Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney Public School Board member Tom Von Seggern (left) was reappointed as board president at the meeting last night at 5:30 p.m. New board member Doug Means (right) joined the board as well.
Sidney School District board members were informed of the fund-raising activity planning and the successful implementation of drug and alcohol screening at Sidney Middle School. New board member Doug Means also joined the board and committees for 2013 were formed.
Tom Von Seggern was appointed once again as board president and Steve Mattoon was reappointed as board vice president. Deanna Kantor was reappointed as board secretary and Geri Anthony as treasurer.
“Anytime you replace the superintendent a lot of responsibility falls on the president of the board and I think Tom did an outstanding job,” Mattoon said.
Board committee members were also appointed and Means joined the negotiations committee and the facilities committee – there were few changes in other committee appointments.
The Sidney Sun-Telegraph was designated as the official district newspaper and KSID was designated as the official radio station.
Jay Ehler, Sidney Public Schools Superintendent, was also designated as the official district representative for all programs at local, state and federal levels.
Sidney Middle School Principal Brandon Ross was happy to inform the board that 87 percent of middle school students are participating in the random drug and alcohol testing pool.
“I know there was always question if that would hurt participation and I would say from results probably not,” Ross said. “I don’t know that we will get a whole lot more though. I think the ones who are not in it at this point are not going to be.”
The principal said that boys basketball was one activity that started after the new drug policy passed.
“We ended up with 43 boys playing, which is about the norm. I don’t think it hurt at all,” Ross said.
From information provided to the board 268 Sidney High School students are participating in the testing pool as well, which serves as approximately 80 percent of the student body.
Once a student is signed up for the testing program they are signed up for a total of 12 months.
In other Sidney Middle School news, Ross asked the board to approve a fund-raising plan put forth by the school’s National Junior Honor Society.
Ross said that the students have had the idea to replace the flagpole at the Middle School for a couple years now due to its chipping paint, continually broken ropes and its inability to be moved to half-mast.
“One of our National Junior Honor Society service projects every year is having the duty of putting the flag up and down everyday,” Ross said. “The flagpole has always been an issue; they don’t like it. They approached the rest of the organization at their meetings and decided that they would like to pursue raising money to put up the new flagpole.”
The honor society president Will Castner and student council president Annalise Lecher approached superintendent Ehler in early January regarding school improvement funds that could be directed towards their project.
Ehler sent them back with fund-raising forms and words of encouragement.
The project was approved and the board will help with costs in the project’s completion if honor society members hold fund-raising events and do all they can to help pay for their cause.
Wamsley Construction has already said they will wave the flagpole installation fees, donating a service that would cost $1,200 - minus cement work. Honor Society members are in the works of putting together a 50/50 raffle or a penny war between homerooms.
Board members also approved a secondary emergency site agreement with Cheyenne County that would stipulate that the schools have liability insurance in case someone was hurt or property was damaged in the event of an emergency. The secondary emergency evacuation site in question is the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds.
The agreement was passed with contingency on ensuring that liability insurance is available to the schools.
Also discussed was the method of filling the empty seat on the school board. It was decided that applications for the position will be advertised on the school website and in the paper and on the radio. The board hopes to have applications in by the time of the next board meeting. Applicants will be asked to provide their qualifications and why they are interested in joining the board.
Tanya Flores-Lewis’ written request to not serve on the board was also accepted.
Congratulations and awards were given to the Sidney Middle/Senior High School December Performance award winners. Seventh grade student of the month was awarded to Kara Birner, daughter of Tom and Cindy Birner. Eighth grade student of the month was awarded to Madison Couch, daughter of Steve and Lyn Couch. Ninth grade student of the month was awarded to Abigail Jones, daughter of Shane and Jeremee Jones. Tenth grade student of the month was awarded to Andrew Myers, son of Bruce and Marta Myers. Eleventh grade student of the month was awarded to LaNaya Gutierrez, daughter of Henry and Penny Gutierrez. Twelfth grade student of the month was awarded to Darby Young, daughter of Dave and Julie Young.
Ehler also took time in the meeting to thank board president, Tom Von Seggern for his heroic efforts in saving two young boys from the pond at Legion Park.
“It’s a special thing when somebody is in the right place at the right time and are willing to act on it. God bless you for that,” Ehler said.
The next Sidney Public School Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m.
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