Stew-Stras Board Agrees to Continue Teacher Sharing Discussions w/Neoga District

Stewardson-Strasburg school board members Thursday agreed to continue discussions on a teacher-sharing agreement with the Neoga school district.

Stewardson-Strasburg Steven Harsy said the Board agreed to notify the Stewardson-Strasburg Education Association of possible reductions in force.  Harsy said the notification is necessary when any changes in working conditions are possible.

Harsy said the only discussions with the Neoga district have involved "teacher windshield time" where a teacher could spend time teaching in each district.  He said there have been no discussions on transporting Stew-Stras or Neoga students for classes.

The Stew-Stras Board also directed a meeting of superintendents, principals and athletic directors for their district and the Windsor district take place to decide on athletic fees for next school year.  Harsy said the meeting is needed since the districts currently have different fee structures.

The Board set 8th grade promotion for 7pm Friday, May 24 and high school graduation for 2pm Sunday, May 26.  It was also decided not to increase any student fees for next school year except for a 10-cent increase in lunch prices to comply with Federal guidelines.  Board members also agreed to delete Keyboarding as a requirement for high school graduation, but will continue to offer the course as an elective.

Stew-Stras board members agreed to use part-time custodians Roger Shumard and Jonah Slifer on a fulltime basis during the summer months; and heard that two grants have been received.  HN Automotive in Effingham is offering a $1,000 matching grant that will help pay for upgrades in the K-12 Media Center.  The other grant from Stew-Stras' vocational education co-op will pay for replacing 17 computers in the Tech Vocational Lab with no District funds involved.  The computers will run CAD programming.

There was discussion over holding a fundraiser that will help pay for a fence for the softball field.