On Monday, Aug. 25, the Monroe school board:
• Approved resignations from Stacie Christensen, Northside outdoor supervisor, and Chris Stauffacher, Monroe Middle School secretary (40 weeks per year), and hired Milo Whitehead, Parkside custodian; Roylette Severson Santos, Parkside food service; Stauffacher, MMS secretary (52 weeks per year); and Christine Alston, Parkside IEA aide. It hired Rachel Showers as English teacher at Monroe High School and Terry Montgomery as district reading specialist. Brooke Gratz transferred from Abraham Lincoln kindergarten teacher to teaching fourth grade at Northside Elementary School.
• Agreed to purchase about $27,000 in roofing materials in advance of work to be done at Abraham Lincoln next year. The cost of materials is expected to increase by 10 percent Sept. 1 and could increase even more by next summer. There will be no cost to store the materials.
• Learned the district is eliminating one section of kindergarten for the coming school year. Teacher Brooke Gratz transferred to a position teaching fourth grade at Northside, creating a vacancy. There are 151 students enrolled for kindergarten. By cutting one section, each of the remaining eight classes will have an average of 19 students per class, just over the district's goal of 17 to 18 students per class, said Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jennifer Thayer. No students will have to be moved. Additionally, cutting the kindergarten section will mesh with next year's projection of eight first-grade sections. The move is expected to save the district about $50,000.
• Heard the Finance Committee authorized a cost analysis of purchasing additional vehicles for use by virtual school staff. The school has five vehicles used by nine teachers who travel extensively throughout the state to meet with parents and students. Principal Cory Hirsbrunner said each teacher has an average of 50 students and the amount of time teachers must spend with each student means more vehicles are needed. She also recommended the district establish a vehicle replacement plan to set guidelines to retire high-mileage vehicles.
• Approved resignations from Stacie Christensen, Northside outdoor supervisor, and Chris Stauffacher, Monroe Middle School secretary (40 weeks per year), and hired Milo Whitehead, Parkside custodian; Roylette Severson Santos, Parkside food service; Stauffacher, MMS secretary (52 weeks per year); and Christine Alston, Parkside IEA aide. It hired Rachel Showers as English teacher at Monroe High School and Terry Montgomery as district reading specialist. Brooke Gratz transferred from Abraham Lincoln kindergarten teacher to teaching fourth grade at Northside Elementary School.
• Agreed to purchase about $27,000 in roofing materials in advance of work to be done at Abraham Lincoln next year. The cost of materials is expected to increase by 10 percent Sept. 1 and could increase even more by next summer. There will be no cost to store the materials.
• Learned the district is eliminating one section of kindergarten for the coming school year. Teacher Brooke Gratz transferred to a position teaching fourth grade at Northside, creating a vacancy. There are 151 students enrolled for kindergarten. By cutting one section, each of the remaining eight classes will have an average of 19 students per class, just over the district's goal of 17 to 18 students per class, said Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jennifer Thayer. No students will have to be moved. Additionally, cutting the kindergarten section will mesh with next year's projection of eight first-grade sections. The move is expected to save the district about $50,000.
• Heard the Finance Committee authorized a cost analysis of purchasing additional vehicles for use by virtual school staff. The school has five vehicles used by nine teachers who travel extensively throughout the state to meet with parents and students. Principal Cory Hirsbrunner said each teacher has an average of 50 students and the amount of time teachers must spend with each student means more vehicles are needed. She also recommended the district establish a vehicle replacement plan to set guidelines to retire high-mileage vehicles.