The Callaway Board of Education meetings always start on a positive note, usually with a member of the administration highlighting an accomplishment within the district to celebrate. At the Oct. 13 meeting, it was Superintendent JD Furrow who shared a district celebration.

“In 2021-22, we had a chronic absentee rate of 26 percent district-wide. So basically one of four kids was missing at least 10 percent of their school days,” Furrow shared. “We really focused on that last year. We gave some incentives, gave the kids some prizes, and last year we were down to 12 percent as a district, which is phenomenal. That’s way below the state average and something that we are really proud of. And I think it makes a big difference academically.”

Dan Bird and Larry Cihal of Facility Advocates presented to the board an explanation of the process of renovating buildings and taking on big projects. “They provide services to help you plan and create a financing plan. For a nominal fee they can save your district a lot of money, time and headaches,” said Furrow. “Now the ball is in our court to decide if we have anything coming up that would make us consider enlisting their services.”

During principal reports, Elementary Principal Brittany Jesseph shared data on the district’s acadience scores from fall testing and the correlation to attendance rates from last school year.

“Our start of the year acadience was higher than it has been in all four or five of the previous years that it has been compiled and tracked. So we are starting ahead and hopefully we can stay ahead this year,” said Furrow.

Furrow shared with the board that he and the administration team is beginning work on different scenarios for what the school day and school calendar might look like for 2026-27. “We are just looking at different options to see if there are things that we can do to make our school year run more efficiently,” he explained.

It is also evaluation time of the year. Furrow told the board that he plans to complete principal evaluations prior to the November board meeting, and board members have received their superintendent forms, which are to be completed and turned in to board president Mike Reiff one week before the November meeting.

Agenda items that required action by the board included approval of the student dress code and grooming policy, which had been discussed at the last two meetings. The board approved the policy as presented, with T.R. Anderson voting no.

The board also approved updates to the student handbook to align with the new policy, with Anderson again being the lone no vote. Finally, the board unanimously approved renewing the line of credit with Nebraska State Bank & Trust Company.

The next board meeting will be Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. Meetings are held in the high school library and the public is always encouraged to attend.