HUMBOLDT — USD 258 schools are prepared to identify and deal with threats to students. KAY BOLT, elementary and middle school principal, said student testing this year and in the future would be done on a triangular system. IN OTHER news, board members:
John Johnson, high school principal, reviewed security measures and plans to deal with threats on several levels at Monday night’s school board meeting.
He said 18 surveillance cameras had been added, making 44 now poised to capture images 24 hours a day, seven days a week and having capability to record and store data for about 30 days.
Images currently stored on Johnson’s iPad as well as terminals at school, will stream to Humboldt’s police headquarters.
The preponderance of cameras are in the high school, with others in the middle and elementary schools. Some are focused on nearby parking lots.
“I think we’re way ahead of the game,” Johnson said.
He also said plans to deal with emergency situations, from an unruly student to an intruder, had been developed and were being tweaked. The exact nature of what school officials would do under any circumstances was not divulged. Doing so, Johnson said, might compromise security.
He did mention that any disruption of school activities would result in the schools being locked down and students confined to their classrooms. If an intruder were involved, additional efforts would be made to secure rooms and where possible students and teachers would leave the building if directly threatened.
“If push came to shove,” Johnson said he would expect those threatened to resist.
Students initially will take state assessment tests followed by tests specific to the digital education system that began in the district this year. Finally, they will take an ACT Aspire test, which will gauge their progress in reading, math, science, English and writing.
Bolt said the battery of tests would give teachers “early answers to where kids need intervention.” The tests also help formulate career and college readiness.
Staci Hudlin, middle school science and math instructor, gave board members a look at the district’s digital-only education module.
Hudlin said the new method, “makes me feel like a first-year teacher again” because of her having to adapt to it, along with students. “It gives students more responsibility for their own learning,” Hudlin said. “They put forth more effort and all students are working harder.”
With each student having a laptop computer, they are able to communicate with teachers anytime by e-mail, Hudlin added, which “makes us feel like we’re on call 24/7.”
— Were told by Bolt that 90 percent of elementary parents and 70 percent of those having students in middle school attended parent-teacher conferences. Johnson said 55 percent of parents of high school students attended the conferences.
— Approved bids for three building trades house projects, with all successful bidders being from Humboldt. Delbert Plumbing will do plumbing work with a limit on expenditures of $8,500. D&J Construction won the heating and air bid at $5,884.13 and electric at $900.
— Approved out-of-state travel for two elementary teachers to visit a school district in Huntsville, Ala., where digital education has been in use for several years. K.B. Criss, superintendent of schools, said middle and high school teachers would make similar journeys later.
— High school students will be asked to research local history and heritage to propose a name for the new softball field. Also, Criss asked board members to consider advertising boards that would be placed with scoreboards on fields at the new sports complex. He said several people had asked about the project. Decisions on the softball field and ad boards are expected at the board’s Dec. 9 meeting.
— Gave their blessing to Jason Bauer, Humboldt Recreation Commission director, taking basketball supervisor reins this season. He will be paid $700. David Wells, an HRC board member, said no one else was interested and asked the board’s approval since Bauer already was on staff. Wells said HRC’s Breakfast with Santa is Dec. 14 at the Methodist Church, with admission being a donation to the community food pantry. He also noted that ball fields in Sweatt Park soon would be seeded and fertilized, preparatory for the 2014 season.
Contact Bob Johnson by email at bob@iolaregister.com.
USD 258 – Security amped at schools
