The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

School to get roof




In its final meeting of 2015, the Jenkins Independent Schools Board of Education conducted its business to an empty house. School Board Chairman Tracy Goff turned the session over to Interim Superintendent Edward Whitaker, who reported that the Kentucky Department of Education has approved a plan to replace the roof at Burdine Elementary. Whitaker said he has spoken to the contractor, which is onsite measuring and getting ready to begin work as soon as the materials that are required for the job arrive.

Interim Jenkins High School Principal Thomas Pinion introduced the Comprehensive School and District Improvement Plan to the board. The plan consists of six goals, some carrying over to the 2020 school year. Goal one calls for a 97.7 percent graduation rate. Goal two calls for meeting state career readiness goals, although the goals have not been received at this time. Pinion added that the system’s goal is 100 percent in career readiness and graduation rate. Goal three calls for system-wide increases in KPREP and End of Course Scores by 2019. The elementary school goal is to increase from 62.5 percent to 69.2. The middle school goal is an increase of 44.0 to 67.5 and the End of Course testing goal is from 43.2 to 67.9. Goal four calls for the number of students scoring at least novice in reading and math to increase by 50 percent by May 2020. Goal five calls for a program review focusing on writing, and goal six calls for an overall increase of scores to proficient in reading and math by 10 percent as evidenced by KPREP and EOC testing by October 2016. The plans were unanimously approved by the board.

Whitaker also told the board that a high school math teaching position at Jenkins High School is still open and will likely remain that way until the beginning of the next school year. He said he has contacted local and regional colleges looking for a December graduate to fill the position with no success. Interim Principal Pinion continues to teach the classes, along with a substitute. Whitaker also said that a middle school social studies position that became vacant when the teacher resigned was filled quickly.

District Finance Officer Candala Gibson told the board that the system’s SEEK (Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky) appropriation has been reduced by $10,608 for the coming year.

The board also accepted bids on two school buses, both of which have been declared as surplus. Whitaker said that neither bus will start and that the bids for both buses came from Brook’s Electric. The bid for bus 2002 was $401, and the bid for the mini-bus was $326. Board Chairman Goff said that in the absence of other bids, he recommended that the board accept both. He said the system would get $737 for the buses while being spared the cost of hauling them away.

Whitaker also told the board that in order to draw up a new District Facilities Plan, the first steps would be to contract with an architect and to bring a facilities planning committee together. The committee will consist of between 10 and 20 individuals, including board and faculty members. He said he will contact the system’s regular architectural firm and that no formal action needs to be taken at this time.



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