“Greene County Schools – Expect Excellence” will be the school district’s tagline. The vision/mission statement is “promoting lifelong learners through real-world experiences.”
The board at its June 21 meeting approved the tagline and vision/mission statement along with a shortened list of values: celebrating success; collaborating across the system; building relationships; creating partnerships with parents and community; contributing to a positive culture and climate; and trying something new/innovative.
Superintendent Tim Christensen said he hopes the vision/mission statement “is something everybody can share with someone and has meaning and value. I think it’s important that we know what we’re about and we can share it.”
The tagline and new vision/mission statement are the result of committee work and input following the professional learning community conference all teachers attended last fall.
The statements will be produced on posters placed in all district buildings. It will include the board’s goals, which are not changed: Improve student growth and achievement in literacy, math, science, social studies, and 21st century skills; and provide a safe environment that supports student social, emotional, and behavioral development. Click here to see a draft of the poster.
In other business, the crew in the high school construction class will be larger next year. The board approved a sharing agreement with Southeast Valley Community Schools that will add SE Valley students to the class. The contract is similar to the sharing contract with Paton-Churdan, with SE Valley paying on a per student basis for the class, at $333 per class per trimester. The construction class is three class periods, so SE Valley would pay about $1,000 per student per trimester. There are five students interested; the agreement could bring $15,000 into the district.
SE Valley in recent years has contracted with an Iowa Central Community College instructor for the class, while Greene County has struggled keeping enrollment high enough to complete a home in one school year. “It’s a win-win situation,” Christensen said. “It’s also a good first step in getting a regional academy here.”
The board has not yet decided if the construction class will build a house in the coming school year. The house built by the class during the recent school year has not yet been sold. The board has already committed the class to work on a renovation of a second floor apartment above the Prairie Lakes AEA office on E. State St during the first trimester.
The board will determine at the July meeting whether or not to proceed with a house when that project is complete.
The future of the school building in Grand Junction was discussed. The Grand Junction city council asked that two council members meet with two school board members to discuss the building. School board members Sam Harding and Steve Fisher offered to do that. Christensen had received a letter from East Greene alumna Susan Herrington Freeman asking that the board and the council give their best effort in finding a future use for the building.
Christensen said that if the school sells the building to a private investor and the investor walks away, the city of Grand Junction would have the responsibility of dealing with it. “If it’s sold to a private investor the city will need to be on board, to be sure it’s a viable option,” he said.
The board also approved advertising items from the building for sale.
The board awarded the contract for athletic training for the coming school year. 21st Century Rehab was awarded the contract although its bid of $6,500 was $1,000 higher than McFarland Clinic’s bid. McFarland Clinic did not include baseline concussion testing as was requested in the bid. 21st Century Rehab had the contract for the 2016-17 school year also. The new contract is $1,000 more with the addition of baseline concussion training and soccer matches, home wrestling meets and more football games.
In closing the meeting, board president David Ohrt spoke about handing diplomas to the 2017 graduates. He said almost every student thanked him as they accepted their diploma. “I didn’t take it as them thanking me personally. I think they were saying ‘thank you for the opportunity for a free education. Thank you for the school bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, the janitors, the teachers, the coaches, everybody that’s had an impact in my life.’…. They’re aware that this community has made a huge contribution in getting them where they are – taxpayers, administrators, everyone who had had an influence on their lives. … As much as I’ve learned on the school board, that was probably the biggest lesson: that these kids can teach us something that’s crucial, the ability to be grateful.”
