Area School Boards Meet

Personnel and financial updates were among items addressed by area school boards that met this week.
Grundy R-5
The Grundy R-5 Board of Education approved a resignation and hired personnel during its meeting on Tuesday night.
According to information provided by Superintendent Rob Deaver, the board accepted a resignation from Rachel Lorenz as K-12 music instructor. First-year teacher Shelby Rogers of Brookfield will be the new music instructor next year. Kimbra Mullenix was hired as the Parents as Teachers Educator for the 2016-17 school year in addition to her duties as school counselor. She served as the PAT Educator this past year as well.
The board heard a resignation letter of all coaching duties and athletic director duties from Les Jackson. Contracts were offered for various coaching positions with no announcement being made at this time.
The board accepted several bids, including student accident insurance from National Public Schools Insurance, telephone services from Grand River Mutual, wireless network equipment from IT Savvy, milk products from Prairie Farms, bus fuel and propane from Trenton MFA and lawn mowing services from Brandon and Sarah Rains.
Reports were heard on seventh through 12th grade language arts and evaluations of the elementary and secondary curriculum were approved. Among principal reports, year-to-date attendance was listed at 93.6 percent at the elementary school and 95.93 percent at the junior/senior high school. Recognition was given to Mady Williams for qualifying for national FBLA competition, to the new National Honor Society members and other students receiving various awards.
The last day of school will be on Friday, May 13 with the high school dismissing at 11:30 a.m. and the elementary dismissing at 11:40 a.m.
The next meeting of the school board will be at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16 at the high school in Galt.
Pleasant View R-6
During a meeting of the Pleasant View R-6 Board of Education on Monday night, action was taken on several items.
According to information provided by Administrator Rebecca Steinhoff, the board approved the 2016-17 preschool and student handbooks. Several MSBA policy updates were approved with a first reading of a new policy held. Mrs. Steinhoff announced several dates of importance, including May 16-June 23 for KEYS Summer School. The school office will be closed on May 30 in observance of Memorial Day.
Following an executive session, the board voted to rehire all part-time certified staff for the 2016-17 school year. Also approved were applications for the 2016-17 preschool program.
The next board meeting is scheduled for 7 a.m. on Thursday, June 16.
Princeton
The Princeton R-5 Board of Education voted on several items and took action on personnel items during its meeting on Monday night.
According to information provided by Board Secretary Christy Stockman, the board approved a cooperative agreement with the Mercer School District for a boys baseball program during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. Princeton, as a member of the Grand River Conference, would be playing their games in the spring, with Mercer students a part of the team as well.
Also approved was an increase in meal prices for next year. The new charges are breakfast, $1.40; K-6 lunch, $2.10; and 7-12 lunch, $2.35. In a related matter, changes in the school’s food service department were approved, with duties such as development of menus, scheduling of shifts, commodity orders, free and reduced lunch verification and yearly compliance forms reassigned from the high school principal to members of the food service department.
Approval was given to raise the cap that the district provides for its employee health insurance. Facing a 6 percent hike in premiums, the board increased its payment to $500, which as a whole will mean the district will be paying $13,680 more in insurance costs this year. Employees will also see a slight increase for the year to their share of the premium, with the PPO increase being $86.20. HSA employees will see a slight decrease for its share, going from $827.04 annually to $785.76 for the next school year.
The board reviewed and will consider a future reduction or elimination of the district retirement incentive policy, which will remain in effect for the 2016-17 school year. The policy provides financial incentives for retiring teachers with years of service in the district.
Changes were announced in the preschool schedule, with the board approving four one-half day sessions rather than the two one-half day and one full-day sessions now in place. This will allow the district to serve more students at the preschool level.
An addition of a gym floor graphic to the center of the basketball court was approved and will be done this summer. Dennis Gutshall gave a summer project and maintenance update involving renovations to be done as part of the no-tax increase bond issue approved by voters in April. HVAC updates and a new playground will be completed by the summer.
Superintendent Jerry Girdner gave a financial update as well as an update to the Average Daily Attendance, which is currently at 348.98. If the ADA is 350 or greater, the district will not benefit from the small schools grant as well as lose its hold-harmless protection. He said it is important to monitor the ADA for the purpose of upcoming budgets.
Following an executive session, a number of personnel announcements were made. Resignations were accepted from custodian Marty Thogmartin, elementary teachers Susan Hashman and Phoebe Duff and high school teacher/head basketball coach Mike Creekmore. Jason Bears was hired for the custodian position and will begin June 1. Approved for summer maintenance help were Scott Ussery, Wade Hall and Nathan Copling. Non-certified staff were approved for next school year as were supervisors for federal programs.
Among upcoming events announced were Senior Awards Night on May 12, Baccalaureate on May 12, Graduation on May 13, the last day of school on May 18 and the staff retirement reception on May 18. Summer central office and maintenance staff will work on Monday through Thursday, starting June 1 and continuing through Aug. 11.
The next board of education meeting will be on Monday, June 13.