Public announcement of increased pay, review of needed repairs, and a new board member made appearances at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
The board welcomed Nome-Beltz senior Megan Contreras as this year’s student representative. In addition to serving on the board, she serves as president of the student council while also playing volleyball.
As a part of her student report, Contreras told the board about the high school possibly implementing a big sibling program with the junior high. If the program is feasible, a junior high student will be paired up with a high school mentor who will help them with academic and social issues.
After Tuesday’s meeting, substitute teachers with a bachelor’s degree will be seeing an increased rate of pay. Nome Public Schools Superintendent Shawn Arnold says the raise in pay has attracted more candidates interested in the job, which is an improvement from years past. Arnold recalls years where, “we’ve been without substitute teachers and multiple classrooms, and we’ve had to combine classrooms of 40 or 60 kids.”
In addition, the school board addressed the newest needed repairs. Since last year’s inspection of the school facilities, inspectors have found water damage in both schools and a plumbing problem at Nome Elementary. The plumbing issue found two weeks ago was the result of old age. The water damage stems from structural stress to the roof.
The roofs for the elementary school and high school are thirty and fifty years old, respectively. Both roofs, and the elementary school’s plumbing issues, are unexpected needed repairs. The school has materials to patch all the structural issues and are working towards long-term solutions.
During the public comment period, the board acknowledged concerns from a parent regarding meeting times and public comment opportunities.
To wrap up the meeting, the board also read policy regarding health examinations, sex-ed, and AIDS education.
The next school board meeting will be a work session in the Nome Elementary School’s library at 5:30 pm September 27th.
