Parents Want School Doors Open Earlier
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By Mike Scott
“We don’t think it’s fair,” Michael Walker told the Clark County R-1 school board at their Wednesday, October 11 meeting.
At issue is the time school buildings open, which, at both Running Fox and Black Hawk, is 7:55am.
Walker spoke on behalf of a group of parents who want the school buildings, especially the elementary buildings, open earlier than the current 7:55am time.
“Doors opening at 7:55 is not an appropriate time,” Walker said, noting that parents cannot drop their children at school, especially Running Fox, and then get to work by 8:00am.
Walker noted that the shortage of school bus drivers forces parent to deal with a longer ride times.
“If a child is forced to ride the bus for longer times, there is absolutely no reason they should have to wait even a second longer on that bus. The driver should be able to park and unload students into an unlocked school,” he said.
If a bus arrives at the school early, students stay on the bus until the building opens.
Walker also expressed concern for student safety.
“Requiring kids to stand outside a school along a major highway does not support student safety,” Walker added.
“If they’re allowed to be let into the schools due to rain, snow or wintertime, why can’t we do it rest of the year?” he asked.
“It is a problem, and I support what he’s after,” school board president Mark Plenge said, sharing his own experience. “Is there a way we can shift teacher contract times around to make it possible?”
“The problem is that they have stuff going on right before and after school It’s hard to adjust teacher contracts,” said Superintendent Dr. Ritchie Kracht. “They have to be there when kids are coming in the building and when they’re leaving the building. Our teachers are under contract for 7.5 hours a day.”
“Would some of our Paras be able to do it,” asked board member Charles West. “I bet you a lot of paras would step up and say “Hey, if I could get paid a couple extra bucks, I’ll step in and watch these kids until school starts.”
“It would take two at Running Fox, and three or four at Black Hawk,” Kracht said.
“Why are you trying to make it the same across all schools,” Walker asked.
“Because we have to,” several administrators replied.
“You can’t just do one school,” board vice-president Jason Acklie said.
“We have a lot of paras,” injected Indian Pride Learning Center Principal Megan Wendling. “But they are one on one paras. I don’t know how we could staff the special education population.
The board was asked why principals couldn’t watch students before school. The response was that is the time they meet with teachers or parents.
Plenge asked about High School students that arrive as early as 7:00am.
“They are there to meet with a coach or a teacher,’ Kracht answered.
Black Hawk Principal Betsy Parrish added that the supervision needed for elementary students is vastly different than for high school students.
“Money is not the biggest obstacle,” said Kracht. “People is the obstacle.”
“None of the staff has even been asked,” said Walker. “I’m sure they care more about the students than the hours in their contracts.”
After nearly an hour of discussion, the board agreed to survey staff member to see if they would be interested in watching students earlier so doors could open at 7:45.
The issue will be discussed at the next board meeting.
Michelle Tappendorf asked for board permission to market Textile and Marketing Class projects online, via Facebook Marketplace. The class creates shirts, bags, ornaments and keychains.
“Our goal is to make enough money to turn around and buy more supplies,” she said.
High School Principal Ben Taylor added that the project is ultimately part of the school’s career and technical education program.
The board approved by consent.
Tressa Boyd reported on the Middle School Food Pantry, which was created because the Middle and High Schools are not part of the Buddy Pack program.
“We have 95 free lunch and 26 reduced lunch students at the Middle School,” she said. “We have no eligibility requirement. “Anything they want, they can have. Parents of Middle Schoolers can also come.”
“It gets a lot of use,” said Principal Jason Church. “The kids are comfortable to ask Tressa. It’s a huge asset for our kids.”
In other business:
•Kracht reported that average daily attendance in the district is down 28 versus last year. “That’s not going to be good going forward,” he said.
•Plenge asked for more details on mileage reimbursements. “I want to know what we reimburse mileage for. We reimburse a lot of mileage every month.
•The board discussed Brookfield’s decision to leave the Clarence Cannon Conference would make more basketball games be scheduled on Fridays, which would be good for the kids involved
•Kracht reported that the district will be require to test for lead levels at every location with drinking water in the district. There are 197 locations to test, and the cost is $55 per test, or $10,835 overall.
“If they find too much lead, we will have to put in special filtration systems,” he told board members.
•Discussed how best to utilize the district’s ground adjacent to Hwy 13, just east of Kahoka.
•The next board meeting will be November 9.
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