Keota Four-Day Week Seems to Show Early Success

KEOTA – During the Oct. 10 meeting of the Keota School Board, Superintendent and High School Principal Lisa Brenneman recapped conversations she had had with students on the Principal Advisory Committee. According to Brenneman, 100% of the students she had talked to loved the recently implemented four-day school week. Brenneman stated that teacher absences were down this year. Milledge agreed that staff was in a good place. He stated that this year was the best start of a school year, in terms of overall feeling, Keota had had in a while. He stated the four day week had made a huge difference, and allowed staff to get away and come back refreshed on Monday.

Brenneman also stated that students felt things were more structured this year, teachers were personable, and that they wanted more competitive class events. Brenneman stated that the high school’s certified enrollment was down from 129 to 114. Elementary and Middle School Principal Seth Milledge stated that the elementary school had grown from 160 to 170 students, including 13 three year olds. Brenneman stated that a lot of the students had moved away, rather than having left through open enrollment, and speculated that some of them would move back.

She noted that, due to the AEA moving to fee for service this year, Keota had been using the agency less to avoid overusing them. Brenneman stated the district was cracking down harder on a Study Table policy, where students have to stay after school if they are getting a D or an F. She stated that it had had a tremendous effect and Keota had gone down to just five students with Ds or Fs. She talked about new guided homework policies, where teachers help students work through homework and answer questions, and new exit ticket tests, containing questions to make sure students have learned the subject matter by the end of the day.

Milledge talked about changing the grade weighting for 4th-6th graders. Currently classwork is worth most of students’ grades. He stated that he plans to put more emphasis on tests and quizzes, to focus more on what students have learned rather than if they were in class. Going forward, classwork will be worth 20%, quizzes will be worth 35%, and tests will be worth 45% of student grades.

Brenneman requested the board adjust the new chronic absenteeism policies to track students based on semester rather than by quarter. She explained that some kids were already at the 5% limit for missing classes, and that the school would have to send certified letters and begin having weekly meetings with parents. She stated that the school would have to send a letter to a student who was in the hospital earlier this year, but that the county attorney would not count the student as trudent. Board member Jim Tinnes stated that if felt like the new policies were designed to punish parents more than students. Brenneman stated the policies were not a bad thing, and that students needed to come to school. She stated that parents don’t realize that they can’t get transfer schools to avoid these policies, because they are state wide.

Brenneman stated that the pipes underneath the school were bad and wouldn’t last much longer. She suggested being proactive and replacing the pipes in segments over the course of several years, because the school cannot afford to replace them all in one go. Board member Dan Redlinger suggested calling Denovo Construction Solutions to get an assessment sooner than later. Brenneman also stated that the kitchen dishwasher needed a water softener and that the kitchen walk in cooler was rusty and needed to be replaced eventually.

The board approved applying for a KCEEF grant to improve the boys locker room and weight room. Milledge stated that the district’s projectors were old and that their bulbs cost $250 to replace, because they aren’t manufactured anymore. He stated he was interested in interactive TVs for classrooms, and would look into the cost of buying one for a test pilot.

Tinnes asked about the Barracuda door bars. Milledge stated that they had been installed, but that there hadn’t been a building wide demonstration for staff yet. He stated the door bars were easy to use, but that they needed to keep kids’ hands off them. Tinnes said he never wanted to stop improving safety. Brenneman discussed adding bulletproof coating or bulletproof glass to the high school entrance.

The board reviewed two bids for snow removal: one from B&L Concrete and one from ag teacher Zach Jamison. Tinnes raised concerns about a 20 hour minimum and language stating Jamison had no responsibility for potential property damage. He also raised concerns that Jamison was one person and would struggle to clear the snow when it was windy. Board member Andy Conrad pointed out that B&L has more employees and equipment, meaning they have backups in the case of a piece of equipment breaking down, and said that Keota can’t not open one day. The board approved B&L Concrete’s bid.