School board votes to exit Cornbelt Co-op

The Tea Area board of education voted to exit the Cornbelt Cooperative at its Oct. 10 meeting.

The district has been reviewing leaving the co-op for some time because the district is three times larger than the next largest district in the cooperative. By leaving the cooperative, the district projects to save $129,625. The exit will happen June 30, 2017 on the last day of membership.

Superintendent Jennifer Lowery disclosed that she is a board member of Tea Economic Development Corp. and the TIE advisory board. She noted she did not receive compensation for either but did receive mileage for TIE. The board approved waivers for those two items.

Lowery discussed the results of the district’s Smarter Balance Assessment. She noted that all grades tested above the state average except eighth grade in English, Language Arts. In math, only three grades tested above the state average.

She noted that fourth, sixth and seventh graders improved their proficiency in English, Language Arts and math over their test in 2015.

While improvement was made, Lowery would like student proficiency to be higher. She would like students to be 70 percent to 80 percent proficient rather than in the 50 percent or lower range.

The board approved the second reading of Policy GBAA, the policy regarding hiring of veterans. They approved the resignation of Sam Miller as a fourth grade teacher that is effective this week.