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HARTINGTON – Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools is now up to code with all of its vehicles.
Supt. A.J. Johnson said the school purchased two new vans to make sure they met current federal regulations mandating that vans used to transport students must have a maximum capacity of 10 passengers.
The school had three vans — all three have now been replaced, as the regulations also make it very difficult to retrofit current 12-passenger vans down to a 10-passenger van, Johnson said.
Last month the board authorized Johnson to spend up to $69,000 each to purchase the new vans from Woodhouse. Johnson said he was able to get one all-wheel drive van and stay in budget. That van will be used on a route where the roads are not always in the best shape, he said.
Johnson also noted the ceiling baffles to help deaden the noise in the new gym have now also been installed. The work was completed Monday.
Since the sound proofing had just been installed, Johnson said he hadn't been able to see how effective it was.
Supt. Johnson also gave board members a brief update on legislation being considered in the Unicameral.
'It appears the cell phone bill is on its way to being passed,' he said. At this time it's uncertain what this will mean for the district, he said. 'At the very least, the board will have to update its policies.'
Gov. Pillen initially asked Senators to put a cell phone ban into place in the schools. That legislation has now changed, though, making it a bit less restrictive.
Johnson said the school does not have an official policy in place, but they closely monitor students to make sure phones do not become a problem.
The Board also heard from Elementary School Principal Sara Edwards and High School Principal Corey Uldrich at Monday's meeting.
Edwards told the board the elementary students took part in Read Across America activities last week in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. The events included special dress-up days which the kids really enjoyed, she said.
Teachers also got a chance to get some ideas on better teaching techniques when Amy Mundl from the Educational Service Unit 1 came to observe teachers.
'She had wonderful feedback. And provided feedback for some teachers to help problem solve,' Edwards said.
Teachers will get another opportunity to learn when Maciah Nobles, who is doing graduate work as an occupational therapist, will give a presentation about student trauma and how to meet those students' needs.
Edwards said the end of the third quarter takes place this week, so elementary school report cards will go out on Monday.
Uldrich said high school students have been busy preparing for the ACT tests. They are working their way through the John Baylor test prep course to get ready for the test, he said.
Those tests will take place on April 10, he said. Students in grades 7-9 will not have school that day, in order to cut down on distractions for the 10-12 grade students taking the test.
Uldrich said he is now beginning the process of putting together the schedules for next school year.
'The hope is to have that completed in April, but there are a lot of factors that go into putting the schedule together and it doesn't always get done when we'd like,' he said
