The Sedalia School District 200 took some time to celebrate the recent achievements of the District Monday night.
The district hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed additions to the school prior to the board meeting.
Students groups representing the Smith-Cotton student body took part in the ceremony Monday night at 6 p.m. for two buildings that will see construction begin in the upcoming weeks.
Superintendent Brad Pollitt expressed his gratitude to the community for their continued support of the district during both the groundbreaking ceremony and after the board meeting.
“The board members heard our APR report tonight,” Pollitt said after the meeting. “Our students and staff performed at the highest level we have been at in three years, and we are extremely proud of that accomplishment.
“I have always maintained though that standardized test scores are just a small indication of what goes on in a district,” he added. “We do so many things right in this district that simply can’t be measured by test scores.”
Pollitt pointed to the soccer game taking place at Tiger Stadium and the athletic complex as an example of what the district is doing right.
“We have the most well maintained facilities anywhere, but look at the success of our students in both co curricular and extracurricular events,” Pollitt said. “Our athletic programs are competing at levels that many of them have not seen in years, and last year our music department was the best in the state.
“Those are just some of the examples of what help to make us a complete school,” he added.
Pollitt said the district was not going to rest where they are though.
“We know we have room for improvement and we won’t rest where we are at,” he said. “We feel that the support among our students, staff and community is at its highest and we are extremely grateful for that and will use that to build upon.”
Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Carla Wheeler presented the APR report to the board.
“We set a goal to get back to the 90 percent level,” Wheeler said. “We scored 126.5 points out of a possible 140 (90.4 percent) and we are extremely proud of that.”
The district is accredited based on those figures.
The state is currently not awarding the Accredited with Distinction classification at this time Wheeler added.
The board also voted to approve the 2015-2016 bus routes.
In information provided in the board packet, Assistant Superintendent for Building, Grounds and Support Services, Steve Triplett stated that minor changes had to be made to the routes primarily to accommodate the grade level transitions within the District.
The biggest change was the increase of buses running to the high school on the third route. That number increased from 24 to 27.
The district bus routes cover over 1,700 miles a day and carry over 2,300 students.
Triplett also presented the Food Service Program evaluation to the Board.
The district served over 621,454 lunches last year. That number represents an increase of 14,212 from the previous year.
“We started a new program at the high school this year called “OPAA to Go,” which has been very well received,” Triplett said. “The students have the option to choose three different items not found on the menu.
“With the addition of the freshmen to the building it has gotten the students through the line faster and has given them some additional options,” he added. “It has been a win-win for the food service workers and the students.”
The district also serves 354,700 breakfasts annually.
In other actions the board voted to
•Approve the Title I and Professional Development Programs and 11 board policies that were scheduled for review.
Most of the policies were mandated by the state or were highly recommended for adoption by the districts legal staff.
•Voted to hire an assistant track coach. Last season the track program had 120 students participate in the program.
Based on the success of both the boys and girls teams Dr. Nancy Scott recommended the hiring of an additional coach to be filled on a year-to-year basis dependent on the number of athletes participating in the sport.
•Received the district’s attendance report. The district’s yearly attendance is on target holding at 90.74 percent for the year.
“Attendance is a tricky thing,” Pollitt said. “What the 90/90 attendance policy means is that 90 percent of the students have to be in school 90 percent of the time.”
September’s numbers were down from the August figures. The attendance rate for the month was 87.18 percent. Pollitt again stressed the importance of attendance to the overall success and achievement of the district’s students.
The attendance rate is one of the factors used to evaluate a district’s APR.
•Accept a $500 donation from the Lion’s Club to the Pettis County Early Childhood Co-op. The money will be used to purchase shatterproof mirrors to help students with their developmental skills.
•Accepted a $1,800 donation from Gardener Denver for a new air compressor for the shop at the high school.