Board approves trio of purchase orders

By John Miller, 08/31/22 4:12 PM

PRESCOTT – August’s meeting of the Prescott School Board mostly dealt with purchase orders.

The board approved a trio of purchase orders Tuesday night. The first from IXL Learning, a supplemental program for tier two and three intervention for all four content areas. The cost of this program is $22,425.

Next was $24,867.63 to AAA State of Play for playground equipment for pre-school students. This, the board was told, came through a grant and is for equipment only, not installation. The equipment will be set up behind Prescott Elementary School once the temporary building has been removed.

The final purchase order was for Hand2Mind, Inc., for $17,115.07. This is support primarily for math with more hands-on activities. This is for higher level students as a grant for elementary school wasn’t available at the time, but is now and will be applied for.

There were two disclosures approved by the board. These involved local businesses the district does business with, but have employees associated with the district or on the board. One was for Southern Grace and the other for KoFields Restaurant.

The board also updated a couple of policies, the first dealing with remote meetings for board members unable to attend. Under the new policy, board members can attend meetings remotely, but won’t be allowed to vote on anything occurring during executive session or in a closed hearing. They can, though, vote on business done in open session. Members can attend remotely up to three times a year.

The other dealt with drug testing. Initially, any student testing positive for drugs would be suspended for five days. However, the board agreed this wasn’t enough punishment as students could still attend ball games. Now, the suspension is for five days and includes the next athletic contest and will begin when the school is notified of a positive test. In addition, hair and urine can be tested.

Angie Bryant provided information on the school improvement play, saying the plan stays within legal requirements and the district improvement plan for all three campuses. The PLC will continue operating, with the focus on tier one classroom instruction. Programs and plans also include tier two and three reading and teacher support, while addressing dyslexia. If the money is available, bonuses could be provided for teacher recruitment and retention.

In the superintendent’s report, the board was told the current enrollment is 881, with 325 in PES, 252 in Prescott Junior High School and 304 in Prescott High School. There are also 39 enrolled in pre-school.