The Geary School Board met Monday in regular session. All members were present save Jason Bernhardt.
The board heard there were 16 children enrolled at the Baby Bison Ranch, where Gretchen Melvin is the director and serves as master teacher. The facility is licensed for 20 children.
Four children are out for the summer break, but it is anticipated they will return when school resumes. The staff is working to update the classrooms with new supplies and equipment. New baby beds and highchairs have been ordered and the staff is also doing training and cleaning.
At the elementary school, summer session is underway, from 8 a.m.-noon Monday through Thursday June 5-29 with a space theme. Grades 38 may participate in Robotics Camp 1-4 p.m. June 12-15, and various athletic camps are being announced and held as they become available.
Middle school and high school summer sessions started Monday as well. They, too, run from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday until June 29. Breakfast is served from 8-8:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:30-noon for all students, regardless of their summer session participation. Meals will be available throughout July.
Many camps are already on the calendar, including art, tech ed, basketball and football and cheer camps. The Beta club is going to national convention in June, while the cheer squad will go to OU cheer camp this week.
Seventeen scholarships have been presented to graduating seniors, and three students have applied to the education foundation for assistance attending various vocational programs. The high school hopes to continue its food bank program next year, while at the facility itself the staff is undertaking a deep methodical cleaning of the buildings.
The board approved summer school staffing hours for Shameron Black, Mary Wright, Jaylon Chiles and Melissa McCoy and kitchen staffing by Tracey Nelson, Mark Turner, Amber Forney and Shanie Stevenson.
To man the various sports camps, hours were approved for Johnny Ray at football camp, Christian Finney at basketball, JC Estep at basketball, Patrick Finney at football, Chris Parkhurst at baseball and softball, Jaylon Chiles at wrestling, BrockDanielsat wrestling, Josh McCoy at wrestling, Mark Turner at life skills camp, culinary skills, and Tracy Nelson, Amber Forney and Shay Stevenson at that same camp. Stevenson will also assist with cheerleading and Aaron Schantz will lend a hand at STEM.
An extra duty stipend was approved for Jaryn Meyer for his assistance covering as the middle school/high school principal during the justended school year. Superintendent Sean Buchanan noted the campus storage building was progressing well and asked permission to name it after Frank Austin, who made the construction possible through his donation. The field house work and addition is also moving along and new lockers and partitions are on the way.
All the teaching positions are currently filled with the exception of a speech pathologist, a service provided by Shawna Byrd for 12 years. That work will now be filled through other contract services, as Byrd has retired.
A news story on a Oklahoma City television station included Geary as one of the school districts without specialized space designated as storm shelters. Buchanan said the district will consult with the community to address the deficiency and ask how community members would suggest solving it.
The district has ordered new smart boards and guttering at the elementary and day care are in the works as well. Concrete work is ongoing and work on the Field House front stair area is also expected to begin any day. A house near the middle school is undergoing demolition work and shelving in the field house concession stand is being removed. Buchanan asked to surplus laptops in August as the district prepares for the next school year and sought approval to pay summer stipends to administration and other employees. His requests were granted and the meeting adjourned shortly after 7:30.
The next meeting will be Monday, Aug. 7 at the board room in the Stegall Long Field House.