Four new teachers hired; strategic plan approved for Alva Schools

 

Monday evening the Alva Board of Education voted to hire four new teachers for next school year on one year temporary contracts. Lincoln Principal Madison Williams introduced Connie Steele who will teach fourth grade and Christi Vickers who will teach fifth grade. Steele worked for the Alva school system most of this year helping with music programs. Vickers has been teaching at Aline-Cleo but her children have attended the Alva schools.

Washington Principal Shane Feely presented Emily Harris who will teach first grade. She will be replacing Kayla Gilchrist who is moving into special education. Harris is graduating from NWOSU and grew up in Alva.

Middle School Principal Stephanie Marteney introduced Baylei Zehr who will teach seventh and eighth grade ELA. Zehr taught in Alva earlier but is presently at Woodward.

Superintendent Tim Argo told the board that longtime bus driver Charles Miller is retiring. He has worked for the Alva schools for 35 years. He and two others who are retiring will be honored at a reception Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the Alva Middle School cafeteria.

The school board approved a list of 78 people who were rehired as support staff for the next school year.

Strategic Plan

Stephanie Hyter, Sharon Dean and Tyler Bridges from the Oklahoma State School Boards Association attended the meeting to report on finalization of the strategic plan for Alva schools. Over the school year, a total of five days were spent by a large group of volunteers including all levels of the school system, students, and members of the community.

Board members were given printed materials listing the four major goals, nine objectives and 16 initiatives of the strategic plan. Hyter went over these, explaining that phase one was the gathering of information, phase two was in depth data analysis, and phase three included tweaking and adding performance measures and benchmarks.

Bridges said he was impressed at the number and diversity of those participating in the first three phases of the plan. "You guys have done as well or better than anyone we've worked with," he said.

Phase four will last for a calendar year, said Bridges. The group will come back to Alva May 20 to work with site teachers. They will break down the information into a one year plan and talk with teachers about their responsibilities at their building sites. He said not all sites will have the same plans.

Then they will return to Alva about this time next year to look back over the year and reflect on how everything went. Bridges cautioned that not everything will work as expected. Some goals may take more time than anticipated. He said they will celebrate success in exceeding or meeting goals while discussing goals not met and why. Then they will work on year two of implementing the plan. After that, schools will be finished with state association oversight.

Board President Jane McDermott said, "It was a very enjoyable process." She said she expected to be bored at times in the two day sessions, but was pleasantly surprised.

According to Bridges, the plan is fluid. The school has been supplied with a digital version of the books he passed out. The plan may be edited and updated as needed.

The board approved the strategic plan as presented. Information about the plan is posted on the school's website.

Summer Program

Several summer school classes and instructors were approved. The summer driver's education will have one session May 22-29 and another June 7-21 with Steve Gale as the instructor. The board also approved the fee of $175 for driver's education, the same price as in the last couple of years.

Washington Summer Learning Academy will be June 3-27 with Tabitha Carothers and Whitney Cotton as instructors. Supt. Argo said this and the Longfellow reading program are "very critical for the reading sufficiency act."

The Longfellow Summer Reading Program will also be June 3-27. Teachers will be Michele Mackey, Audra Halliburton and Kendi Wooten.

Extended school year services for Special Education summer school will be May 22-June 30. Those instructors will be Brandi Peace, Kayla Gilchrist, Lalonie Kern and Monica Sterling.

Extended school year service for Speech Pathology will be May 22-June 30. It will be taught by Beki Houston, Julie Wren and Hattie Potter.

Athletic camps were approved for the summer. Argo said they are trying to make the camps affordable for families. Basketball camps will be May 22-24 for boys and girls at the AHS gym. Grades 2-5 will meet at 9 a.m., and grades 6-8 will be at 1 p.m.

Baseball/softball camps will be held at the AHS baseball and softball fields May 28-30 for grades 2 through 8 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Football camp will be June 4-6 at the AHS indoor facility for grades 2 through 8 from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Alva Summer Pride will have three divisions. Developmental camp, recommended for grades 3-5 will be June 3-20 and July 8-25, Monday through Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Instructional camp, recommended for grades 6-8 will be June 3-20 and July 8-25, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The high intensity camp for grades 9-11 will be June 3-27 and July 8-25, Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The AHS indoor facility will be closed from June 29 through July 7 which is the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association dead period.

School Activity Travel

Qualifying students from the Alva Middle School TSA program will be traveling to the National TSA Conference competition in Washington, DC, June-28-July 2. The board approved the trip for Kelli Woods and five students. Supt. Argo thanked Woods and her students for their hard work. Students qualified in bridge building and essay writing. Three students qualified for the quiz bowl which features STEM related questions.

Earlier the board approved a LeClub cultural trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, May 19-24. Sponsor Rose Mary Stout asked for a cash advance of $460 from the activity account to be used for emergencies, meals and/or admission fees. Argo said the club did not have a trip last year, but the year before that the board approved a similar cash advance for Stout to use on the trip. The advance was unanimously approved. Argo told the board that the TSA students are planning a summer fundraising project to pay their travel expenses.

Dr. Brenna Heaton asked to take her fifth hour eighth grade students to Pratt, Kansas, on May 9. They have been working on a plastic pollution project, and she wants to take them on a tour of the recycling facility in Pratt. That trip was also approved.

Contracts Approved

The board approved four contracts for the next school year.

The school buys gas in bulk from Clearwater Enterprises. This saved the district $1,900 last year, Argo said.

The School to Work program for vocational rehab involves students working at local businesses.

The ADT contract is for alcohol and drug testing of bus drivers.

The OSSBA Employment Services by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association handles unemployment claims.

Continuing Lawsuit

Since fiscal year 2015, the Alva school district has participated with other disadvantaged school districts to pay litigation fees to Crowe & Dunlevy, Attorneys and Counselors at Law, in the Ad Valorem Miscalculation Lawsuit. The schools contend the state miscalculated money due them for fiscal year 2014 back to fiscal year 2004. Argo said the Alva schools have spent $2,125 so far on the lawsuit, but the school stands to gain $200,000. The board approved continuing in the lawsuit and paying the fees.

A video of the entire meeting is available at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com.

 

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