Kent Faust attended the May 23 South O’Brien School Board meeting with the renewal of the insurance policy. The increase for the coming year is 7.5%. A close look at the policy premiums and discussion revealed that the biggest insurance increase can be found in the Work and Compensation experience of the district. Property coverage is also experiencing a big increase. Property coverage is determined on a statewide basis. The derechos last year impacted property insurance across the state in a big way. The overall premium for the school is going from $197,687 to $223,854. The board looked for options to improve safety in the workplace.
Building principals provided the directors about the standardized test results of the students. Mike Morran, Elementary Principal shared the success of 270 elementary students out of 286 met their PBIS goals only 1 student in grades 3-6 missed hitting ISASS goals. The TK-3 reading proficiency goal was set at 96% or 30% growth. TK-3 in South O’Brien met 91% proficiency. The results indicated, according to Morran, that the students entering 2nd and 3rd grades in the next school year are most at risk. That is attributed to the COVID shutdown.
Denise Phillips, High School Principal shared the credit recovery program available during the summer for students who may have not passed a course. The program is designed to assist high school students from falling behind in the credit count.
The 3-year old preschool room in Primghar is scheduled for a remodel during the summer months. Two bids were submitted and opened on May 23. Haselhoff proposed $79,214. Wilgten Brothers’ bid was $85,000. Both bids were based on the same work. The 3-year-old classroom is limited to 15 students for everyday classes. On May 23 there were 14 registered. The 4-year-old class had 36 of its 38 available spaces filled.
COVID relief funds made available to South O’Brien, ESSER and ESSER II were used largely to pay for school lunches and summer lunches during 2021. The free lunch program and summer lunch program is ended. Beginning with the school year beginning August 2022, qualified income guidelines for free and reduced school lunches will be back in place.