The Watonga School Board heard the first set of student data Monday at the regular meeting. While that data showed growth in most areas, there are still some areas of concern, such as third grade math proficiency, which was at 26%, well below the state average of 32%. Those classes are receiving intervention and one on one instruction so that the concepts are conquered.
Principal Ashley Riley pointed out that the third graders this year were just beginning elementary school in 2020 and may still be suffering the ill effects of COVID slump. High school principal Lauren Coleman said that the same could be said for the juniors who are taking the ACT test this year. Those students were freshmen when COVID cleared classrooms and sent them to virtual classrooms.
But the high school students are working on algebra and other rigorous math systems, since the math portion of the ACT is almost 50% algebra, Coleman said.
“We’ve improved academically in almost every single category,” said Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran. “I want to applaud our teachers, principals and assistants.”
The board also heard the report on its annual audit by Britton, Kuykendall and Miller. The audit showed no major gaffes, with only a few small findings. Those included the need for inventory tagging and entry to be more detailed – Hilterbran said the inventory tags were still on a box, rather than the individual contents of the box – and that any extra duty pay more than $500 must have an extra duty contract to go with it. Some of the summer help did not have extra duty contracts. Additionally, Rick Miller said, the estimate of needs categories must be tidied up so that they align correctly with the format.
Hilterbran said, once the phone conference with Miller was concluded, that the district considers the auditors as a partner and if the district isn’t doing something correctly, he hopes they will find the problem and help the district correct it.
“We want to do things the right way,” he added.
The board also learned that although the elementary cafeteria construction is running a little behind schedule, the other projects are clicking along as planned. As soon as the last of the red metal is in place on the new high school gym construction, work will begin on the endzone facility. The board also gave its blessing to the order for a stateof- the-art scoreboard for the gym. It will run on the same programming system as the jumbotron on the football field, allowing students in the media program to move seamlessly from season to season without changing systems. The full video board is expected to cost about $200,000.
The board also looked ahead to the day when the parking lot will be repaved. Momentary consideration was given to using cement, but it was cost prohibitive and as asphalt was the paving medium included in the bid, that is what will be applied when the time comes.
Additionally, the board agreed to purchase a new activity bus. That is a smaller vehicle than a passenger bus, but larger than the school district’s Suburban. It will be fully wrapped in Watonga Eagle colors and is identical to a bus recently purchased by each Thomas and Arnett districts.
Board member Dr. Dwight McGee wondered if the district might help itself more by purchasing the same vehicle with a larger engine than the one suggested by Hilterbran. He also wanted to know if it was possible to drive the bus prior to purchase.
Hilterbran offered to set up a test drive with Arnett, since there weren’t any buses in stock to take out from the dealer. Each vehicle is built for the buyer, McGee learned. He also was told that Thomas had the same worries about the engine size, but eventually decided to purchase the smaller engine.
In the end, Watonga also decided to make the same purchase of the activity bus with the smaller engine. The vehicle should arrive in the spring and is expected to cost about $354,000.
The board was also informed that in November, the staff would receive the $1,500 stipend budgeted and in their contracts.