The Yuma School District-1 Board of Directors covered a wide range of topics during its regular monthly meeting, Monday night.
Board President John Deering and fellow board members Tyson Brown, Heath Roundtree and Lindsey Galles were in attendance. Terri Cooper was absent.
Superintendent Jim Fraley told the board he would be remiss if he did not provide an update on Sherry Dennis Murphy. The district’s business manager/chief financial officer suffered serious injuries in an accident a few weeks ago. Fraley said she is making small progress in rehab.
The annual audit that was to be done this month has been postponed for now. Fraley said it is due by December 31. Other staff members were going to be trained this week on the district’s finance system, Fraley told the board. The board unanimously approved a motion approving district office employees Janna Young and Beth Dischner as signers on all accounts at First FarmBank, effective immediately.
The board approved the purchase of a security system from Raptor Technologies. Fraley explained it is a screening tool that clears all visitors to Yuma’s schools. It is tied in to a national database for sex offenders. It requires visitors, such as volunteers and vendors, to initially have their face scanned into the system, and provide a driver’s license. After that, they simply do a face scan when they arrive and are quickly admitted. It also will be used for students who are late to school, as the system quickly prints out a tardy slip and sends the student on his or her way.
The initial cost approved by the board is $13,043 for the hardware and software. The annual payment after that is $6,676.
Fraley provided an update on the latest enrollment figures. (The final number to be used for funding purposes will not be reported until the end of November.) K-12 enrollment is dropping a bit again, mostly due to a small kindergarten class Fraley said. The PreK-12 number is up a bit thanks to a large preschool class.
The state still uses a five-year average to come up with the per pupil funding count. Brown noted that the big number from 2021 will roll off next year, which will result in a significant reduction in state funding.
Fraley highlighted priorities in light of decreasing enrollment, such as minimizing the loss of student opportunities, and continue to retain and recruit quality staff.
Fraley shared that the main message from the survey he conducted earlier this year is the need to do more on student achievement. He said he met with the principals and staff in all three buildings on Monday during professional development. He said a focus is going to be having students read and write for one hour every day, which helps in all aspects of learning.
Lane Remmich said a prayer for the board, students and staff during visitor’s comments.
Student and staff members were honored at the start of the meeting. For YHS, the student of the month was Nalany Orozco Gonzalez, and staff member of the month Julia Mekelburg. YMS honored Miguel Vargas as student of the month, and Lysondra Yost as staff member of the month. MES honored Oliver Juarez as student of the month, and Amy Allen as staff member of the month.
Consent agenda
Donations: Yuma Booster Club, $100 for boys state golf; Yuma Football Club, $3,300 for football team shoulder pads; Yuma District Hospital, $300 for football club/popcorn, and; JD’s Barn, $500 for FFA.
Personnel, recommended hirings: Ana Bentley, YHS sweeper; Sara Vega, part-time custodian; Amber Taylor, gifted and talented coordinator; Damon Edgar, YHS sweeper; Rolando Caraveo, YMS boys basketball assistant coach, and; Gracie Newton, Yuma Preschool special education para.
Activity trip requests: YHS boys golf to Eaton in August, and YHS boys golf to Pueblo for state golf in October.
The following policies were approved on second reading as part of the consent agenda: Relations with Federal Immigration Officials, Staff Leave, Supplemental Employment of Retired Professional Staff, and Student Travel.
The board’s next regular meeting will be November 10.