Linn R-2 board members at their Sept. 20 meeting discussed whether to change handbook protocols regarding the wearing of headgear indoors.

Superintendent Bob James said he’s encountered an issue with hats and caps before and spent time recently talking to students about removing them (and hoodies) when inside buildings.

According to the student handbook, students must be neatly, cleanly, and appropriately dressed, and the policy cites community standards. The handbook further states that students may not wear caps, hats, headbands, bandannas, scarves, hoods, or sunglasses in a school building, James noted.

“So, the question is, is not wearing a cap indoors part of our community standard? More students ask me about this rule than any other, and they’re confused about whether this rule in the community versus a rule in the school setting,” James said. “Is this something we would like to change or retain?”

He gave an example of why he believes this rule is legitimate. Cpl. Dalton Pearson, who graduated from JCHS in 2018, entered the military and died during active duty about 18 months ago. “We put him on the wall of honor,” said James. “We had that ceremony inside the school shortly after having this discussion with the board there, and what I noticed was about 75 percent of the crowd was male, and about 75 percent of them had a hat on indoors during a very formal ceremony. So it begs the question, is our currently socially acceptable standard not to wear hats indoors? Because I think that’s what is confusing our students. Is there a gap between the way they’re living their lives when it says community standard and what we expect of them in school?”

“I would defer to the staff on that one,” said Board President Dr. Shawn Strong. “On one hand, I like the idea that students understand there are social norms, and a lot of times, we don’t get exposed to that. In certain settings, things are kind of a free-for-all when you go places. I kind of like it, but I wouldn’t die on a sword over it either.”

Board member Mark Baker said if the handbook needs to be revised to specifically exclude hats and hoods, he is good with it. “There’s a time and a place to dress casually, and there are some norms that need to be learned,” he added, noting an exception would be “hat day” during spirit week. “If you don’t let them wear a hat every day, then having ‘hat day’ becomes something special. I think enforcing (the handbook) is perfectly fine.”

James told the board he went to staff members first in the past to get a consensus not only on the rule but that it would be enforced, and he learned that board members are sometimes more passionate about things like a dress code.

“My experience is that (hoods) hide earbuds,” said board member Brett Phillips. “I don’t want them up in the classroom. If we were going to opt for (the rule) that caps are okay, that means bandannas and rags are okay, too, in my opinion. I don’t see why there would be a difference there. We have to be consistent.”

James noted a conversation with staff members could be short, depending on how they react. He will advise the board after meeting with staff.

In other business, James said that in reviewing records, it has been learned that several hundred keys and fobs are unaccounted for and noted that often, people with access had not signed a facility-use agreement since the previous year.

“We’re wrestling with that a little bit,” noting it’s a security issue, adding that several calls have been made in an attempt to get keys and fobs returned. “That’s not always a pleasant conversation.”

In some cases, individuals who used the facility for a short period the previous year and planned to return for the same activity are perplexed as to why they can’t keep the key.

Doors and gates have been left open, James added, suggesting an exterior-door re-key process be undertaken at the very least to secure the facilities. Additionally, he wants to develop a key plan that brings school safety up to the standards held by those in the community.

“If I were asked how many people have access to our facilities during the day, I’d say not very many because all of our exterior doors are locked, and we have a program for that, but the sheer number of people who have keys changes that,” said James.

A new lock cylinder will cost about $70, but James said old and existing stock might allow the district to be creative when updating the doors. 

He brought it to the board because it is a chance for people to have controlled access to our facility. “There will be growing and groaning pains with that, so expect to hear from the community, but I do feel it’s necessary,” said James.

Electronic fobs are easier to manage because they can be programmed with specific activation and end dates, and if one is not returned but active, it can be turned off.

“So in a perfect world, you’d be handing out fobs instead of keys,” said Dr. Strong.

Information Technology Coordinator Eric Morfeld agreed, noting that fobs should be the primary option, and keys should only be given out as a last resort. “It’s a lot harder to get a key back,” he added.

Board member Jamie Bish noted that doors at St. George were re-keyed last year due to the same issue.

James will compile a list of fobs and keys and return with a suggestion in the near future.

• Board members discussed Missouri Consultants for Education (MCE) policy updates for approval next month, including one that would require that items displayed in the classroom may only be applicable to the curriculum. James explained he believed the policy originates from a tendency among some staff members to express their personal, philosophical, or political beliefs through how they decorate their classrooms.

“For the district to avoid an indoctrination standpoint by displaying these items, the policy would allow only things related to the curriculum,” he added.

One exception in the policy allows for displays of an extracurricular nature. “So if I teach history and I’m a big fan of the Wildcat basketball team, I’m able to display those because they’re relevant,” said James.

