WE WILL NOW BE REPORTING ON THE STOREY COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD MEETINGS. THANKS TO SHARON SNELL FOR DOING THIS FOR OUR READERS. SORRY FOR THE DELAY .
By Sharon Snell
The agenda and Board Packet for the March 8th meeting can be found HERE.
Past Agendas, Board packets and minutes from previous Board Meetings can be found HERE.
The March 8th meeting was held in the VC High School Training Room. President Jeff Nevin called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. The agenda was adopted unanimously. Two Consent Items were approved unanimously: Payment of Warrants and Minutes for the February 8, 2017 SC Board of Trustees Meeting. Supporting documents can be found in the Board Packet.
Several reports or presentations followed. Superintendent Todd Hess announced some local students in the news. Selected for All League High School Boys’ Basketball: Colt Hess -1st Team, Ireland Franklin and Tanner Uken – 2nd Team. Selected for All League Girls’ High School Basketball: Beth Fuller – 1st Team, Chelsea Nevin and Kori Johnson – Honorable Mention.
Todd reported that he recently had a very good meeting with Oasis, the technology team that serves the District. Soon he expects to announce plans that will conceivably improve bandwidth, connectivity, and fiber for the District and its students. The plan includes some partnering with the County.
Shawn Marie Chapman, principal of Hillside Elementary, Gallagher Elementary, and VC Middle School proudly reported that the students on the Hillside Archery Team had placed 2nd in the entire State! This unique program boasts nearly 50% of the Hillside student population participating. A fundraiser was held recently at Hillside to raise money to assist the 5th graders in attending Great Basin Outdoor School later this year. Ms. Chapman stated that Gallagher had held a Dr. Seuss Family Read All before school one morning. The attire for the day was pajamas. Everyone had a good time enjoying Seuss stories and activities, meeting guest readers and authors, and eating morning snacks of hot chocolate and muffins. Ms. Chapman was also happy to announce that the VC Middle School Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Team was the 2017 Sagebrush League Champions!
The final presentation came from Michael-Ann Lazzarino and Shannon Parsons. These young women represented the local Community Chest at the Global Voice trip in Costa Rica over winter break. Part of the mission of this experience was to promote leadership skills, build relationships with people from other countries and cultures, and work collaboratively. Both Michael-Ann and Shannon appreciated the opportunity for this amazing experience. One big idea they came to understand was that people from all over the world share many of the same problems and concerns as we do in this country.
Under New Business 4 items were approved unanimously. The June Board meeting was moved to June 1st due to a conflict with graduation. Jim Sciarani and Co. will again be the District Auditor for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The school calendar for 2017-2018 has been set. The Board voted to approve a resolution in support of iNVest 2017. Todd Hess reported that all of the public school superintendents in the State had already voted to support the resolution, which essentially lists the numerous challenges facing public education and offering programs that will address the challenges. In summary the Resolution in Support of iNVest 2017 commits Nevada school boards of trustees to working collaboratively with the governor, educators, parents, community members, and legislators to bring positive change in Nevada’s investment in public education that will make a difference for each student. Supporting documents for these items can be found in the March 8th Board Packet on the District website.
A short discussion followed concerning the evaluation of Supt. Hess for this current school year. Everyone agreed that the form used over the past years needs serious revision. Since Todd has been superintendent for only a few months, Board members decided to postpone any official evaluation until a Workshop is scheduled later in spring or early summer to address setting measurable goals and developing an appropriate new evaluation form. District consultant Jim Huge suggested it might be in the best interests of the District and fairer to Todd to do so. Mr. Huge also complimented Todd on a good start so far in his capacity as superintendent. Board members agreed.
Hearing no request for Public Comment, Jeff Nevin announced that the next Board Meeting would be held on April 12th in the VCHS Training Room and the meeting was adjourned.