Board Members:
Thanks for your hard work and efforts to improve our school system! There is no doubt we are moving some ‘big rocks’ this year! I am excited about our move to managed food service and truly believe this will be a game changer for our students!
My brother-in-law is still in critical condition, we have been at the hospital off and on most of the week. At the writing of this bulletin, they have just finished another surgery, which went very well. I am optimistic that he will fully recover!
This week in the legislature, we saw the resurrection of vouchers, only this time in the Senate. SSB 3206 was fast tracked through the appropriations subcommittee in record time, almost too quickly for anyone to react. Next week it will go to the full appropriations committee where it is expected to pass. Our belief is that it will move completely through the Senate in a relatively quick pace, but hopefully it will stall out in the House. You will recall the House effort failed to gain support earlier in the session. We are only about three weeks from adjournment, so time is running out. Hopefully that works to our advantage. I continue to monitor the SAVE legislation, which remains alive for consideration. I am beginning to be a bit concerned the operations incentives bill hasn’t moved yet, but remain hopeful they can get that finished before adjournment.
You may have also heard some news about a bill requiring school districts to adopt safety plans to address active shooter scenarios and directs school districts to incorporate drills in much the same manner that we do tornado and fire drills. Luckily, we are a bit ahead on this work. Our safety plan remains a living (and confidential) document of operation. At the beginning of the school year we held training with faculty and staff about the components of this plan. Today, Mr. Bell is working with Black Hawk County to do a walk through of our facilities in an effort to improve collaboration with our first responders, get suggestions, and make plans to move the plan to the next stage. It is our hope to begin an age appropriate educational component for students sometime this spring.
If you are looking for some entertainment this weekend, I might suggest checking out the spring musical. Although it is sold out for tonight, there still are 29 seats available for tomorrow evening. I would encourage you to act fast, as I have no doubt it will sell out tomorrow as well.
Have a great weekend. We’ll be watching the weather closely over the next 12 hours, we are expecting a late winter/early spring snowstorm that will dump a large amount of snow on us!
The picture I am sharing this week is from the ‘National History Day’ competition held today at the Grout Museum in Waterloo. This annual rite of passage is a part of our junior high experience and Mr. Dieken and I enjoy going every year to see the student projects. I am also quite sure the parents are happy when this project is in the rear view mirror, because it is a lot of work to get ready for!
Have a great weekend!
Dr. Anthony D. Voss, Superintendent
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