Alva Review-Courier -

The Alva Board of Education approved a contract with TriArch Architectural for Phase I of the district’s building projects. All board members were present for the Monday, Nov. 4, meeting. They approved an open contract for $140,000 with exact figures to be determined later.

Superintendent Tim Argo projected a map of the high school on the wall designating the projects and went over some of the improvements to be made. Improvements to the track and field area will include ADA accessibility and new lighting. The north parking lot at the high school is a few feet too narrow for easy entry and exit of parking spaces so more area will be added, and the sidewalk to that area will be widened.

Heat and air will be added to the high school gymnasium to provide year-round capabilities for events. The art building receives a lot of use, and it will be renovated. The alleyway behind the main high school building is currently one-way. That will be widened and made two-way.

Board Election

Board members approved the resolution to call for a school election for a board member from Office No. 5. That seat is currently held by Larry Parker. Filing for the election will be held in December. The primary, if needed, will be in February, and the general election will be in April.

In addition, as they do for each school election, the board voted to close a precinct in Alfalfa County and one in Woods County. Argo said voters in those two precincts will be mailed absentee ballots.

Finances

Supt. Argo told the board that revenue from gross production tax (oil and gas activity) is down $320,000 from what was collected last year. School administrators and staff are being mindful of expenses and “taking care of what we have.”

Right now the school district is spending more than it is taking in. Argo said this is usual at this time of year since ad valorem tax revenue has not yet been collected. Once that starts coming in, the school will have a clearer financial picture. He said, however, that currently expenses are outweighing last year’s levels.

Looking at the child nutrition fund, Argo said federal reimbursements are down from last year. About 51 percent of student meals qualify for reduced prices which then qualify for federal reimbursements. Currently the number of school lunches is up 248 and breakfasts are up 52 from last year.

The child nutrition fund paid $2,000 to Northwest Electric for electrical work and $2,847.68 to Oklahoma Restaurant Supply for a reach-in freezer at the high school.

The superintendent explained several expenses on the financial report. Panhandle Turf was paid $2,400 for repairs to the indoor practice area. Western Equipment repairs to a skid steer cost $2,001.44. Fall spraying at the school buildings cost $4,000 to Peak Environment. The school paid $2,000 to Behavior Doctor Seminars which brings Dr. Laura Riffel to spend the day with faculty and staff. Northwest Electric was paid $7,500 for electrical repairs at all school sites. The annual fire alarm inspections cost $2,717.44 with Endex of Oklahoma.

A new HVAC unit at Longfellow cost $6,162 from Greydog Mechanical. Argo said all the building principals have done an audit of the heating and air conditioning units at each site so their age and need for replacement can be assessed.

Strategic Plan Report

Megan McMurphy gave a report to the board about her part of the strategic plan. She read a statement from Cami Percival who planned to be at the meeting but was unable to attend due to illness.

McMurphy said when looking at the strategic plan, one of the biggest things was communication between the schools and parents. A survey was developed and sent to parents to learn what type of notifications worked best. The majority of parents liked text messaging the most.

A list of committees was compiled to see where parents were being represented and to determine spots where there were opportunities for involvement. McMurphy said the gifted and talented committee added some parents so there was a representative for each school.

A discipline committee was formed to include each building sponsor. They developed a plan for documenting discipline to look for trends. The principals are responsible for the documentation. A common language was implemented to make the reports comparable.

A list of clubs and organizations in each school was also put together although the elementary schools have fewer of these. A district recognition committee was formed to come up with ways to recognize parents as well as staff reaching retirement. A district leadership committee is being formed to promote leadership programs, one facet of development that hasn’t been addressed.

McMurphy discussed a couple of roadblocks they’ve encountered. One is scheduling Dr. Riffel for a two-day program at the high school. It didn’t work out with the schedule this fall. The other obstacle is finding common times that committees can meet.

Board member Karen Koehn asked McMurphy what was the most rewarding part of her involvement in strategic planning.

McMurphy said, “Just collaborating.” She said teachers can get tunnel vision in their own roles. “I loved being able to hear and meet parents.”

Other Business

Next year’s school board meeting dates were approved. Except for one date in June and moving a meeting to Tuesday after Labor Day, all the dates are on the first Monday of the month at 5 p.m.

The board approved an interlocal agreement with Circuit Engineering District #8 for this fiscal year. Argo said this is under the county commissioners and allows the school to use their services for surveying and engineering.

An update to the school board policy EHBDB was approved. Supt. Argo said the only change was to update the Title I program from No Child Left Behind to Every Students Succeeds.