“We will be looking into our procedures in the very near future,” said Chairman Bill Johnson. “There has already been some dialogue on this subject before this evening.”
Superintendent Darryl Wilder said that over time, events will happen and things will arise that prompts the district to look at its plans. He said while the school systems do not practice a “lock-down” mode like they do fire drills and tornado drills, he did say the all schools have a plan.
“It comes in two lines of thought - we do the fire drills and the tornado drills, we plan for the other but we do not practice or drill it,” said Wilder. “The idea is to kind of not put that into someone's mind.”
Wilder said such plans for a disaster are pulled several times throughout the school year and are made sure they are brought up to date. He said each school principal is responsible for pulling the plans.
In other business, the board heard from Middlesboro Middle School Principal Steve Spangler on the current programs, and developments at the middle school.
Spangler took the opportunity to express to the board how lucky he feels to be in the principal's chair after 18 years in the school system. He said out of all those years, he cannot recall seeing as much student work on the walls and in the classrooms as he does now.
“I am very proud of the staff, teachers and students,” said Spangler.
Spangler said the Physical Education (P.E.) Program is stepping up this year and is becoming more active with the students.
“I think it makes a difference, you can see more bounce in their step, they are healthier and in turn, I think that helps them perform better on a test,” he said.
One interesting note Spangler made was about the after school tutoring program that was made possible by a 21st Century grant. He said in most cases, students who are in danger at failing a class, subject or who are behind in their studies are required to come to these tutoring sessions.
However, out of the estimated 100 plus that have been known to attend the after-school program, Spangler said a good majority of these kids are there because they want to be. He said a lot of consideration of whether or not a child is at risk is done by the teacher and their input.
Spangler said he has a lot more ideas and goals in store for the school that should come to play in the next few months.
The board also approved the filing of the BG-1 Form for an athletic field house with the division of facilities management. The also approved to purchase an 84-passenger rear engine bus at an estimated cost of $77,558 through the Interlocal School Transportation Association.
The board will meet again for their December session on Dec. 13 at the school board office.
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