The West Prairie District 103 school board met May 27, and conducted two closed sessions. No action was taken after the first executive session; action after the second session largely resulted in personnel resignations, hirings, assignments, and realignment. In other business, the board acted on curriculum and transportation proposals and heard reports on sports co-oping with Southeastern District 335 and facilities improvements.
A significant portion of the regular meeting consisted of a presentation by high school principal Caitlyn Watson and North Elementary principal Sara Ryner advocating for a new elementary math curriculum. The present system, Engage New York, has been in operation for 13 years; however, it has not produced acceptable results in test scores. Several educators were involved in visiting other schools with successful math programs and spoke highly of the Eureka2 program published by Great Minds. Based on their recommendation, the board approved implementation of Eureka2 for five years along with a junior high pilot program. The length of the commitment will provide substantial cost savings rather than yearly subscription. Cost will be $87,101.79, with a one-year pilot subscription for juniors at $4,431.11.
An equal amount of time was spent hearing from Interim Superintendent Paula Markey and board members Mitch Reed and Jake Kreps about meeting with Southeastern District personnel on co-op issues. Plans call for co-oping track and cross country for next school year to go along with the current eight-man football program as well as girls basketball and softball. Mention was made of co-oping golf, but more details need to be worked out. Boys basketball and girls volleyball were discussed but no action is planned to co-op these programs for the near future.
The board voted to purchase two vans, including a 2020 Toyota Sienna equipped for accessible use. Markey noted that this van is needed to accommodate any district special needs student. Anticipated purchase price is $57,661. The other van will be used to transport special education students to their alternative placement locations. The board approved allocating up to $48,000 for a previously owned, low mileage vehicle. Pricing will depend on what is available and at what mileage.
Markey reminded the board that four surplus buses will be disposed of. One has already been sold at auction as a test of the market; the other three will likely follow suit. Receipts from these sales will be returned to the transportation fund. The two approved-purchase vans will be added to the fleet, but eventually other older high-mileage vans would be phased out.
The board also approved expenditure of $27,067.82 for Renaissance, a local K-12 assessment tool, at a cost of $30,000. The program has intervention and reading incentive features as well as SAVERS, a survey instrument to identify student social and emotional needs. The program will be required in upcoming school years.
Markey then reviewed the status of a number of facility issues: — Playground equipment at South Elementary has been removed and new, more accessible equipment has arrived for installation.
— Smaller playground equipment at North Elementary will be addressed next year.
— Main entry doors at both North and South Elementary will soon arrive and be installed, with bid specs going out to other entry doors.
— Final payments will soon be made on both the new storage building and the greenhouse.
— In conjunction with the City of Colchester, new scoreboards have been set up at Friendway’s boys baseball and girls softball fields. Improved lighting is being installed.
— The two modular classrooms at the Sciota campus have been sold to a school district in Iowa.
— Announcements have been placed in the newspaper and the district’s website identifying a variety of surplus equipment, including old scoreboards and the old Sciota greenhouse, all up for sealed bid.
— The board will need to create a resolution to proceed on entertaining bids for the sale of the Sciota campus grounds.
— Progress is being made on the relocated football field west of the Jr-Sr High School. The Sciota scoreboard has been moved and set, and new goal posts have been installed. Poles for electrical lighting will soon be placed. Dirt work to level the grounds is nearly finished in anticipation of sod rather than seeding. The target date is July 4 for installing sod so that it can take root in time for the August 29 football home game. Seating and crow’s nest(s) issues still need to be resolved.
Markey, scheduled to leave her position at the end of June, suggested the district focus in the future on security cameras at both North and South Elementary, an intercom system for North, and new roofs for the weight room and bus barn.
In public comments, the board heard from Alex Grossstephan, an IT specialist. He cautioned the district to be vigilant about the use of artificial intelligence in classroom activities, especially in faculty preparation. He spoke of the opinion-based data source for all of the public AI large language models (LLMs) and the lack of legislation to regulate AI. Board president Scott Vogler stated that the board already has a policy in place. Markey added that teachers receive some training on use of AI in the classroom.
Upon return from the second closed session, the board addressed the following personnel issues: — accepted the intent to retire of Renee Welsh in four years — accepted the resignation of Jr-Sr High art teacher Claire DeGraaf — transferred Rachel Wilson from North Elementary 4th grade to 5th grade and 5th-6th grade math — hired Elizabeth Stoneking for the South Elementary second kindergarten class; Paige Nimrick as elementary teacher; and Alej Curtis as English teacher and 7-12 ELA/MAT teacher — moved paraprofessional Hannah Holmes from part-time to full-time, and Spanish teacher Lisa Kernak from part-time to full-time — accepted the resignations of Bailey Rauch as JH assistant volleyball coach and of Reis Wynn-Foster as JH assistant boys basketball coach — rehired probationary teachers Patti Clark, Jennifer Gearing, Audrey Nofzinger, Haley Rodeffer, Rachel Wilson, Brooke Beckner, Regan Chatterton, Laura Dunlap, Ashley Fayhee, Amanda Havens, and Rachel Laird — placed on tenure Emily Ebey, Alisha Eidson, Cristine Purdy, Kayla Carnes, Courtney Johnson, Alison McGrew, and Grant Rogers
