At its regular meeting Monday, the Watonga School Board learned that for the fourth time in as many months, gross production taxes to the schools topped $400,000.
The fiscal year began in July and the GPT that month was $400,950, followed by August at $462,213 and September with a whopping $494,065. That monthly income is the highest on record for the school in gross production, a type of tax paid on the mining of natural resources in the county. The figure for October slipped slightly, down to $443,021, but still a far cry from the years when board members sweated out making payroll. Happily, those years are a dim memory.
“We are a gross production school right now,” said Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran. Whether the income is directly tied to improved standardized test scores is difficult to determine, but the numbers seem to back up the theory.
Of 24 vital testing areas for the district, only three did not meet preset goals. Two others are in the ‘yellow’ category, meaning there was marked improvement in the assessments, but the goal was unmet.
Those improvements were laid squarely at the teachers’ doorsteps by everyone from the superintendent on down to the board and the principals.
“I just have to brag on the teachers,“ said high school principal Todd Overstreet. “They have been really teaching hard,” Hilterbran said to back Overstreet up. “This is a time to celebrate the teachers. The time and money being spent on the teachers and curriculum is starting to pay off.”
Improvements were seen in every category save sixth grade and 11th grade math. Juniors did not make their goal in science, and fourthand fifth-graders missed their goals in English/language arts, although each class showed improvement over the same grade level the year before. When compared to the assessment scores from the same students as the year before, the fourthgraders jumped three points and the fifth-graders grabbed another four points. A new curriculum has been adopted for those grades in reading.
Hilterbran said the problem with the junior class math scores had been determined. Between a teacher leaving in mid term and classes going remote to negate COVID 19, some of those students hadn’t had continuity in instruction for almost two years. Steps are being taken to remediate that situation.
In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Lynn Didier, a kindergarten teacher, and hired Micah Morris to fill the vacancy. It also approved a $1,500 stipend to teachers and support staff, as was promised in this year’s contracts.
The decision was made to place the order for two Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – STEM – labs, one for the elementary school and one for the secondary school. The costs will total about $98,000 and although the spaces where the labs will be permanently located aren’t ready yet, the board was ready to place the order, in part because there is no firm shipping date on the equipment.
“If the prices are going to go up, and there is no reason to believe they won’t, it is better to order it (the equipment) sooner rather than later,” said board president Aaron Clewell.
The board also approved the election resolution for board seat three, currently held by Andy Wigington, who indicated he was going to run for re-election. That election is held in April and is for a five-year term.