“Does that mean they can’t decorate their classrooms?” board member Naomi Klouzek of elementary teachers, who are more likely than high school teachers to put up decorations. 

“No, but teachers would need to be able to defend that there’s a curriculum tied to it,” James replied. “I think it’s to discourage people from making social and political statements through the way they decorate and display things in their classroom.”

All recommended policy updates will be taken up next month.

• Board members approved a request from Agriculture Teachers/FFA Advisors Megan Niederhelm and Terry Shepherd to take 19 FFA members who have excelled in their participation in activities to the National FFA Convention from Oct. 26-28 in Indianapolis, Ind.  

• Bills were approved for payment in the amount of $415,339.62. The school has a checking and investment balance of $2,889,602.93, including investments of $478,407.19 through Mid America Bank.

REPORTS

In his report, James noted he continues to work on building relationships in the community and gathering as much feedback as possible, and with the start of school, he has been able to hang out with students to get their take on things.

• Regarding culture and climate, James said social media analytics are up across the board. “My admin team has done a great job,” he said. “We’re at everything, and with our social media, we can give folks a glimpse of everything we do.”

• Personnel and staffing are about the same as last month, though he hopes to look at December college graduates and has already been planting seeds for the hiring season next spring.

• James said he and Facilities Director Cliff Wilson recently attended a conference at which he learned a lot. “I came from a big district with a lot of people who were brighter than me on maintenance,” he said. “It’s a whole new language for me, and preventative maintenance was discussed in every session.”

• With almost any maintenance project the district wishes to undertake, James said that supply-chain issues are creating a waiting period of about a year.

Toward that end, he suggested visiting with Mammoth to reconsider timelines, adding there are things he would like to get done before the spring season.

James noted he would like to look at making the bleachers and floors match between the gyms to further enhance the student, patron, and visitor experience.

• Kitchen expenses have been higher than anticipated, and James said it is not the fault of Fresh Ideas, the school’s food-service partner. “We have a lot of maintenance that we haven’t done in years,” he explained. 

In her report, High School Principal Erin Sassmann said things are going well. “Everyone is working hard in class, and teachers are doing a great job with instruction,” she said.

• On Sept. 9, club day was held at the high school. Each club had time for students to meet with the advisor and learn about the club and what they do. “We are hoping this helps boost membership in our clubs,” she said.

• Linn held its first professional development day of the year on Sept. 12. “We started a process to review and update our curriculum,” said Sassmann, noting this will be an ongoing process that will take staff all year and maybe filter into next year as well. “Our plan is to have all curriculum in digital form, so it is easier to share with others in the district or new teachers to our building.”

Staff also started working on a scope and sequence, a basic timeline for the year. “We will then build on from there,” Sassmann said. “We talked about data and how we collect it currently. We are going to be digging deep into the data. Teachers are going to use this to adapt their lessons to meet the needs of the students.”

• The FCCLA group has been hard at work for its club and the community. Students attended Taste of Osage County on Sept. 10, at which they sold cupcakes to raise money for contests. They also completed a service project encouraging families to play games and do activities together, which is their goal for this year. They want to have activities that families can participate in together. At this event, they had washers available to play.

• Linn’s Special Education Department has been working hard to get the school store together for the year. “This is a great project for their kiddos,” said Sassmann. “It allows them to use many life skills such as shopping, making a budget, pricing items, counting money, etc. Our student body also enjoys being able to purchase items before school for the day.”

Elementary Principal Tracy Kingsley told the board that kindergarten teachers have been working diligently to complete the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) requirements of assessing all students within the first 6 weeks of school using the Kindergarten Observation Form. Kingsley noted that Cindy Sieg, Alicia Jurd, and Amy Holtschneider joined the pilot this year and gained much insight into their new kindergarten students through this process.

• Weekly Professional Learning Communities are up and running and meet weekly in grade levels to write curriculum, analyze data, and discuss student needs.  

• Reading Data Meetings: This year, all grade-level teachers will join the data meeting process as they review Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) benchmark data and establish intervention groups to meet foundational needs. Grades K-5 were to begin reading interventions in the last week of September. Kingsley added that progress-monitoring data would be collected bi-weekly, with the next full data meeting taking place after the middle of the year Benchmarks in January.  

Dr. Jill Brown will be at the school for five days this year to model instructional lessons in classrooms and support deep implementation. All grade levels have at least a 90-minute reading block and a 30-minute intervention built into their schedule.

• Math Instruction and Intervention: Linn has a 30-minute intervention time in addition to one hour of core instruction/small-group time in all grade levels. Teachers are meeting regularly to discuss data from their units of instruction and put a safety net in place for students who have not yet mastered priority standards. “We will be meeting at least once monthly to monitor this process and support the needs of the students and teachers,” said Kingsley. 

