Geary School Board met Monday in regular session. All members were in attendance.
The Baby Bison report showed there were 16 children enrolled in July with an average attendance of 15 or 16. Gretchen Melvin will serve as the director of the Baby Bison Ranch, where she is a master teacher.
Six children have left the program for the 3year-old class, but the spaces filled quickly and the Ranch is full again. Parents may get a form for Baby Bison at enrollment at the other schools, fill it out and return it to the school and they will be notified if a spot opens for their child. All the classrooms have been updated with new classroom supplies, craft items and books. There is also a new carpet cleaner. The staff, in addition to the updates, has been working on their training for the upcoming year.
Staff orientation at the elementary school was July 31 and professional development was Aug. 79. Enrollment took place Aug. 1-3 and school will begin Aug. 10.
Over the summer, breakfast and lunch was served at the middle/high school through July 31. Teacher orientation at the high school was July 31 and meet the teacher night was held Aug. 1, along with an ice cream social. As in the elementary school, professional development was held Aug. 7-9.
The first fast pitch softball game was held Aug. 8, but no score was available as of press time.
Several added duties were approved by the board, including Melvin Wilson as the high school/middle school attendance officer and Natasha Jefferson as elementary school attendance officer. The board also accepted the bid offering on the school property the former superintendent had purchased north of town with the intent a new school campus should be built there. However, there was not enough community support in the form of a school bond issue to pursue construction.
That property sold to Rick Maib for $125,000.
During executive session, the board accepted the resignations of Reagan Nowka, Leighann Cantrell and Ren Wilson, all certified staff members, and Caitlyn Shipley, April Waters and Niki Burns, who were non-certified employees. The board also agreed to hire Cathy Allen as a part time special education teacher, certified, and Kayla Reiber as a teacher’s assistant.
Superintendent Sean Buchanan updated the board about the softball and baseball fields that belong to the City of Geary. The city is not interested in selling the property to the schools, which is what the district was hoping for. Playground equipment has arrived and the basketball court has been poured and the goals will be set this week.
A house west of the middle school will be torn down this week and the board is considering building an eight room structure on the site of the former superintendent’s office and to its south.
The Geary Board of Education will next meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 5 at the board room in the Stegall-Long Fieldhouse.