Due to COVID, Fatima R-3 board members are hesitant to allow a homecoming dance, especially since Linn R-2 canceled its dance.
Osage County Health Department (OCHD) Deputy Administrator Kim Sallin indicated she is not in favor of the school holding the dance, along with the barnwarming dance.
“We’re just not going to be able to pull this off,” said Superintendent Chuck Woody.
Board President Doug Luebbering disagreed, saying he would rather allow the dances to be scheduled and then make a determination as to whether it’s prudent to proceed, as opposed to canceling them outright. He suggested allowing the sponsors to make the determination.
Woody said the school’s mask policy is proving effective, with fewer quarantines and active cases of late.
As of Friday, the district reported 66 positive cases among students in grades 7-12, with one current, and 13 in quarantine. Among elementary students, there have been 17 positive COVID cases, with one current and three in quarantine. As noted above, staff has been hit hard, with 41 positive cases to date, none of which are current, with none in quarantine.
A question about whether the band is allowed to perform at home games was raised by Woody.
“What’s the difference? We’re playing ball and the band is there to support the teams,” he said.
Students are also practicing and playing during class.
Woody said he would tell the band it can perform, and spring concerts will be held as planned.
However, there will be a ticket system in use to limit numbers and the plan is to live-stream the concerts so that all interested patrons may view them.
Graduation is planned to be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 9.
It was also noted that PTO meetings need to be held, and an outdoor fun day sponsored by the group will be held on May 10. This event will be canceled if it cannot be held outside due to inclement weather.
Parents as Teachers has not held in-person monthly meetings and personnel have not been able to visit families.
Virtual check-ins have been held but Massman said it’s not the same. Other groups in the area have been meeting at public places when possible and suggested that could be an option for Fatima.
“I’ve got families who aren’t getting services,” said Curriculum Coordinator Janah Massman, noting there are high-needs families that need help. “I’m not trying to increase the risk but if we could allow families to come here, with masks, that would help.”
Board member Andy Samson inquired about sports or clubs outside the district using Fatima’s facilities.
"We still have some Comets Kids Club participants who haven't been able to practice here, so this opens it up to them to practice too?" Samson asked.
Massman stated that she was just asking for school-sponsored PAT to be allowed to meet with families at Fatima, and to host the Title I Family Involvement night.
The board agreed that the facilities were open only to Fatima organizations at this time.
Use of the facilities was part of a discussion in which Samson suggested a cooperative agreement between Fatima and parochial schools to allow students from those schools to participate in wrestling at the junior-high level.
“Our wrestling program has always struggled for participation numbers,” said Samson, noting rankings as of last week showed Fatima was second in Class 1 with nine high school wrestlers. “That shows you the potential this program could have if we could have 15 or 20 kids every year.”
One caveat is that schools cannot participate in a public school sport if that sport is available. That is not an issue for area parochial schools since none of them have wrestling.
It’s important to note, however, because other sports would not be considered. For example, students could not abandon a parochial basketball team in favor of playing at Fatima.
Huhn said he is good with allowing more kids to participate in wrestling. “What I’m not good with is down the road, if other parochial kids can’t play at their school and want to play here, we don’t want to get into that business,” he added.
“It’s not anything like that,” said Samson.
Board members agreed that this is not a precedent for other sports programs.
Parochial schools also need to be affiliated with the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA).
Eligibility would be based on Fatima’s standards for any athlete wishing to participate.
The junior high season runs from November to after Christmas break, and students from area schools should be able to get to practice in time. Leaving early for matches would also be required.
Samson said the difference between kids club practices and those put on by Fatima is significant.
“There is a big learning curve kids need before they get to high school practice,” said Samson. “If we had five kids coming in as freshmen with experience, the sky’s the limit for the program.”
Samson will clarify a few things before a decision is made. Board members will revisit this next month.
In other business, Woody’s contract was extended by one year with a 6-1 vote as board member Keith Huhn cast the lone nay vote.
* Jessica Davis was hired as the middle school counselor.
* A letter of resignation was approved from Dana Scheppers, who is stepping down as the girls’ softball coach but will retain her teaching position, and Kris Stegeman’s letter of retirement was accepted, effective at the end of the school year. The board is seeking a new softball coach.
* Summer school was approved, with details to be provided next month.
* Fatima’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) was presented for review and will drive the district’s intent for the next five years. A committee will be formed soon to update the plan.
