February 2022

Last week Mrs. Burkheart’s kindergarten class at Park Elementary practiced sight words with a shaving cream writing activity on classroom tables.

The Corning School Board met on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. in the boardroom. President Turner called the meeting to order and the minutes and financial report reports were approved followed by the approval of the Proposed Budget of Expenditures with Tax Levy for Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2023 to and including June 30, 2024 and to approve all related election documents. The next item on the agenda was the approval of the updated Ready for Learning Plan. Superintendent Woolard explained that because of the changes in ADH and DESE guidance for Covid isolations and quarantines, the plan needed to be updated a month early. The Board then accepted the resignations of John Hampton, Wanda Patterson, and Jacob Brock and approved the employment of Naomi Whitley and Ashley Banks as paraprofessionals at Park Elementary. Next, Mrs. Woolard shared the new laws concerning school calendars with the board. Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, districts have four options for establishing a school year calendar. Those four include a traditional school calendar, an alternate school calendar, a four-day week calendar, and a 12 month/year around calendar. Mrs. Woolard explained that although each calendar has unique features, all of them require the equivalent of 178 student interaction days-the same as previous years. She continued by stating that in her discussions with administrators and the personnel policies committee, they are going to research the alternatives, get feedback from schools that are using the other options next year, and talk with parents and community members before making any changes to a future school calendar other than a traditional model. The board then approved the 2022-2023 school calendar that the faculty and staff recommended. This is a traditional calendar with the first day of school starting on August 22 and the last day of school on June 1, 2023. Next, the board approved purchasing 65 Intellipure Ultrafine 468 Air Purification Systems for classrooms at a cost of $47, 255.00 from Delos Living LLC. These systems will be purchased with ESSER monies through an ELC Grant. The last items on the agenda were discussions of football field maintenance, ESSER updates, and the feasibility of starting a volleyball program. Mrs. Woolard said that the athletic director, Chad Hovis, had been in contact with AAA to determine the requirements of starting volleyball at CMS/CHS. Mrs. Woolard and Mr. Hovis will host an informative parent meeting for students interested in volleyball in early March. The board went into executive session to discuss personnel matters. The board returned from executive session and there being no further business, President Turner adjourned the meeting.

When you were a kid, did you have that teacher who was an amazing storyteller? It didn’t matter if they were telling stories about a big crazy thing that happened or just a little anecdote about their ride to school, you could always count on that teacher to tell stories? And you can also count on everyone in the classroom to be hooked on every word they said? Yeah, me too.