USD 333 BOE Hears Absenteeism Report; Plans Parent Engagement Night
The USD 333 Board of Education met on Monday evening to hold a regular meeting at the USD 333 BOE Administrative Offices.
The meeting began at 5:30 PM with the Board opening the floor for public comments. At 6 PM, the Board opened the floor to Superintendent Tom DeBauche to discuss chronic absenteeism. He reported that within the first 9 weeks of school, chronic absenteeism levels have decreased by 6 percent, with a hopeful goal to reduce total levels of chronic absenteeism by 50 percent by the end of the year. He also mentioned that the numbers aren't completely accurate, as the school is still ironing out some issues with recording excused and unexcused absences.
Superintendent DeBauche then presented his plans for hosting a Parent Engagement Night for USD 333 on January 28. The desire is that students from 7-12th grade will bring a parent/mentor to learn more about the challenges that teenagers face in today’s world. USD 333 will partner with local professionals to provide valuable insight, guidance, and resources to support families as they navigate adolescence together. DeBauche shared that there will be 8-10 breakout sessions for students and mentors to become involved in, with them being able to choose up to 3 total sessions to participate in. DeBauche then brought a proposal to the Board about issuing an incentive for the students who attend. Each student who attends the Parent Engagement Night with at least one mentor will receive an excused absence that will be used on the following Monday of school, February 2. The Board decided to vote on the proposal once they reached the Action Items.
The Board then moved to hearing staff reports. Tom DeBauche went through his Superintendent's Report, listing steady enrollment numbers and informing the Board of an upcoming vote on the dissolution of USD 334 once the votes from the Cloud County General Election are canvassed. He and Kim Muff spoke briefly on their progress with the current Recruit, Retain, Rise initiative that USD 333 is currently fundraising for, with both stating that it is a program that will take some time to implement and work out all the details.
Operations Director Kelly Struebing gave his report next, discussing how October was Cyber Security Month and how an analysis showed that more training throughout the district would be beneficial in teaching how to better identify phishing attempts.
Curriculum Director Brian Myers was next to report. He recapped past meetings with ELA and HGSS members to develop rubric for curriculum adoption. He also shared that the WorkKeys test was given to approximately 25 Juniors who had signed up for it, and how he will be attending the Fusion 2025 conference on November 12 to learn more about ION Insights and how other districts are harnessing its power.
Kim Muff was the last to report to the board. She shared multiple grants and donor gifts, including two $500 donations for the Panther Legacy hall and one $1,000 grant for the CTE Mentoring program.
After the reports, the Board went into three separate executive sessions. One from 6:38 PM to 7:08 PM regarding a monthly review with Superintendent DeBauche, the second from 7:12 PM to 7:27 PM regarding an individual employee's performance, and the last from 7:30 PM to 7:40 PM discussing confidential student information.
The Board then moved onto action items, voting on and passing a strategic plan RFP Rubric, an early graduation request, and the February 2 excused absence for students who attend the Parent Engagement Night with at least one mentor.
The Board held a brief discussion and agreed to hold the next USD 333 Board of Education Special Study Session on December 29 at 6 PM.
The Board then voted on accepting the hiring, transfers, resignations, and terminations of both certified and classified personnel. The two votes passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 PM.