Shortly after the regular monthly meeting of the Superior Board of Education opened, members of the board toured the district’s elementary “POWER” room. Courtney Utecht, a special education instructor and MacKenzie Trumble, a speech language pathologist, talked about the room, its design and shared their excitement.
POWER is an acronym for “Preparing Our Wildcats with Education and Responsibility.” Most would refer to the POWER room as an area designed to teach students severely challenged in some way: mentally, physically, emotionally, socially or a combination.
For example, this year among the students served are three nonverbal students. The school nurse is present for lunch each day during meal time because one or more students have a tendency to choke. The POWER room is a place where life-skills like self-care, vocational skills, functional reading and math skills, money management, self advocacy and independence can be learned.
For the first time in Superior, the room and specialized staff can meet the needs of a variety of students in an alternative setting, while still letting them interact with their peers as appropriate. In prior years these students would have been transported to another district, generally Hastings.
Utecht works in the room full-time with a para-educator. Trumble uses the room about half of each day. Other staff also may use the room which includes a portable sink, a safe quiet room with dimable lights and soft bean bag type furnishings.
One of the goals of the POWER classroom is to improve the general education learning environment by removing the small group of students with the most intense emotional and behavioral problems and at appropriate times reintegrating the same students back into the general educational setting. For example, they can often be part of music and physical education classes.
Four board members were present for the meeting. Brad Biltoft and Jason Jensen were absent. They board approved September expenditures from the general fund of $554,990.63.
The September payroll was $481,706.61.
Total September expenditures were $697,447. This compares to total September 2020 expenditures of $640,026. In 2019, September expenditures were $649,859 and 2018 they were $514,619.
The ending balance in September 2018 was $2,876,323. This year the ending balance is $1,937,636.
Board members were to review a series of policies prior to the meeting as part of a continuing effort the regularly review the entire policy manual. No policy changes were made.
Between coughs, Jodi Fierstein, elementary principal, reviewed September. “It has been a busy month, and I missed half of it,” she said. (She has been ill.)
She also reported that she is doing much better and is no longer contagious.
September elementary activities included a Lunch Buddy picnic, MAP assessments, DESSA second step screening, fourth grade AgVenture Day, parent teacher conferences, fire safety week and staff development activities.
Bob Cook, middle school and secondary principal, also reported on parent teacher conferences, student testing, MAP assessments, the FBLA blood drive and staff professional development.
Supt. Kobza said, “Today, no student nor staff members missed school because of COVID. Since school has started there have been 21 positive COVID cases. At the peak the school had three to four gone each day. Some are still recovering. A few cases were significant and others less severe. Most significant cases affected staff and the students not so much.”
Supt. Kobza expects to call a special meeting yet this month related to projected building related projects: roof repair ($1.2 million), front entrance construction ($800,000) and parking lot upgrade ($750,000).
He also reported the school now has a therapy dog. The dog will be in intensive training for most of the next year. Supt. Kobza expects the dog will be at the school next fall. School therapy dogs offer comfort to students in counseling settings, help improve student motivation and social skills and can provide an audience to encourage students to read. Research has shown therapy dogs can reduce stress and provide a sense of connection in difficult situations.
The district is to receive two new buses yet this fall. They still need cameras installed.
Supt. Kobza reported that the Superior Educators Association had requested the board of education considered COVID leave for staff. It is to be an agenda item at the November meeting.
The meeting was approximately one hour long.
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