Alva Review-Courier -

Two board members – one new, one returning – were sworn in at the Freedom Board of Education meeting this Monday. New board member Frank Biery (Seat 3) and returning member Robert Babcock (Seat 4) read their oaths aloud at the start of the regular meeting.

Board members Shane Morris, Philip Kirkpatrick and Kyle Rhodes also were present; B.J. Baker was absent. Also present were Superintendent Frieda Burgess and Principal Bryant Weber.

After the swearing in, the board was reorganized, as is usually the case. The board voted unanimously to keep the board’s officers the same: Shane Morris is president, Philip Kirkpatrick is vice president, Robert Babcock is clerk and Kyle Rhodes is deputy clerk.

Basketball Co-op with Burlington Approved

Superintendent Burgess told the board that she had received word that the Burlington school board had approved extending this year’s basketball co-op to last through next school year as well.

“Our co-op for basketball with Burlington went pretty well this year, and I think we would like to continue it,” said Burgess. “It has been approved by the Burlington board to continue the co-op. They’ve said they’ll do one or two scrimmages here at Freedom if we would like to do that.” Because Freedom only has three players participating in the co-op, Burgess said she felt that was more than fair. Burlington’s new gym will be completed by next year, she said.

The number of players for next school year’s basketball co-op is not yet known, but Burgess said some fifth and sixth graders are “moving in next year, so we may have kids (in those grades) who want to play next year. We have one in junior high unless something changes.”

The school’s golf team and track team have been competing “just as Freedom,” she said, “and we probably want to continue to do that as well.”

The board approved continuing the basketball co-op with Burlington.

Other Board Business

Burgess reported that she had talked with state legislators that day, “and we have not received any money for our teacher raises yet. They are hopeful we will receive some by the end of school. If not, we might be in real bad shape. It’s an unfunded mandate, and we may have to keep giving that raise that we haven’t received money for.” With dissatisfied murmurs, the board digested this information.

The next agenda item concerned filing a statutory waiver/deregulation for alternative education for the next three years (fiscal years 2025, 2026 and 2027).

“We have to do this every three years,” said Burgess. “We do that because of our small numbers. We really don’t have to have someone hired to do alternative education because we’re small enough that we can offer our students pretty much individualized instruction.” Filing the waiver was approved by the board.

The board also approved the consent agenda, consisting of past meeting minutes; the treasurer’s report; encumbrances and warrants for the general, building and child nutrition funds; and activity fund expenditures.