Henryetta schools will be out at least through the rest of the week as teachers head to Oklahoma City to push for more funding.
april boardMonday night, board members voted to keep the classes vacant and see what happens with legislation. A special board meeting will be called Friday at 5 p.m. to determine if school will reopen Monday.
“I went to the walkout,” said board member Casey Jones. “It was one of the most impressive things I’ve sever seen.” Joking, he told the board and some 20 teachers present that he, “has been to a lot of OU-Texas football games and this is just as crazy. Everyone is courteous in this.”
He went on to say that he didn’t think funding will reach the Oklahoma Education Association goals but the state has to do something.
A group phone call to all parents will be made announcing the decision of the board Friday evening.
During the walkout, elementary principal Kelly Furer said she plans to bring in third grade students Wednesday and Thursday for state-mandated testing. Reading tests will be given Wednesday and mat tests the following day. She explained the time frame is necessary for the school to get preliminary scores back by the end of the school year to determine who would need to be in summer school.
“If they do not pass the third grade reading test, we need to allow them the summer to make their gains by August,” she said.
Testing will start at 8:30 and end at 1:30. The school will be providing lunch and breakfast through the Feed the Children project.
“If we are off for another week, we might look at pulling the fourth and fifth graders in to get the testing complete,” she added.
Board members were told that superintendent Dwayne Noble, assistant elementary principal Jayme Matlock and high school principal Dirk Walden have been delivering food to students during the past week. “We have been driving to their houses and knocking on doors,” Noble said.
Walden said out of 70 juniors, he had 50 who took their ACT tests this past week. “The others have to make it up by April 24.”
A short executive session resulted in the board hiring Tonya Powders, Donna Faler, Janette Dodge, Beverly Ritter, Martha Richison, Katie Simons, Alissa Puckett, Shelly Nadeau, Lori Henry, Laura Black and Lucus Stidman as para-professions for the 2018-19 school year.
Board members accepted the resignation of Patti Carter due to health reasons.