Charles Kinsey, with the Technical Career Center, discussed with the Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education an opportunity to explore Project Lead the Way for Poplar Bluff and area students during its meeting Thursday night.
Project Lead the Way is designed to teach students in coding, app development, websites and more, Kinsey said.
"Those type of things are becoming more necessary in this community," he said. "The time is right for a Project Lead the Way class at the Technical Career Center."
Through a Perkins grant, Kinsey said the district would be allowed to explore the new program by paying 100 percent of a teacher's salary.
He also estimated roughly $60,000 as a preliminary cost for the program, which could be absorbed through funding of the Perkins grant.
"If we get it all set up, there are additional grants to continue the program," he said.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance Rod Priest added he was really pleased to see the AP component of the potential classes through Project Lead the Way.
"We have students who don't look at taking classes at the career center because they are looking at courses and what they need to stay at the top of their class," he said. "This may help because they can take the class there and earn AP credit."
Financial Update
Priest reported to the board for the year, the district was down $1.5 million, but when compared to last year, the school is up by $34,000.
"When you see we are down $1.5 million don't let that scare you because we started making payroll, but we will not get our tax base until later," he said.
Health Services
Student Wellness
The board approved the health services student wellness program evaluation and assessment presented by District Drug Free/Health Coordinator Sheryl Talkington.
During her report, Talkington said there were 72,922 visits to the health rooms within the district last year.
Currently, the district has nine licensed nurses and five health aid positions, Lake Road and Early Childhood not included.
"I would like to see them included in the future," she said. "It's very needed."
The health curriculum in the process of being updated, Talkington reported, which will be brought to the board for approval once completed.
School Board Election
The board approved the April election for two school board members who will serve three year terms.
Board members Cynthia Brown and Roger Hanner will be up for re-election if they choose to re-file.
Filing will open at 8 a.m. Dec. 11 and close at 5 p.m. Jan. 15, 2019.
Food Service
Equipment Grants
The board unanimously approved the quotes for purchase for food service equipment grants.
Those included a 30 gallon tilting skillet, a mobile heated cabinet and reach in refrigerator for Oak Grove, O'Neal and the Middle School.
The grants will cover 100 percent of the purchase at no cost to the district.
Legal Services
The board approved entering in an agreement with Guin Mundorf of Kansas City for legal services as needed through Jan. 2020.
"I'm not saying we would use them on a regular basis, but it's good to have options out there," Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill said.
Alternative School
With construction of the Early Childhood Education building underway, Dill reported planning to change the Mark Twain School, where the current Early Childhood Center is located, to the Alternative School.
"This is something we have been working on for a couple of years already," Dill said. "This is an ongoing and very active process and I will keep the board updated."
Dill added his vision is to house multiple programs under one roof to service children who don't fit in the traditional system.
"It's exciting work," he said.
Next meeting
The next Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 in the central office board room, located at 1110 N. Westwood Blvd.