Glenwood City School Board – Kids back in school, failures down!
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GLENWOOD CITY — The good news is that kids are back in the classroom and grades are up and failures are down. That was what Glenwood City High School/Middle School Principal Patrick Gretzlock’s report indicated at the School Board meeting of Monday, January 25.
Back at the January 11th school board meeting Gretzlock reported that as of December 1st, 133 of 185 high school students were failing and in the “last two weeks the number is now less than 50,” Gretzlock told the board.
“I am here to show you the impact of what being here has and the influence teachers have on our student body,” he informed the board. Gretzlock pushed the importance of being in the classroom instead of the Virtual Learning. He presented the board with several charts showing the improvements in grades as the student body returns to the classrooms following being out of school because of the COVID related absences.
During the community comments agenda item a local citizen, Dan Dopkins, questioned the board about an agenda item that was being addressed in Executive Session. Dopkins was reading from the agenda that was published in the Tribune Press Reporter that called for Administrative Contract with possible action.
“What is the action?” Dopkins questioned the board and is it “Too late for public input?” Board member Jon Mrdutt attempted to answer those questions, but what the action is was not disclosed.
“It would not be the time to make any changes,” Dopkins noted and he concluded with, “Hold the course.”
In her report, Elementary Principal Betsy Haltinner noted to the board that during the early release they sat down with the staff for some positive dialog and reviewed data that had been collected.
Nicole Brite informed the board about two dates of upcoming events including the annual child development day on February 26. This is the day to get 4K kids involved in school. She also explained that with COVID they would be holding the Junior ACT test at the school on March 9th. “We will be using a hallway for six hours for the testing,” she noted.
Brite also noted about a new billing system for Hilltopper Hangtime. “We are trying to provide affordable child care,” she told the board. She also reported that the Tiny Toppers has 21 individuals involved. Brite also talked at length about the virus vaccine and that the staff should be receiving the shots shortly. A Board member wondered about the need for wearing masks after the shots? But, Brite had no information about when or how the mask wearing will be affected by the vaccine.
Superintendent Tim Johnson reported that the January student count was at 682, which he said was two more than the September count.
In other action the board heard a thank you directed to Angela Williams for her work with setting up the spelling bee. The board also heard from Member Nate Simmons about the annual state convention held last week. He informed the board about the ten items that passed the convention. He noted that it was a challenge to be on Zoom with 380 other people for four hours.
And, finally they approved a contract with Fisher Tracks to resurface the track at a cost of $64,423. It was pointed out that the current surface is in its eighth year.
