The Waynoka Board of Education had lots of routine work to get through when it held it's regular monthly meet Monday, June 8. But the big news was the graduation ceremony plan Waynoka High School Principal Dustin Smith presented to the board.

All board members were present, as were Superintendent Scott Cline, Smith and Elementary Principal Patricia Burrows.

Graduation 2020

Waynoka High School will hold its 2020 Commencement on June 26 at 8 p.m. at the Waynoka High School Football Field, Smith told the board.

Smith said he'd struggled with how to hold the ceremony, which is so important to not only the seniors but the families, teachers and entire community. The COVID-related restrictions set out by the Oklahoma State Department of Education would have been, in some cases, very painful to enforce – like the requirement to restrict access for people aged 65 and older – the seniors' grandparents, in other words.

In his presentation to the board, Smith wrote, “Considering the limitations set forth by the OSDE and my strong desire to hold an in-person graduation on June 26, 2020, Waynoka High School is unfolding the following plan for the commencement of our 2020 seniors.”

Seated on the playing field will be the graduates, the board of education members, and school officials. Each graduate will be allowed to reserve on the playing field 10 seats for family and friends. All other guests will have access to the stands, sidelines (behind cable fencing) and all parking areas surrounding the football field.

In case of bad weather, only ten guests per graduate will be able to attend an indoor ceremony in the multipurpose building. Those attending the indoor ceremony will have their temperature checked (100.4 and above, no entry). Social distancing of six feet is required. The use of PPE is not required and won't be provided, but is strongly encouraged, Smith said.

Superintendent Cline Talks Finances

After a fair amount of good humored back and forth about the graduation ceremony, the board moved on to discuss the district's finances.

The child nutrition fund is $22,000 in the red, Cline said. “That was the one bright side of the pandemic disruptions,” Cline said, laughing; they hadn't lost as much money on child nutrition as they usually do.

Revenue is up $65,000, Cline said, adding “Financially, we're sitting pretty comfortably, but we don't know for sure where we're going to sit next year.”

Cline updated the board on the construction projects. By the end of June, the weight room should be finished. Flooring goes down in the day care this week, and after that it'll just be the finishing touches. Then DHS will do its inspection, Cline said.

New fencing is going around the outside of the playground, Cline noted. In July, they plan to start on the baseball field.

Personnel

The board opted to skip the executive session that often precedes personnel-related decisions, but instead forged ahead, voting to re-employ support staff for the 2020-21 school year; and the certified teachers under temporary contract for the 2020-21 school year.

These three certified teachers under temporary contract are Emily Harris (elementary), Sharee Madson, and Savannah Stripling. Stripling's employment is contingent on receiving her emergency certification.

The board also accepted the resignations of bus drivers Gilbert and Kathy Hull, whose absence Cline said would be “a sad loss.”

The board also voted to employ a certified special education teacher for extended services in June and July of this year, and to employ a daycare director for part-time work during this month.

Also in personnel-related news, the board approved leasing school-owned houses to two individuals through this next school year: 2336Maple St. to Chad Blocker and 2359 Aspen Cir. to Tanner Allen.

Board Handles Housekeeping

The board approved the temporary appropriations for fiscal year 2020-2021. Cline told the board this allows the district to spend money until the estimate of needs process is completed.

They also approved the following:

• football fundraiser request for parking spots.

• purchase of a 2020 Suburban at a cost of $47,462.

• surplus of a list of items including calculators, a piano, broken chairs, and things of that sort, said Cline.

• contract with Chas W. Carroll PA for the 2019-2020 school audit to be conducted during the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

• contract with the Center for Education Law to retain them for legal services during this next school year.

• continuing the worker's compensation proposal with the Oklahoma School Assurance Group and the service agreement with OSSBA Employment Services for the 2020-21 school year.

• agreement between the cooperative council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA) and the school district for the participation in CCOSA's District Level Services Program for the 2020-21 school year.

The board also ratified all action taken by the board at the May 29 meeting, and approved the consent agenda, which consisted of previous meeting minutes; reports on the general, building, activity, Bond No. 31 and Bond No. 32 funds, including encumbrances for the general, building, and Bond No. 31 funds, and change orders.