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Board Meeting
January 20, 2009 2009-10 School Year to Begin Aug. 19 The 2009-2010 school year will start a little earlier than usual after a board vote Tuesday night at district headquarters. The Chillicothe R-2 board unanimously approved the 2009-2010 school calendar, which sets the first day of the school year as Aug. 19. The action was taken after a public hearing which is mandated by state law when a start date is proposed that is prior to the first Monday in September. The 2008 school year began on Aug. 20, 2008. There was some discussion, dealing mostly with how the start of the school year would affect R-2 teachers whose children exhibit or demonstrate at the Missouri State Fair which is slated to be held Aug. 13-23. Administrators say the state fair does affect about seven classroom teachers. However, of the seven, most go to the state fair during the first week or on the weekends, which would not affect the first week of school. Teachers who have children exhibiting or demonstrating in the state fair during the first week of school may use one or both of their personal days, but must give the district adequate notice so that substitute teachers can be lined up, board members decided. Administrators stressed that students learn best prior to mid-May. R-2 Superintendent Dr. Linda Gray Smith also told board members that the more knowledge students receive prior to MAP testing in April, the better they will perform on the exams. She also noted that if the school year starts later (after Labor Day) the school year will be pushed back, and wrap up in late May. Smith told board members that the R-2 summer program would pick up after that and teachers and students would not see a “real break” if summer school went past July 4. The new calendar also calls for early dismissals on Fridays instead of Mondays, a teacher workday added after the winter break, and a third quarter parent teacher night. The calendar also allows snow make-up days to be made up in May. District to Lease Mobile Unit for Middle School The Chillicothe R-2 School District will enter into a three-year lease with Jim’s Mobile Offices, of Marion, Ill., for one large mobile building which will offer needed classroom and office space once the old Chillicothe High School is razed this summer. The R-2 board approved the lease Tuesday night during the regular January meeting of the R-2 board at district headquarters. The lease, assistant superintendent Wade Schroeder said, will total $44,000 a year and comes with a $14,000 set-up fee. Delivery of the mobile building, according to assistant superintendent Wade Schroeder, will come at no cost. However, Schroeder said that the district will be responsible for the necessary ground and utility work prior to the placement of the mobile classroom at a cost of under $15,000. The assistant superintendent said that the current budget will be able to cover the set-up and additional fees. He also told board members that he is working to have the first lease payment after July 1, 2009, which is the start of the next fiscal year for the school district. The large mobile building, Schroeder says, is a better option than two mobile units he had previously been considering. “This (mobile building) offers bigger classrooms all in one building for the same price as the two mobile units,” he explained. The large mobile classroom will offer seven classrooms, office space, a teacher workroom and two restrooms in a space measuring 9,520 square feet. Schroeder told board members that the company will be responsible for maintenance of the HVAC system and the roof, for instance. The large classroom, Schroeder said, will be placed on the gravel parking lot north of the middle school’s current sixth- and seventh-grade building and will be in place sometime in April. “That will allow teachers to set up their classrooms for the coming year,” Schroeder explained. |
