Tea Area School Board sets June 15 as election date

The COVID Response Team met before the Tea Area School Board meeting Jan. 11 and discussed the COVID plan.

At the board meeting, the school board members voted to extend the COVID-19 leave through March 31. The leave was set to expire Dec. 31.

The board approved the resignation of Cindy Ward as bus driver and the new hire of Andrew McCormick as middle school boys basketball. He is currently a student teacher.

Board members Conrad Pick and Jason Bennett’s seats are up this year. The board of education election date will be June 15.

Curriculum director Tonia Warzecha updated the board on NWEA testing. The district is currently testing face-to-face students and that should be wrapping up soon. Online Academy students will be tested later this week and into next week. Information from those tests will be available within a few weeks.

She also compared NWEA testing from last winter to this fall. She noted there was a slide in scores from last winter to this fall, which was expected with the interruption from the pandemic.

Special education director Jody Taylor reported on the Dec. 1 child count for students in special education. Last year, there were 255 students enrolled in special education programs. As of Dec. 1, 2020, they had 278.

Business manager Chris Esping said they received the second portion of CRF funding of $1,033,000 that went into the general fund.

Superintendent Jennifer Lowery thanked Vern Eide for their donation of snacks to break rooms for teachers on their return to school from break.

The board went into executive session at 7:15 p.m.

After executive session, the board approved the extension of the superintendent’s contract through the 2023-24 school year. They also approved Jayne Valnes as executive administrative assistant.