Waynoka School Board considering band and vocal classes

 

March 16, 2022



The Waynoka Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Monday, March 7. All members were present – Board President Travis George, Garret Gum, John Hanson, Caleb Zook, and Clint Olson – along with Superintendent Scott Cline, Junior and Senior High Principal Dustin Smith, Elementary Principal Pat Burrow and Minutes Clerk Lori Adair.

The Masonic Elementary Student of the Month for February was Josie Gaskill and the Masonic Teacher of the Month for February was Valerie Callison. The high school Masonic Student of the Month was Madison Blocker.

Spring Sports Kick Off

Junior high softball kicked off already playing Timberlake last Thursday and junior high baseball has their season opener today at home against Buffalo. Junior high track has been working hard to get ready for their first track meet on April 4.

High school baseball opened last week against the Buffalo Bison. Junior high softball started last Thursday against Timberlake. High school softball should have started last week in Buffalo, weather permitting. High school track started March 1l at Cherokee.

FFA Performing Well

“Some elementary students have shown at the local, county and district livestock shows this past month and have done extremely well,” Elementary Principal Pat Burrow said. “With OYE, I'm excited to see what more these students and their animals will accomplish.”

The Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE) began last week and will run for the next two weeks.

High School Principal Dustin Smith told the board that in the District Livestock Show in Woodward, four Waynoka exhibitors made the premium sale.

The FFA Judging and Speech contest begins on March 23 with approximately two contests a week until the state contest at the end of April.

Elementary School Update

Burrow updated the board on activities at the elementary school in February. Last month, the words of the week were esprit de corp, commitment, self-discipline, and leadership. Ninety-seven elementary students earned a spot in the RAIL Club.

Read Across America week was last week, and the school had several literacy activities for the week; “D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time was a favorite of the elementary students,” said Burrow.

Students had also competed in designing a logo and a bookmark; winners were scheduled to be announced before Spring Break.

The third nine weeks AR Incentive trip was last week. First through sixth grade students who met their reading goal were rewarded by going to Fairview to the city park to enjoy a sack lunch picnic. Then the group was due to meet with a park ranger at the Gloss Mountains for an informational visit before hiking the mountain.

At both the elementary and high schools, parent/teacher conferences were held March 8 and March 10.

Coming Up After Spring Break

Spring break, of course, is March 14-18. On the Monday following spring break, the school will start the mediation process for students involved in the state testing. They will be focusing on testing procedures, skills, and concepts and content mastery ahead of the testing window on April 18.

The Stephen Fite concert for pre-K through kindergartners is March 24. (For more information on Fite, visit http://www.melodyhousemusic.com.) It was scheduled for Jan. 25, but then postponed due to weather.

Potential Support for Band/Vocal Department

Superintendent Scott Cline talked about the possibility of bringing back a band/vocal department.

“Looking at the music department situation, there are two students interested – one high school student and one junior high student in band or vocal,” he said.

“The district received a little over 50 percent of the surveys returned for the elementary students. Of the surveys returned, about 64 percent of the elementary students expressed interest in having band or vocal music and about 90 percent were unsure. The district seems to have enough interest in pursuing the band/vocal program – maybe bring someone in to develop the programs.”

Financial Update

Cline reported that financial expenditures are up $35,000 due to the new lights and equipment. And ad valorem revenues are down compared to last year.

“We have under-collected $416,000 to date,” said Cline. “Compared to two years ago, we are $1,000,000 down. This is what we expected with everything tied up in protests.”

The district has made up some of the difference with gross production being up and federal monies due to the extra CARES Act money.

“So, the district is making some of that back, so they are not seeing it as that big of a hit. But it is concerning moving forward,” he said.

Building Fund expenditures are up slightly at $6,700. Building Fund revenue is down $50,000 due to under-collection of ad valorem.

The Child Nutrition Fund is in the positive by $8,000 for the year, Cline said. And although the daycare has under-collected $16,000 for the year, that's still much better than the daycare's balance last year at this time, he said.

Other Board Business

The board accepted the resignations of from Amy Graybill and Heather Shafer.

They approved contracts with Municipal Accounting Systems Inc. for payroll and accounts payable software and for student information services software for the 2022-2023 school year.

They also approved the contract with Gabbart Communications for web hosting for the 2022-2023 school year.

A list of library books was declared surplus.

No action was taken on the agenda item regarding the review of the student transfer policy and capacity limits.

The board also approved the consent agenda, consisting of minutes of previous meetings, reports on the general, building, bond and activity funds; General Fund encumbrances and purchase orders numbers 222-227 in the amount of $11,374.20; Building Fund encumbrances and purchase orders numbers 7 and 8 in the amount of $5,800; Bond Fund #31 encumbrances, and finally change orders.

 

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