2 daily meals will be free for Superior school students

Superior public school administrators expect school to start on time even though the remodel contractors report they are running three weeks behind. The main high school restroom and the secondary front entrance, which includes all the administrative offices are involved. A firewall currently blocks access between the different parts of the school. John Whetzal, superintendent, said, “Lots of our plans will depend on what the fire marshall says.” Whetzal expects to meet with contractors and the fire marshall yet this week and will keep board members informed with Friday notes and updates he expects to send to board members throughout the school year.

Students are scheduled to report for classes, Thursday, Aug. 10. For the next four years, all students can eat both breakfast and lunch for free at Superior Public Schools as part of the Community Eligibility Provison (CPE) of the National School Food Service Program. The program is a non-pricing meal option for schools in low income areas which allows the serving of breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without the school collecting household data. The announcement was made Monday evening at the regular July Board of Education meeting. The school will be reimbursed for 64.9 percent of the students at the free rate and the remaining 35.08 percent will be reimbursed at the paid rate.

Dusty Stevens, the new food service director, said, “We need to increase participation, especially breakfast. I have been working on ideas.” Food service staff have all attended Safe Serve workshops this summer . In additon to preparing summer meals, they have been cleaning, organizing and attending training sessions.

The district has also received a grant to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for kindergarten through fifth grade students which will be offered as snacks four days each week. The goal is to introduce them to food they may have never tasted like hummus and star fruit. It is hoped those same foods may then be served as part of the school food service program and students will recognize them and take the ones they have liked.

A special hearing was held prior to the regular meeting regarding student fees. Later the board approved the following student fees: $30‚ student season pass which covers admission to all home extracurricular events; $30‚ required of all students who participate in athletics or other extracurricular activities.

The board rejected the resignation of Samantha Trauernicht as an elementary resource teacher. Matt Sullivan, board president, recommended not accepting the resignation. He said, “In my opinion we do not want to set a precedent of accepting resignations this late.”

When asked by the board, Supt. John Whetzal concurred. “As a board, you have two options You can deny the request or you can accept it and direct me to have her teaching license pulled. The board entered into executive session for approximately 20 minutes to discuss the details.

In other business, the board accepted June expenditures for the general fund in the amount of $592,175.88. They also approved $765,455 in construction expenditures.

Local substitute certificates were approved on an as needed basis. The elementary and staff handbooks were also approved.

The board expects to approve additional handbooks at the August meeting which is scheduled for three days after school starts. One of their tasks will be to define family prior to the approval. One of the changes for elementary students will be no personal electronic devices will be allowed in the classroom which are capable of messaging. Jodi Fierstein, elementary school principal, said,“Early last year, the middle school went to putting electronic equipment into locked bags as students arrived. At that time it was not an issue for the elementary school, then Christmas hit and problems exploded after students received smart watches for Christmas.”