The Fulton school board heard from Dr. Bill Nicely, of Education Governance Leadership, about the initial draft of the Fulton Public School's Strategic Plan at its Wednesday meeting.
The plan has been under development for the last year, with the goal to establish a plan for updating curriculum, assessment, instructional practices, and resources to engage students and increase achievement; creating explicit systems regarding student wellness, teaching, assessment, and learning in order to provide consistent and equitable learning opportunities across the district that propel student achievement, participation, post-secondary options; exploring the possibility of expanding early childhood education opportunities; and more with the intent to better the district.
The board also approved a resolution authorizing the solicitation of bids for the purchase of $10 million general obligation bonds, appointing L.J. Hart & Company as municipal advisor to the district in connection with the sale of the bonds, and approving the forms of Notice of Bond Sale and Summary Notice of Bond Sale.
Family and Consumer Science teacher Lori Doerhoff presented the board with the vocational programs report. There is a need for a full-time business teacher, which would allow personal finance classes to be taught in person instead of online and allow them to provide more courses students want to take. They would also like to get another Family and Consumer Science teacher to give students more course choices. They currently have more students requesting to be in certain classes that cannot be supported with the current staff.
Assistant Superintendent Chris Hubbach gave an update on the he academic calendar, attendance and literacy. The academic calendar for 2022-23 is under development, with three versions for the board to consider at a later date. The district attendance committee held its first meeting on Sept. 17 and will meet monthly throughout the year. The committee includes social workers, assistant principals, and central office staff. An update from the district committee will be provided at next month's board meeting with specifics about action steps for the current school year.
Materials are continuing to arrive as part of the elementary curriculum adoption. Training sessions are being scheduled to support implementation. A curriculum writing team with representatives from each school and grade level will begin work to develop ELA units for grades K-5.
The I-Ready diagnostic assessments were completed this fall in math and reading for first through fifth grades. NWEA assessments have been completed in the area of math, reading and science for sixth through eighth grades. Data from assessments will be shared with parents later this month and will be used to guide instructional planning. Juniors completed the ASVAB test at Fulton High School on Oct. 6. PSAT testing will be held on Oct. 13. ACT testing was held on Sept. 11 at Fulton High School. The next ACT testing date is scheduled for Oct. 23.
In other business, the board heard from Sarah Manley, coordinator of school and community programs, with an update on the copyright process of the new hornet logo and the Pantone color chosen for the school's yellow. They also heard from the Director of Health Services, Lauren Jacobs, who gave an update on the district's COVID-19 status. There were six quarantines, which was a significant drop from last board meeting's update. She informed the board CDC and Callaway County Health Department released two different COVID updates, but the board chose to keep their current plan of action since it seems to be working.
Under the consent agenda, the board approved the 2021-2022 bus routes, the engineering surveys and services proposal for the Fulton Middle School project, amendment two with the Architects Alliance for the middle school renovations and addition, the contract for services with Applied Behavior Services LLC and confirming the Christensen Construction Company change order in the amount of $1,956.00 and $9,127.20 for the McIntire Elementary School site improvement project and the Educational Services Contractual Agreement with the Special Learning Center.
Board members also recognized two outstanding staff members: Morgan Beamer Bush, assistant principal, and Karen Koontz, FMS administrative assistant.
The next meeting is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Fulton High School library.