* Bills were approved in the amount of $273,263.20.
* Incumbent board members Suzanne Massman and Jeffrey Winkelman filed to retain their seats in the April 6 election, which means the district is not required to hold an election.
* Next month’s meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 10.
REPORTS
Woody said another round of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act fund is expected by April, with Fatima to receive roughly $200,000. “We’ll see where we can spread that around a little bit,” said Woody.
* Senior Citizen Day will not be held this year due to COVID. “I just don’t want to take a chance by having them all come in,” said Woody.
* The superintendent noted that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is focused on the mental health of educators, and suggested everyone do their best to help teachers whenever possible.
* As in previous years, there is a huge push in the legislative session for open enrollment, and Woody said the consolidation of schools would hurt public education. He also said charter schools will be discussed again this year.
Special Services Director Kristie Scrivner said 98 students are receiving special education services at this time, including 13 in Pre-K, 11 in grades K-2, eight in grades 3-4, 11 in grades 5-7, 18 in grades 7-12 (math, study skills), 15 in grades 7-12 (communication arts, life skills), 10 in grades 7-12 (life skills), and 12 in grades K-12 (speech/language).
“Caseloads differ greatly from teacher to teacher due to the varying number of special education students in each grade level,” said Scrivner. “We will be making some changes during the 2021-22 school year to make the caseloads and class sizes more equitable.”
* At the upcoming Professional Development (PD) day Feb. 12, Scrivner said that all special education teachers will participate in Sped Track training.
Sped Track is a software that simplifies the management of 504 and special education documentation, including IEPs, evaluations, and goal progress reports.
“Service providers and teachers will be able to use the program to collect data for students’ goals, create graphs from the data to show student progress, and see if they are on track to reach their goals by their projected date,” she added, noting that all documents are automatically scanned for possible compliance issues, which will be very helpful as well.
The transition from Fatima’s current system should be completed by the end of this school year.
High School Principal Sharyl Kelsch reported that the semester ended well, with finals completed and grades being finalized.
* Mr. Rose had some veterans speak to his classes recently and students seemed to respond well to that.
* Staff is in the planning stages for summer school. “We plan to offer a variety of courses again this year,” said Kelsch, noting she will have more specific information at the next meeting.
* Kelsch and Guidance Counselor Kary Brunnert are beginning to work on the master schedule for next school year. “This is a big project and we will spend quite a bit of time on this in the near future,” Kelsch said.
* The annual school play, "Murder's in the Heir,” will be presented in February. It is a murder mystery involving the death of a wealthy man, and at the reading of his will, his son is murdered and the characters have to determine the identity of the murderer. “The kids are pretty excited about it,” said Kelsch.
The play is scheduled for February 26-27 at 6 p.m. in the gym.
* Kelsch has been in the classroom doing walk-throughs and full class observations. “I am pleased with what I am seeing,” she added.
* The Foreign Language class lost six students this semester, dropping from 114 students in the first semester and to 108 students. “We have not seen any applications for that position yet, but it is posted,” said Kelsch.
* Enrollment in grades 7-12 was reported at 517 students with a rate of attendance at 92.47% so far this year.
Elementary Principal Melissa Wright told the board that staff kicked off the new year on Jan. 6 with Comet Camp. Wright explained a review of all expectations, recognize “Comet Characters”, hand out AR prizes for reaching point goals, and announce A and B Honor roll students for the first semester. Students also completed a school-wide project, painting a heart to represent being kind to others. These will all be put together and hung in the hallway across from the cafeteria.
* Sheriff Mike Bonham provided Junior Deputy Program students a view of all the emergency vehicles.
* Almost all teachers currently have completed five walk-through evaluations and Wright is beginning the non-tenure teachers’ second formative evaluation.
* Technology usage in classrooms includes writing using docs, sixth-grade geography lessons, Google Classroom, Fast Forward, Superkids online, Epic, Splash learn, Google Classroom slides, Kami, Kahoot (used as a station during math centers), Quizlet, AR quizzes, Extra math, Santara, research online encyclopedia (used during reading centers to listen to stories), Daily Bell Ringer, Google Classroom forms, reading assistant, and ABC mouse.
* Kindergarten screening will be held Feb. 23-24.
* Enrollment in grades K-6 was reported at 249 students with a rate of attendance at 95.3% so far this year.