The Greene County Schools board held its organizational meeting Nov. 19. Bonnie Silbaugh and Michelle Fields retired from the board. Returning board member Cindi Daubendiek and newly-elected board members Megan Holz and Katie Nelson were sworn in. Daubendiek, who served as board president during the past year was re-elected as president; Tim Riphagen was elected as vice president. The board will continue to meet the second Wednesday of each month at 5:15 pm in the district conference room at the middle school.
In the process of making board committee assignments for the new board, the board decided to revitalize the staff wellness committee after a couple years of dormancy. High school principal Karen Shannon has explained the committee located and provided various opportunities for staff to work voluntarily to improve their physical and/or mental health.
Board president Daubendiek suggested a new communications committee that would focus on getting information about the district to all constituents, not just those who are parents of students or employees of the district. That would also include financial information.
The board approved updated 28E agreement with the city of Scranton for the bus stop at the Scranton community center. The district pays the city $15 per school day. The city is responsible for supervising the bus stop when they’re in use by students.
The board approved spending an amount not to exceed $41,000 to purchase a CNC (computer controlled) mill and a CNC lathe for the industrial tech department at the high school. Superintendent Brett Abbotts said the industrial tech department meets regularly with an advisory committee, and it was that committee’s suggestion that replacing the old manual equipment with CNC equipment would allow students to learn to use the equipment they’ll most likely use in a workplace. Fiedler knows how to balance and calibrate the machines. “It’ll be a big added portion to those classes for our kids,” Abbotts said.
Funds for the CNC equipment will come from federal Perkins funds (which are mandated to be used only for career and technical education) and PPEL or LOSST funds.
The ’reports and correspondence’ portion of the meeting was held prior to the organizational portion. Junior Dakota Ostrander reported on the FFA’s trip to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. The students traveled by charter bus with students from Emmetsburg, Manson – Northwest Webster, Ogden, Pocahontas Area and West Bend.
Following Ostrander’s presentation, ag teacher Steve Kehoe told the board the ag department will receive $40,000 from the Max Johnson trust. He’d like to use it on the greenhouse, saying it “has had some issues.”
He received a quote of $63,500 from Stuppy Greenhouse of Kansas City, MO. The greenhouse now has no ventilation fans. Stuppy is recommending a swamp cooler and heating and electrical updates. He suggested using the Max Johnson trust funding and FFA chapter funds for the project.
Kehoe also reported he has been talking with the NRCS and Greene County naturalist Jacob Fernholz about the FFA chapter farm (located south of the high school) and the two retention ponds there. He suggests a 60-foot buffer strip of prairie wildflowers around both of them. He said that would provide students an opportunity for onsite learning about water quality. He said the NRCS and the naturalist are willing to help. Kehoe priced the project at about $4,500, but said it could be lower.
He said he has met with the Jefferson tree committee about a bare root planting bed. He would use two 500-gallon water tanks for the planting bed, making them easy to remove at a time they’re no longer used. The students would have the experience of growing trees which would then be planted in town. Finally, Kehoe said he’s working with Rueter’s Red Power to get a precision planter for the ag department, and that he’s working to have a drone service monitor the students’ test plots.
