Glasgow School Board Meets

The Glasgow School Board met in regular session at the Glasgow Middle School on Nov. 14.

All trustees were present, along with each of the school principals and a handful of other school personnel. Superintendent Bob Connors was not in attendance.

Also in attendance was a student and her mother who were at the meeting to request approval for early graduation. With a recommendation from Connors, the board approved the request unanimously, providing the student completes GHS’ graduation requirements.

The following personnel were approved for hire: Jessica Lewis, middle school English; Ronald Hanshew and Lyndall Siverly, substitute custodians; Sydney Hersom, resource aide; and Dallas Capdeville, volunteer high school boys basketball coach.

Resignations were accepted from Joanne Kloker and Ronette Babb.

Several varied discussions were held during the meeting regarding school policies and job descriptions. A new policy, #5220, Prohibition of Aiding Sexual Abuse, has been introduced for board review. After minimal discussion, including concerns raised by Glasgow Education Association representative Carla Swenson about wording in the policy and the potential for “rushing” the policy through to be approved, the policy was pushed through for a second reading by the board. GHS principal, Brett Huntsman, also voiced a possible need for clarification of the district’s grading scale or grading procedures.

Continuing a discussion that began during the previous school board meeting held Oct. 10, Laurie Enebo questioned the progress of reviewing job descriptions. The concern is that some staff members are not aware that their job descriptions changed. Enebo advocated for staff to be notified of any changes in their job descriptions. It was also noted that some staff members receive accommodations to their job description and it may be a good idea to keep documentation somewhere regarding specific accommodations.

Each principal gave a brief report to the trustees. The reports spurred some discussion regarding absenteeism in schools. Rachel Erickson reported an 18 percent absenteeism rate at Irle School, Mike Zoanni noted a 13 percent absenteeism rate at the middle school, and Huntsman reported a 24 percent absenteeism rate at the high school. Huntsman said that it is not unheard of for a parent to call and excuse their child from school for an afternoon, and for some it is a consistent pattern. During discussion about possible solutions to absenteeism, it was noted that in the past, students with 10 or more absences were required to petition the school board to continue enrollment in the district.

The meeting concluded with the normal approval of minutes, bills, account reports and travel leave requests.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 6 p.m., at the high school.