By Jamie Miller
The July School Board meeting started with Superintendent Randy Rutherford updating the Board on[more] the progress of the construction around the district.
He asserted that the new high school building will be ready for students on the first day of school, Aug. 20. The portable buildings adjacent to the school will be moved, opening that area up for parking once again.
Hill Farm Elementary, Rutherford said, will be ready for the start of school as well. The Salem Elementary and Springhill Elementary projects will be completed, as scheduled, before the commencement of the 2012-13 school year.
Todd Sellers, Bethel Middle School principal, presented the results of a Scholastic Audit that was recently done. He explained that a Scholastic Audit is required by the state to show that any school that is in year four of “school improvement”, has met the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” program. Both short- and long-range goals are suggested by the audit.
Different types of Professional Development were suggested for teachers at Bethel as well as ways to teach relevant learning objectives, Sellers said. Teacher walk-troughs will be implemented this year with instant feedback for the benefit of the teachers as well. It was reported that Bethel showed growth in all areas of Benchmark testing and Sellers expressed excitement for expected growth in the coming year
The fiscal year ended for the District in June and the financials are, it was reported, right on target from the past year and the coming year. Operating funds will be up around $1.5 million for the coming year but that was expected due to an overall raise and the building fund.
"The end of year budget looks fantastic,” Rutherford stated. “We are in good financial state."
