GEVSD Board of Education recognizes McClain FFA

McClain FFA is heading to a national chapter interview next month, and in preparation for that, FFA members practiced their presentation for Greenfield Exempted Village school board members Monday, Sept. 16 at the board’s regular meeting.

According to adviser Madison Schumacher, the McClain FFA was selected in the top 10 in the country for the Growing Leaders division. She said the presentation is about an event the McClain FFA, along with Highland County Community Action, did called Tech with Teens where FFA members assisted elderly community members on using everyday technology in their lives.

Schumacher said the students will go through an extensive interview process on Oct. 1 and will find out their final placing on stage at the national convention Oct. 25.

The school board also recognized members of the McClain FFA Agricultural Issues team, which very recently was awarded the title of national champion at a competition in Springfield, Mass., the Eastern States Exposition (“the Big E”).

In other meeting business, director of instruction Alisa Barrett briefly discussed the district’s report card and highlighted some points on how buildings in the district scored.

The points Barrett touched on included that the district and all the buildings remained at three stars in the area of achievement, the graduation rate at the high school is just four percent away from five stars, and in kindergarten through third grade literacy Buckskin Elementary stayed at three stars, Greenfield Elementary and the district increased to three stars, and Rainsboro stayed at two stars but is just one percentage point away from three stars.

Barrett emphasized that it is essential to “dig beyond the surface” of the star ratings in order to more thoroughly understand and measure progress and determine areas for support and improvement, as the report card is a snapshot of some, not all, of the things going on in the district.

There will be an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the report card Monday, Sept. 23 from 6-7 p.m., as there will be an informational session presented by Barrett and superintendent Quincey Gray. It will be held in the McClain cafeteria and is open to the community.

“It is easy to write articles and make posts about star ratings, but what is not easy is understanding how and what type of data feeds into those ratings,” Gray said. “It is also easy for people to make comparisons among districts without understanding that a district's characteristics impact star ratings. As an example, our district is the only one in the county that has multiple K-5 elementary buildings, which impacts how our rating is determined.

“The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce identifies similar districts so that school districts can make ‘apple to apple’ comparisons. We assess how we are doing compared to those districts in addition to evaluating how our buildings compare to the state average.

“I would strongly encourage people to attend our Report Card Informational Session on Monday, Sept. 23,” Gray continued. “The session is open to anyone in the community and presents a great opportunity to learn about all of the school district components and to ask questions.”

In other matters, items accepted as part of the consent agenda included the treasurer’s report, the bus routes for the school year, the termination of bus driver Cory Curtis and the approval of two new clubs at McClain High School – Crochet Club and Creative Writing Club.

The treasurer’s report included further information on records retention, something that Barber has been keeping board members updated on as the process of sorting through older records continues.

He reported Monday that 318 boxes of obsolete fiscal records were recently approved by the local records commission for disposal. He said that over the next two weeks, he would be meeting with building principals, secretaries and other department heads to review the schedule for records retention so they can begin the process of determining which records are to be kept and which can be lawfully disposed of.

Gray in her report to the board said there is an open house set for the multi-purpose building at the practice field on Oct. 21. The public is invited to attend and see the work that has gone into the practice field development. The open house will be held from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m.

Employment recommendations approved by the board were: Coty Barnhart - intervention specialist; Mark Cumberland - paraprofessional; Robert Paul - bus driver; Emily Howard - aide; Gavin McCune - aide; Chris Miller - van driver; Jocelyn Parrish - aide; Annette Weller - secretary; Mikel Pritchard - boys basketball assistant; Molly Stegbauer - softball coach; Drew Hamilton - girls track coach; Steve Roble - boys track coach; Heath McNeal - boys basketball assistant; Nik Beatty - boys eighth grade basketball; Donnie Ary - baseball coach; Bob Bergstrom - track assistant; and certified substitutes Jeri Brown, Ezekiel Crabtree, Deborah Hensley, Jocelyn Parrish and Christopher Speakman.

The next regular meeting of the Greenfield Exempted Village School District Board of Education is scheduled for Oct. 21 at the multi-purpose building at the practice field at 7 p.m. For information and updates, go to the district website at greenfield.k12.oh.us or go to the district’s social media pages. The individual buildings also have Facebook pages. The district’s central office may be reached by calling (937) 981-2152.

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