A special board of education meeting was held last week in Cherokee and, aside from the executive session, only lasted about 13 minutes. Board members quickly approved routine reports and items like the fund encumbrances, purchase orders and warrants for payment that make up the consent agenda.

Next, the 2019-2020 school calendar was looked at, and besides some minor changes (school will be starting and ending a week later this upcoming school year), it was accepted.

The board voted to convene in executive session to discuss the evaluation and employment of Superintendent Donna Anderson, and upon their return to open session, announced she was approved for contract renewal with amendments for three years.

Elementary principal Ruth Richmond gave her report next, telling board members that her students have been doing Alpha Plus testing (tests that use interim formative and summative benchmark assessments to evaluate progress of students from back-to-school week until state tests in the spring) and the STAR Reading Test. STAR is designed to pinpoint students' strengths and deficiencies in reading and offers specific insight into which areas need improvement. Data from this assessment is also used to inform instruction, gauge students' progress, and identify whether or not students are meeting the expectations of state standards.

Richmond said the Christmas programs are scheduled for Dec. 20, with kindergarten’s scheduled at 2:30 p.m., and grades 1 through 4 at 6:30 p.m.

At the end of her report, the principal said that one of her teachers, Debra Lohrding, finished up her certification. Others in the group remarked on Lohrding’s achievement, stating she was “definitely a keeper.”

Jeremy Hickman, principal of Cherokee’s junior and senior high, addressed the board next. He said there are a lot of basketball games going on (the Cherokee tournament is scheduled for Jan. 10-12), and that his students are participating in tests as well.

The middle school kids are taking Alpha Plus tests while the high school students are doing the Aspire tests for ACT preparedness. Semester tests are scheduled for the afternoon of Dec 20 and the morning of Dec 21 (school will release at noon on Dec 21 for Christmas break).

Lastly, Hickman said the annual trophy auction will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 8 -- just two days after school resumes from the break.

The superintendent was up next to give her report before the meeting’s end. In it, she said the Reitz Foundation made a donation that allowed about 25 students to go to dinner and a movie in Alva, and thanked them for their generosity across many areas.

Anderson also said a local church donated a large number of hams and she was very grateful for that as well. After Christmas break, the school will be taking the food service program back over from Keystone Foodservice out of Stillwater.

“It got a little bit expensive,” said Anderson. “You won’t see anything different. We’ll just be taking it back over and doing it ourselves.” There have been some rollbacks on food product restrictions -- they will now be able to use whole grains and put low-fat chocolate milk back out for students to enjoy.

The superintendent said that overall it has been a good semester and gave high praise to the principals and teachers, but wanted to especially recognize Heather Gottsch. Gottsch is the FCCLA sponsor and helps put