By Sharon Snell
The meeting was opened by President Jeff Nevin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members Dawn Miller and Gary Hames were present. Melissa Field was excused. Consent items approved included warrants, minutes from September 20th, and a December 7th date for the holiday party
Three policies originally listed under Consent Items were removed for discussion. These policies concerning School Nursing, Bus Safety, and Progressive Discipline are either new or in need of updating. The topics are important and the board members had good discussions with suggested changes. The policy approvals were tabled to the Nov. 15 agenda.
Under Board Reports Superintendent Todd Hess stated that he and District office staff had been meeting with Jim Sciarani, auditor, on the budget and will have more information on Nov. 15th. Todd and the Board members thanked a number of individuals who worked on various projects for the District over the past weeks: Steve Schieberl on emergency operations, Marylou Walling at Piper’s Opera House, and Doug Bacus, Damian Martinez, and Jack Dillon who got the grounds and buildings at the high school looking good. Todd congratulated Chelsea Nevin on being named Max Player of the Week and Jeff Nevin congratulated Emily Heinz on being Volleyball Player of the Week. Colleen Conley enjoyed the Hillside field trip to the Pumpkin Patch along with the Hillside students. Both Colleen and Todd recognized the passing of Reba Berland, former teacher at Hillside from 1994-2015. A tree and plague were dedicated in her honor at Hillside on Oct. 23rd. Dawn Miller reminded everyone of the “Nightmare Before Christmas” production being presented at Piper’s in December. There are plenty of locals, both adults and children, involved in this production. It should be lots of fun for everyone!
Gary Hames and Dawn Miller both had comments on the high school Jump Start Program. Todd reported on the success of having 30% of the juniors and seniors in the program. Gary asked about the number of Jump Start students working on campus and the number attending at WNC. Todd said that 7 were on campus and the rest attended WNC, 2 juniors and all the seniors. Dawn expressed a serious concern about the online program not being what it was presented to be. The online students seem to be spending all their time on the computer and missing live lessons or skyping with instructors, both important components of the experience. She would like to revisit the online program in December. Dawn also proudly reported that Virginia City has had more high school students receive an AA degree through Jump Start than any other participating high school in the area. Absolutely amazing!
Under New Business the Board approved 3 items.
Dawn Miller, Coleen Conley, Melissa Field, and Todd Hess will be attending the NSBA (National School Board Association) Conference in April in San Antonia, TX.
A contract between Bond Project Manager (Greg Hess) and the Board was approved after some discussion regarding the Original Bond (2005) and that it is only funded if project specific.
Since most people have heard about the possible sale of Piper’s Opera House by the school district to Storey County, the details will not be restated here. The Board approved a Resolution declaring its intention to make that sale. Public notices have been made. If anyone is especially interested in the details of this decision, please make the effort to attend the School Board Meeting at Virginia City High School in the Training Room on the lower level at 5PM on November 15th. And as boring as it may sound, the report from auditor, Jim Sciarana, is pretty interesting as well.