Altamont School Board Acts on Several Items at Weekend Meeting

Altamont school board members covered a lot of ground at their annual Work Weekend on Saturday.

Each of the department heads reviewed their areas. Mark Holland discussed the district fleet, and reviewed a five-year rotation of vehicles. Jared Stuckemeyer discussed technology needs. That included an overview of security, technology for business class needs, and proposed summer work. Activities Director Katie Lurkins reviewed coaching updates for next school year, as well as updates on clubs.

High school principal Peggy Bueker reviewed teacher retention, graduation, curriculum, and initiatives for the coming school year. Grade school principal Doug Hill also looked over teacher assignments as well as initiatives for the coming school year. Assistant Principal Kris Biggs reviewed testing data, curriculum and instruction, and special education needs. Maintenance Director Alan Whitt reviewed summer work. Superintendent Casey Adam discussed the national conference, the budget status, state budget news, professional development plans for the coming school year, and curriculum committee goals for the coming school year.

In personnel moves, the Altamont board accepted the resignation of Teresa Lee effective at the end of the school year, and all non-tenured teachers were rehired for the coming school year including Mrs. Miller for 1st grade, Mrs. Pike for 1st grade, Ms. Larimore for 2nd grade, Mr. Jenkins for 6th grade, Ms. Popp for 6th grade, Mr. Leisher for junior high Literature, Ms. Hooks for junior high English, Mrs. Lowry for Special Ed, Ms. Funneman for Special Ed, and Mrs. Probst for junior high Math. At the high school, those non-tenured teachers rehired were Morgan Hall for Spanish, Alex Walden for Ag, Tessa Philpot for English, Gus Koester for Chemistry, and Steve Long for Social Sciences. Three teachers were placed on tenure for the coming school year, including Lindsey Wendling, Kim Splechter and Kyle Bourgeois.

The Board approved all coaching contracts for the coming school year, approved the calendar for the coming school year, entered into an agreement with IDEAL Environmental Engineering for a high school abatement project, and agreed to seek bids to resurface the latex track at the grade school.