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Upgrades continue to roll out in the GC School District

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City Administration’s enthusiasm is easily recognizable these days as new items in technology and updates on the referendum projects are unveiled.

Elementary Principal, Betsy Haltinner shared with the room the live feed of all 43 cameras that are now in place around the entire District, which is nearly triple from before.

The cameras are crystal clear with zooming capabilities that pan the playground, the entrances, hallways, cafeteria and more.

The Administration has access to the cameras at any point in their day and the maintenance staff does as well.

If an alarm is triggered, maintenance will be able to instantly pull up the system and pin point where the breach is coming from also.

The system is not only live, but recorded as well. Haltinner stated she is in the process of setting up the recordings to last 30 days.

Policy states that notification of video surveillance must be posted so signs can be found at entrance points at the District.

Haltinner also updated the Board on the current playground renovations. Recently volunteers built a large sand box and soon there will be three gardens in place by the patio and the wood chips will be filled in and stained.

The outdoor volleyball court is also in the beginning stages, but is to be completed with poles dug and the net up by August 31 along with the rest of the projects.

Middle School/High School Principal, Patrick Gretzlock also shared his excitement over technology with the Board.

Gretzlock is about to debut a new website forum to the public that will provide parents online access to athletic forms.

Through this site, a parent of a student athlete can now sign all consent forms in terms of HIPPA laws and Concussions.

They can fill out the athletic form itself to register their athlete with information about the guardian, the student and the student’s care such as preferred doctor, dentist, etc.

The ability to pay for the athletic fees is also going to be an option. Parents can choose to either pay with a credit card or they can select cash/check and instead of paying that instant, they are allowed to make a visit to the office as was the previous option.

This website forum is the exact same as the hard copy given to the student athlete, however the ability to do it from the comfort of your own home is now the result.

The only form that is to be handed in as a hard copy is the physical sheet from the doctor unless the parent has access to a scanner, then the document can be uploaded.

The page is created through rSchoolToday and the link is to be shared with parents/students in the District by Gretzlock in the coming week or two.

Currently most fall sports athletes have their athletic forms filled out so that information will be manually transferred into this new system and parents do not need to complete the process again.

Gretzlock was equally enthusiastic to tell the Board his process on creating a Middle School Literacy Lab.

Previously students were scheduled into a writing lab, but this coming school year Gretzlock and staff are broadening the subject to also include reading and communication.

Students tend to have anxiety and a real fear over presentation so incorporating presentation at an early age in the Middle School along with the writing aspect and reading is a new goal.

This is going to be a 50 minute period in the school day that will be offered to each Middle School student.

The big news of the night came from Superintendent, Tim Johnson. He shared with the Board that the District received $450,000 in state aid, which could potentially affect the tax rate.

Following the referendum, the mill-rate to support the referendum was estimated at .83 cents per $1,000 valuation. But with the additional state aid the mill-rate could be .20 cents less than last year’s, which however, is just an estimated figure at the current moment.

Action items included the approval of the annual declaration and parent notice of the District’s student academic standards that will be in effect for the 2015-16 school year.

The Board also approved to post for a Library Aide position of five hours per day.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 31 at 6:30 p.m. and then the next meeting will be the Budget Hearing on September 14 at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Annual Meeting.