Loyal School Board Discusses Operational Plan; Masks Will Be Recommended, But Optional

Tuesday, August 24th, 2021 -- 9:01 AM

The Loyal School Board discussed the facilities upgrade project at their meeting.

The Board met at 6:00 p.m. with Miron Construction and HSR Associates to review the proposed facilities upgrade project. In their closed session, they discussed the Special Education Teacher and Special Education Paraprofessional applications and administrative recommendations; years of service stipend; and personnel issues.

They postponed the decision to hire a part-time special education aide until they have all the registration information for that department; and the special education director has an opportunity to finalize their staffing needs.

They also hired Diane Schiller to be a part-time food service assistant. The Board also decided to waive season passes and admission at athletic events, approved the School Operational Plan as presented with the exclusion of the sentence “Vaccinated students and staff will not have to quarantine if they do not have symptoms.”

Masks will be recommended but optional, and decisions to quarantine will be at the discretion of the Clark County Health Department. The Board also agreed to increase the “in-lieu of insurance” amount from $2,000 to $4,000 for teachers, and from $1,000 to $2,000 for support staff.

The Board also recommended removing the $100 fee for teacher’s personal days. It was also recommended to revise Policy IKA regarding Grading Systems to eliminate the 4.33 (A+) grade point scale.

The Board discussed revising the policy and approved changing the policy.  It will be brought up for approval at the next board meeting. They also hired McKenzie Trunkel to be the District’s Special Education Teacher and approved increasing the vocal music teacher contract from .60 FTE to .75 FTE.

The Board also heard the Administrators’ Reports. Elementary Principal Nancy Popp reported to the Board on registration days, thanked the Board for the extended registration period, and notified the Board that approximately 2/3 of the families came in to register.

She also reported that the Professional Learning Committee had attended training at Colby through CESA 10. The guest speaker was Luis Cruz and he talked about different strategies to be used with ELL students.

She also reported that a group of staff would be attending Educator Effectiveness Pilot Training on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Administration team would be attending a District Improvement seminar at CESA 10 to discuss short and long range district goals.

High School Principal Doug Dieckman reported on continuing to search for a SPED candidate, student registration days (Aug. 9-12), finalized Open House plans, finalized Student Orientation day, new staff orientation plans, staff inservice plans, and finalized any updates to employee handbook.

In the next 30 days,

Middle School Camp is August 18th for grade 6 and August 19th for grade 7 from 9-11:30;

New staff orientation Monday, August 23rd;

Beginning of the year Staff Inservice is Tuesday, August 24th-Thursday, August 26th;

Setting the stage with the MSHS staff for High expectations, focused on student learning, working smarter not harder, efficiency/effectiveness, collaborative relay, having fun;

Open house is Monday, August 30th;

Student Orientation Day is Tuesday, August 31st, which is the first day of classes;

Cross Country and Volleyball begin along with Middle School Football, Volley Ball, Cross Country;

Continue UDL training with CESA;

EE workshop with CESA;

Beginning of the year with students;

Meetings, schedules, updates, routines;

Kicking the year off with a positive tone and setting the expectations for another great school year;

Celebration planning and schedule for MS/HS Challenges;

And the Special Education plan.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.