School board approves new data program

At the regular meeting of the Stockton Unified School District No. 271 Board of Education held on Monday, January 6th, superintendent Bill Lowry presented information for the Panorama Data Program that he, along with grade school principal Stacey Green and teacher Andrea Graham had researched for the school. It tracks data and attendance for the students and continuously enters data to help track the progress of each student. Several area schools are using this system. It was noted that this data is confidential and that the program would meet the specific needs of the District. The board members approved the purchase of the Panorama Data Program at a price of $10,750.00, which will be installed in the next six weeks.

Also during the meeting, Tom Carpenter with Mapes and Miller met with the board members to review the audit report for the school district. After Carpenter was done with his report, the audit ending the 2019 fiscal school year was approved as presented by the board members.

Next, teachers Andrea Graham and Lee Lindsey gave the board members an update on the Kansas Teacher of the Year Leadership Conference they had attended. The two are part of a regional team and will visit different schools throughout the coming months to observe different styles of teaching skills. Stockton will host the first visit from other schools on Friday, January 10th.

Grade school principal Stacey Green then gave her monthly report. A Professional Development In-service had been held on Friday, January 3rd, which focused on personalized learning at the state level. The next school Inservice will be held on January 20th. Erica Dryden is the grade school Scholars Bowl sponsor. The first contest will be held on January 21st. The home meet will be held on March 9th. The wrestlers will start their season on January 23rd. The last day of school before the Christmas Break, Green stated that the Community Groups had gone out into the community visiting the businesses. She said she has received a lot of good feedback from those visits.

High school principal Gary McCown stated that the basketball and wrestling seasons are off to a good start. The high school students are busy working on getting every student involved in some sort of school program, and have asked if they could paint the hallways as a group event. He noted that Mrs. Bennett had painted the south side storage room on the stage. At the last Site Council meeting the focus was on adjustments dealing with Honor Roll and National Honor Society.

Superintendent Bill Lowry reported on the KASB Conference he had attended. He sat in on several breakout sessions, noting that they talked about issues that are facing all schools. He also reported that the security cameras were installed over the Christmas Break. Lowry and Green will go to Hoisington to look at their preschool and school lunch program. They will bring back the information to the board members at the February meeting. He noted that the three new board members would be attending the Boardmanship Seminar later in the month. He then recognized the three outgoing board members, Sharri Coffey, Brad Odle and Greg Beougher, with plaques for their service.

During Board Member Reports, Stephanie Niblock reported on what she did at the KASB Conference. She toured several schools in the area and watched the interaction between teachers and students. She also attended breakout sessions dealing with Redesign and security. She brought back information from the vendor booth for the other board members. She also noted she was asked by a KASB member about serving on the Board. Daphne Plumer reported on the grade school Site Council meeting she had attended. Brad Odle gave an update on the Endowment Association Board meeting, noting that they will keep the endowments on a four year basis.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m. Present for the evening session were board members Linda Conyac, Greg Beougher, Sharri Coffey, Daphne Plumer, Jesse Stithem and Stephanie Niblock, as well as superintendent Bill Lowry, grade school principal Stacey Green, high school principal Gary McCown, attorney Terry Cikanek and clerk Annette Look.