACT test will be given to all juniors. Teachers will look at data received from the practice ACT to see where improvements can be made, along with a plan to address weak academic areas. In addition, counselors and administrators will attend ACT workshops.
Wiegers was pleased with the number of proficient and advanced results of EOC tested areas last year. However, he would like to see a decrease in the number of students scoring “below basic”.
Plans are in place to increase the number of A+ students graduating from CHS to at least 67%. Counselors will conference with students not signed up for A+, a student survey will be given, and personalized letters will be mailed to parents, making them aware of the benefits of the program.
Other goals include progressing towards standards-referenced grading, and utilizing “best practices” in grading.
Janet Smith, Director of Special Services, along with her leadership team, spoke about creating instructional strategy libraries, data reflections, co-teaching with fidelity and accountability, intervention strategies, one to one student technology, parental communication, and professional development.
Sheila Switlik, speech language pathologist for the Cameron School District, addressed the board regarding recruitment of qualified professional staff. “Right now, there are five special education teachers that do not have a degree in special education. We have three out of five speech therapists that are not certified and just have a teaching certificate. That means lots of training is having to go into training these professionals. When that happens, then those people that are training are not able to see the kids for services or be in the classroom as needed. The bottom line is, that’s where we need to be,” stated Switlik.
The paraprofessional salary scale was asked to be brought under review, as well as an audit of paraprofessional extra duties.
Cameron Intermediate School principal, Laurie Mefford, and her leadership team, discussed the decline of science scores. Project Lead the Way, which is a hands on, project-based science program, has been implemented in grades three through five. MAP language arts scores are at a historic high with nearly 70% of students scoring in the proficient and advanced category. In addition, math scores continue to steadily rise.
Attendance rates for CIS are currently at 97.1% for the school year. A CIS parent survey revealed that 51% of parents prefer Class DOJO while 26% prefer email in the area of communication. Overall, 87% of CIS parents believe attendance is important to their child’s academic success. 63% of parents feel their child is safe at school all of the time, and 68% reported that they feel bullying is mostly occurring on the bus.
Cameron Veterans Middle School principal, Tiffani Collins, reported on professional development, annual performance, and student-led conferences. “We are very excited that we are already 10% higher in our parent attendance compared to last year.”
Donna Rush, Parkview Elementary principal, reported a current attendance rate of 94%, with a parent-teacher conference rate of 92%. The recent book fair was a success as Parkview will receive $3,054 in free books. Rush applauded the work that counselor Heatherlee Ryals has done regarding the bullying program.
The Parkview Bucket Filler program continues to thrive thanks to community donations. Board member and business owner, Doug Wycoff, was recognized for his contributions to the program.
“We are getting ready to send out our first standard based grading card, and we’re excited about that,” said Rush.
Maintenance Director, Mike Grassley, spoke about the continued work on lighting in the parking lots. Winterization of the heating and cooling system is on the work schedule, along with roof inspections.
Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Chris Shanks, praised the district’s teaching and administrative staff for the positive changes the school district has made within the last six years.
Superintendent, Dr. Matt Robinson, reported on the turf project. He’s been in contact with various companies and schools, and continues to do the necessary research to provide the best product at a competitive cost. “It’s a very detailed process, and not a cheap venture. We’re talking $400,000 we may have to spend. We need to do due diligence before jumping into it,” stated Robinson.
In legislative reports, board member Mary Tyrrell encouraged everyone to take a close look at Amendment 3 and Proposition A before elections on November 8. “There’s a lot of confusion on these two pieces of legislation. You might look at who’s endorsing them,” said Tyrrell.
Third grade teacher, Keri Sedgwick, thanked the board for providing 21 iPads for students and the new furniture for the third and fourth grade levels.
In other action, the board accepted the resignations of Sandra Bell, Parkview Custodian, and Kevin Nichols, 7th grade assistant basketball coach, effective immediately. The board accepted the retirement announcement of Donna Rush, Parkview Elementary principal, effective at the end of the school year. Extra duty new hires approved include Brett Ewald, middle school academic bowl, Slade Kenagy, assistant middle school boys basketball, and Chris Johnson, assistant middle school wrestling.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for November 21.
