North Clay Board Hears from Public

North Clay school board members heard this week from local residents about a couple of ongoing issues.

Bryan West appeared again on behalf of the FFA Alumni. West again spoke against any project that would see a park developed utilizing land on the south end of school district property. West thinks efforts should continue to acquire land adjacent to the existing park and expand at that location. Terry Hronec on behalf of the FFA Alumni also spoke against establishing a park on school district grounds.

The Board also heard from Kenny Hilderbrand, who asked why his son Logan was banned from school district property for another year at the previous board meeting. Hilderbrand said his son, Logan, was out-of-state on a hunting trip when the violation cited in extending the ban occurred. Kenny Hilderbrand said his name had been on the radio and that he had the same last name and it had caused them grief. He said he had phoned Superintendent Monty Aldrich and that it was to be taken care of but, instead, reported to the media that video of the incident was being reviewed, but that there was no coverage to confirm the accused. Board member Tony Smith then verbally apologized to Kenny Hilderbrand, as did Board President Cecil Cochran. Cochran then said he had spoken with four people regarding the matter and that two of those had indicated Logan Hilderbrand was out-of-state on a hunting trip, while two others had seen Logan Hilderbrand locally. Cochran then asked Kenny Hilderbrand to accept the Board's apology regarding the misunderstanding and previous media coverage. Kenny Hilderbrand agreed, but stated that he wanted it on the radio to the effect that Logan was not on school grounds. The Board then agreed to do so. In summary, the Board apologized for the incident and there is no punishment for Logan Hilderbrand.

The Board accepted the resignation of Kevin Hammond as full-time bus driver but retained him as a substitute bus driver, and then hired Heather Rosch as a full-time bus driver. Also approved was the purchase and construction of a greenhouse to be used within the curriculum in the Ag program. The understanding is that the FFA Alumni group will fund everything with the exception of the cost of utilities once the structure is finished.

Board members also briefly discussed a situation where numerous young students were to be dropped off after school via bus routes with parents/guardians not being at home. The district currently has a policy with the Pre-K program to prevent this, but nothing for any other students. Aldrich said the concern that bus drivers have is that they genuinely care for the kids and worry that if nobody is home, they may be in danger for several reasons. The current procedure is for the drivers to bring those kids back to the school while personnel attempts to contact parents. Sometimes this is successful but, at other times, there are repeat offenders. The Administration will come up with protocol as to what will happen if parents/guardians do not show to care for their children and plan to put the procedure in place shortly.

The Board contracted with Bill Whitlow on drainage repairs, and discussed purchase and replacement of snow removal equipment but tabled the matter to next month.

Board members renewed an agreement with Karl Meurlot as the district's attorney and approved a number of Board policies.

The Board also set a special meeting for Wednesday, January 6 at either 6pm or 6:30pm for strategic planning. A time limit of two hours was set for the meeting. An agenda and time for the meeting will be set and posted.