I feel like my hiatus has been a lot longer than two months! Since we've visited last on this blog, I've changed jobs, missed a board meeting, transitioned foster children home--to having them for an additional three weeks---and most recently transitioned them back home again.
I missed our June 2018 meeting due to a vacation. At the June school board meeting, they discussed and approved the next budget for the year, approved the first steps in a keyless entry system, evaluations of the transportation and extra curricular programs among other items. I was sorry that I missed it--however, Brittney and I needed the vacation! In July, our meeting agenda wasn't quite as full as June's. The district's meeting notes can be found here. My highlights included getting an update from Megan Silvey who is our Hallsville School District Foundation president. Megan outlined that the Foundation now is recognized by the state and has begun working on the application for 501(c)3 status. I'm the board member representative serving on the Foundation. We plan to do a 'soft launch' this fall at the Meet The Teacher nights. At these nights--look for a Foundation board member! Our goal is to raise $2,000 in seed funding and to collect names/information as we get off the ground. The Foundation has been in the making for about two-years in total. This will serve a wonderful conduit for folks to support our district. The Foundation leadership is spending time to meet with leaders of sister-organizations such as the Quarterbackers and PTO in an effort to not step on each other's toes. Since it's July, we've transitioned as a district to in-house operations (maintenance, cleaning, beautification) from utilizing OPS. Operations Director Justin Nichols reported that things are moving along, there have been slight hiccups---but that the response from the teachers and staff thus far seems to be positive. I'm encouraged by the patience, progress, and acknowledgement by everyone involved that we will be learning good lessons to improve in this area. While I missed the introduction of Justin at the June board meeting, after meeting him briefly at this meeting and during the Intermediate Bathroom Painting Day---I'm encouraged and am confident we're in good hands! Lastly, the board approved a new Dual Credit agreement with MACC for our students to take online coursework that would allow high school and college credit in classes that range (but not limited to) from Pre-calculus Algebra, speech, and sociology. I also wanted to give an update on the Bond! If you curious as to the process, I encourage you to read the April May, June district reports to follow the progression. In a nutshell, the board approved the issuance of the bond funds at the June meeting and they were issued shortly thereafter. What are the next steps? The board has been discussing the best way to manage and deliver a successful construction of the project. Here is a presentation from April by Jason Hoffman. The board is currently exploring the viability of a Construction Manager-At-Risk---which is an option that school districts were fairly recently given approval to do. What is the advantage of a CMR (Construction Manager-At-Risk) vs. the traditional design-bid-build model? Under a CMR, the CMR operates as the district's representative and acts in many of the ways as the "general contractor" would under the design-bid-build. The CMR route would allow the district to see specific subcontractor bids instead of just having one lump-sum price. The CMR route adds transparency and oversight in ways that the design-bid-build would not allow. As you can see by the closed session agenda, the board has also been in conversation around our architectural and engineering contract, for the next phases---since the bond passage was successful. The board is excited and moving forward with the next steps! Look for more information and next steps in the coming several months! As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'm grateful to serve as one of your board members. Our next regularly scheduled board meeting will be after school begins! That's crazy to think about---but shows that the summer is quickly winding down! Enjoy these last few weeks of summer! Until next time, Craig
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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