• Wildcat Team: Linn will have three areas of focus regarding culture (staff, students, and parents/community). Teachers have started a “culture calendar” with events and activities geared toward living out the school’s mission. On PD day, staff met in one of the three groups and began establishing a variety of events and activities that would help build and maintain a positive school culture.

• Birthday Lunch: In looking for a way to celebrate students and allow parents to visit the school, staff has begun having a monthly Birthday Lunch. At the first Birthday Lunch during the first week in September, students with birthdays in September were invited to have lunch with their parents or a special class friend in a room decorated for their birthday. “Cafeteria (staff) made some very special cookies, and the students seemed to enjoy this special lunch,” said Kingsley, noting approximately 21 parents attended. “I look forward to celebrating our kiddos monthly at Birthday Lunch.”

• Linn’s first Scholastic Book Fair was held the last week of September, and Fall Family Fun Night was held on Sept. 29. A chili supper was followed by the fall Title meeting with parents, which gave teachers an opportunity to share how they are addressing foundational reading concerns with students.  

• Junior Deputy: Fifth-graders have been meeting with Sheriff Mike Bonham weekly, learning about all sorts of safety measures, including topics such as drug and alcohol abuse, home safety, fire safety, etc. They will have graduation on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. at the courthouse.

• An Oct. 10 PD day will include training by Conscious Discipline trainer Jill Molli in the morning. Kingsley explained this is a trauma-informed social-emotional learning opportunity for staff members.

• Wildcat Chat: The first parent chat will be held on Oct. 7, and Kingsley sent out information and a survey to determine topics of interest. Parents will be invited to join her that Friday morning during morning assembly if they wish, followed by a meeting from 8-9 a.m. in the library.

In her report, Special Education Department Coordinator Rylee Glenn noted she would have a formal evaluation report to present at the December meeting.

• The school is currently serving 72 total students with IEPs, 20 with 504s, and 22 students within the Early Childhood Special Education classroom.

All HS and ES Staff positions have been filled, and all Special Education teachers are veteran staff.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Morfeld reported that he has been very busy the past couple of months getting things ready for the start of school. There have been many staff changes, and a lot of work has gone into getting their equipment set up and training them on the district’s systems. There has also been the usual influx of August tech-support calls.

• He completed a lot of work for athletics, including hanging networking equipment on a light pole for the football Hudl system. Morfeld also constructed a camera mount in the Ag shop for the Hudl camera in the fieldhouse, ran wiring, and installed the camera.

• Staff converted the phone system to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) for voice lines a few years ago, but there are still a few analog lines for faxes and elevator emergency lines. Analog line costs have been steadily increasing over the years, Morfeld noted, and he found a solution from AT&T that would convert them to digital but would still work on the older analog devices. After discussing it with Mr. James, the district is moving forward with it. “It should take our monthly analog phone down by almost half after an initial hardware and install fee,” Morfeld added.

• Two projectors ordered in March for the elementary Special Education Department have been received and installed.

• Staff distributed approximately 350 Chromebooks to students in grades 6-12 on the first day of school.

• Morfeld verified the locations of approximately 275 elementary student Chromebooks and redistributed them as needed.

• The business computer lab was relocated to another classroom, which involved hooking up workstations and relocating network drops.

• Projector wiring in some classrooms was relocated for teacher desk moves, and second monitors were added to the PCs of several staff members.

MAINTENANCE UPDATE

Wilson provided the board with an update on several items.

• Staffing/productivity: Linn is looking to hire an event custodian who would only work part-time during events.

• Wilson said he would be implementing the job-card system for the custodial department, hopefully in the next few weeks.

• He recognized senior day-shift custodian Billy Joe Brown for stepping up when other staff were out.

• Scheduled Maintenance/repairs: An elevator inspection is due next month. Wilson has contacted KONE to do the assessment, including a required full load test.

• The AC issue in the high school has been repaired. This system required a compressor replacement, completed by Superior Service, the firm that proposed the most cost-effective solution.

• Unscheduled Maintenance/Repairs: Staff learned that Linn does not have a comprehensive pest control program after noticing an influx of pests — mostly ants- over the last few weeks. Wilson will be looking at options in this area.

• Maintenance shop and equipment: The school’s Bad Boy mower had a bad spindle and needed new blades and a belt. Wilson purchased the parts from Precision Watercraft and installed them in-house.

• The facility truck was due in the shop for overdue maintenance.

• Contracted Services / Projects: TMI stepped in and helped the school with the AC issue that arose after the completion of updating the Daiken systems; everything is working as it should now.

• Facility grounds: Staff continue to work on the grounds and are making good progress.

• Future Projects/long-range vision: Wilson will be working on developing an all-inclusive preventive maintenance program that can hopefully be instituted in parts by the beginning of December.