Photo by Wanda Hanson
The Houston School Board decided to proceed with the order of a new school bus (at a cost of $92, 943) at their regular meeting October 21. Superintendent Mary Morem informed the board that bus #7 had been in the shop three times since she joined Houston Schools this year and had racked up $11,000 in repair charges.
Since the bus was so old, it qualified for a $20,000 grant that requires the bus to be taken off the road and scrapped. Morem credited former superintendent Krin Abraham and Director of Finance Gwen Rostad with their forward-thinking in putting away money each year for buses; the necessary funds are available to pay for the bus. Estimates are that the bus will arrive in the spring.
With the retirement of Building/Maintenance Supervisor Andy Sweet, Morem asked and received the okay to post for a new position of transportation/facilities director. This person would be responsible for many of Sweet’s former duties and would coordinate the operation of the buildings, grounds, and transportation department. Portions of this job are currently being handled by several different people; Morem felt that having one person in charge would provide smoother management.
The board approved the purchase of a line striper for the athletic fields at the cost of $4,479. Currently the school pays $150 each game to stripe the fields; with their own striper, the expense will be reduced to $40 a game. The striper they selected will work on both grass and hard surfaces; in addition, the paint gun can be detached and used for other outdoor painting projects as well.
Substitute teachers have become harder to come by, according to Morem. She told the board that several times substitute teachers have agreed to sub and then have not shown up. Both High School Principal Mr. Mangan and Morem had to cover for classrooms this week as a result.
Morem shared the substitute teachers pay rates from local schools. Houston has been paying substitute teachers $90/day, which was actually less that the paraprofessional subs were getting. The board decided to raise the sub rate to $125/day to be in line with area schools, and hopefully attract more subs. Morem will check the teacher master contract to ensure this can be done at this time. Houston has historically been paying its retired teachers slightly more than regular sub pay to sub, recognizing their experience at the school.
Superintendent Morem attended the MNVA heavy machinery field trip held at Hinckley. She returned enthused about it and wants to make the opportunity available to students not enrolled in MNVA as well. She hopes to have Activities and Communications Director Mikayla Simmons accompany her next year to videotape and market the experience for the school.
Other business
In other business the board:
•Learned that the elementary has not received all the planned Smartboards for each room; they will be ordered ASAP;
•Officially set the World’s Best Workforce hearing for November 18 at 6:30 p.m.;
•Approved the replacement purchase of two doors for the school; these are necessary to meet code requirements.
The next regular meeting of the Houston School Board will be November 4 at 6 p.m.in the high school media center and streamlined online. The public is welcome to attend.
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