At the regular January meeting of the Eads School Board, the board gave a very positive evaluation to district Superintendent Glenn Smith during his annual review. The board also reluctantly accepted the letter of resignation with best wishes extended to 24-year District Special Education Director Sue Fox effective at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Mrs. Fox’s dedication, professionalism, extensive knowledge, and experience will be hard to replace.
The Board also accepted a letter of resignation from the Preschool Group Leader, Jessica Millspaugh.
In the comments section of the meeting Eads Athletic Director Trey Eder reported about the current performances of the winter season teams. The JH Girls’ team were undefeated and won the Hi-Plains Tournament. The boys got 2nd place in the tournament. Both the girls’ and boys’ high school basketball teams are sitting at about 16th in the rankings. The first 32 teams will qualify for the regional tournament. Finally, the Rivals have had a tremendous season and anticipate qualifying 7-9 for the state wrestling tournament.
Eder also reported that CHSAA did substantially raise the pay scale for officials for the 2023-2024 school season. Future discussions will include how to offset those significant costs.
High School Principal Brian Bohlander reported on the FBLA District competition. He then discussed a meeting he’ll attend the next day with LCC Construction Trades. Bohlander reminded everyone that Parent-Teacher conferences would be on Thursday with an early release at 2:00 pm.
District Superintendent Glenn Smith held a discussion on dealing with the severe cold that recently caused issues across the region. Smith informed the board that on wind chill advisory days, the students would be allowed to stay indoors during recess time.
Finally, Mrs. Dawn James, high school social studies teacher and Knowledge Bowl coach reported that the Regional Knowledge Bowl meet will be held in Eads on Monday, February 6th. She thanked the administration for allowing a school day for the meet in order to provide the best opportunity for our small schools to participate without conflicting with sports. Our region covers from Flagler south to the state line and from Crowley and Rocky Ford east to the state line.
In other action items the board approved to hire Brenda Ramirez for the Assistant Cook position. They also approved a contract for Leisha Walsh to take the Preschool Group Leader position, and approved Kaylee Wilson as a substitute.
A number of discussion items were also on the agenda. Smith explained the process of determining when Snow Days are called. The process includes input from CDOT and a BOCES Superintendent thread that takes in consideration of area wind, snow, and road conditions. Late starts are always favored over an early release because it takes approximately an hour to contact and all personnel and parents and to prepare the drivers.
The Free Lunch Program was also discussed as reportedly the state will be paying for every student’s meal. At this time, however, there is no real information available on how the state will pay for this.
There is also a new project being discussed that includes taking out the permanent bleachers on the west side of the gym and replacing them with fold away bleachers. Then adding another set of baskets on the west wall creating a double court capability for practices and elementary tournaments. More information will be gathered from area schools that have recently been through gymnasium renovations or new builds.
The condition of the football practice field at the track was discussed. That grass is full of stickers and has become a hazard for kids to play on. The district will check with lawn care companies to see about possible soil sampling, spraying, or other options that might be used to control and remove the extensive sandbur problem.
Smith reported that he was pleased that the new Sheriff, Bryan Williams, has been assisting with the crosswalk supervision before and after school.
Other topics included a fire inspection, ongoing issues with the HVAC project, issues with some cement that has been damaged due to the weather conditions, and future other projects the school will be taking on.
The next meeting will be a regularly scheduled meeting, always the last Monday of the month, on February 27th at 7:00 pm.
