The Geary School Board met November 6 in regular session.
All members were present to hear the audit presentation from Chris Gullekson of Bledsoe, Hewett & Gullekson.
The review of the Baby Bison Ranch showed the students are working on building routines and schedules, and recently celebrated Halloween by wearing pajamas to school for a free day, playing games and watching a movie. There are 23 kids at the facility.
The elementary students celebrated October attendance benchmarks, with 89% of the kids being in class 90% of school days or more. A book fair was planned for Nov. 7-10 and a STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – was set to compete November 9 at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. A veteran’s day assembly was set for November 10 and the traditional Thanksgiving lunch will be held November 16. The Caring Van will be at the school November 16-17 for students to catch up on needed vaccinations and flu shots. Family night is planned for November 27.
Over at the high school, the FFA is busy delivering the Blue and Gold orders, the cross country team just completed its regular season and the regional meets, and football held its homecoming and senior nights.
The first nine weeks of school have closed and the second has begun. The cheerleaders are working on the mini cheer camp and the senior class held a party at Frontier City.
The board implemented the OSSBA maternity leave policy, mandated by the recent passage of Senate bill 1121. That policy allows new parents to take a paid leave of absence for a new addition to their family.
The board also discussed the school dress code, but no changes or votes were taken.
The board has applied for an opioid abatement grant through the Opioid Abatement Grants Act, which makes $23 million available to political subdivisions such as school districts to implement treatment and recovery programs, provide assistance with co-occurring disorders and mental health issues, highlight opioid abuse education and prevention, and efforts to ensure proper prescribing of opioids, and strategies to decrease the supply of narcotics. These are some of the approved uses of the grant monies; multiple other uses are permitted as well.
The amount of the grant awards will be determined by the number of letters of intent to apply submitted and by the eligible subdivisions of the grant seeker pool.
The board was established three years ago and this is the first distribution of funds, overseen by the Office of the Attorney General of Oklahoma. That office will hold webinars on the application and contract processes and full details on the grant will be released at a later date.