Windham – Windham Board of Education (BOE) met in person recently with all but one member in attendance.
After the usual Pledge of Allegiance and moment of silence, BOE President Mandy Berardinelli reported that track, baseball and softball practices have started. She also reported that the student run food pantry has a drive-thru food distribution on Tuesdays, and the students celebrated a modified homecoming in February. The king and queen, along with the court, were presented at a girls’ basketball game in February and they crowned Queen Bailey Scott and King Adam Thomas. The court paraded through the halls of the school, following their Covid policy. Prom is scheduled for May 15th at Sorrentos in Warren.
Superintendent Aireane Curtis reported that they had their Covid Intervention Plan ready to roll next month. The highlights include after school tutoring for student in danger of falling behind. The tutoring will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school. The program runs for about an hour each day for the elementary and hour and a half for Jr. and Sr. high students. It will run for 6 weeks beginning April 6th and runs through May 20th. The participants will be fed dinner courtesy of Community Action Council (CAC). Busing will also be provided for those in need. The primary focus for this program is math and reading skills. The district will also offer a six-week summer school program that is broken down into two three-week sessions. The summer program runs from June 7-24 and July 12-29th. They will be studying three days a week (Tues. Wed. Thurs,) from 9 am – noon. Busing will be provided for those who need it and lunch will be provided for all by CAC. The summer program will also offer credit recovery for high school students.
The school staff will determine which students are in need of extra help because of the pandemic. They will offer a similar program in the fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All funding for staffing this program and the transportation is coming from Covid monies, not the school’s general fund.
Windham staff will receive their second dose of Covid vaccine on March 18th. They have scheduled March 19th as a remote day, just in case the vaccinated staff has issues from the second dose.
The district is looking to upgrade the web site and calling program. It might qualify for use of Covid monies. The levy committee is discussing a door-to-door blitz to explain the reason for the levy. The superintendent presented a rough draft of the flier they are going to mail out and/or hand out, to the board. The board made several suggestions on improving it. Curtis will take suggestions under advisement before making the final draft for the fliers. The levy lawn signs are ordered and will be available soon.
Treasurer Adam Hines reported, the energy grant that will start opening up next month and he believes the district has a good chance of receiving it. He also reported that they had a good clean audit, earning the district the Auditor of the State Award for 2020. Congratulations Adam Hines and Assistant Jennifer Garro, on a job well done!
Other items the BOE approved were summer school and after school tutoring program teachers and aids, purchase of a new bus from a state grant, student vaccine clinic on April 26th, spring sport coaches, food pantry donations and the College Credit Plus Program for the 2021-22 school year with Stark State. The BOE meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 at the high school
