Bair sworn in as interim trustee on School District No. 2 board

Hiring and retaining quality staff, PAWS testing for students, a new reading series for elementary school students, a new health curriculum and other matters topped the agenda for trustees at Monday night’s Big Horn County School District No. 2 board meeting.The meeting opened with the swearing in of interim board member Stacy Bair, who will fill in for Tracy Beal, who resigned from his elected position on the board last month. Bair said, though excited to be a part of the board, she wasn’t sure yet if she would put herself on the ballot for the position at the upcoming election.[caption id="attachment_10930" align="alignright" width="300"] Stacy Bair is sworn in by Big Horn County School District No. 2 board chair Bruce Jolley on Monday night during the district’s regularly scheduled school board meeting in Lovell.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]The monthly focus of the meeting was on the topic of recruiting and maintaining high quality staff presented by Supt. Rick Woodford. Woodford said recruiting teachers as early as possible in the year was important to finding the “cream of the crop” teachers, who are hired quickly as they graduate from college. He suggested the school offer incentives to teachers who are thinking of resigning or retiring in order to know as soon as possible about vacant position that will need to be filled. He said the district has had great success finding good candidates at job fairs early in the year, when they know in advance about upcoming vacancies that will need to be filled.“Finding the best teachers is really a high priority for us,” said Woodford.Woodford proposed giving a special bonus of $1,000 to teachers who submit their resignation before Dec. 15.  He suggested a $500 bonus for teachers who submit their resignation before Jan. 15 and a bonus of $250 for teachers who submit their resignation before Feb. 15.  The board voted to approve the schedule, subject to funds availability.Woodford made it clear that he wasn’t looking for teachers to resign but to notify the district as soon as possible once they’ve made that decision.Curriculum Director Nancy Cerroni presented the upcoming schedule for PAWS and other testing of students. She noted the importance of the testing as a resource for policymakers, administrators, students and parents to determine how well students are achieving and the effectiveness of the curriculum.The board also approved the purchase of the Journey reading series for the elementary school. A team of teachers and administrators recommended the series after a review of several programs. Cerroni was able to negotiate the cost of the materials from $80,000 to $40,000 and principals from the other schools were able to contribute extra money from their budgets to help purchase the program.Though not on the agenda, the board approved a new curriculum for the middle school’s health program. Principal Doug Hazen and a team of parents and teachers recommended the program, which will go into effect in the spring. See next week’s Lovell Chronicle for a more detailed story about what the new program will entail.The board went into executive session to discuss teacher reviews and to discuss contract renewals for teachers and other staff. A vote to approve or deny contracts will take place at the next board meeting.

By Patti Carpenter