The Callaway Board of Education met on June 12, with a fairly light agenda. The only item on the agenda requiring action from the board involved a new locking system for the building.

Superintendent Bryon Hanson shared with the board that he attempted to get four bids for the new system, but only ended up with two legitimate bids. “I thought maybe this would come in at maybe $2,000 per door, but that was kind of wishful thinking,” said Hanson. “I was really hoping to be at about $14,000-$15,000 total.”

The bid that Hanson recommended was from Hinton's Lock and Alarm not to exceed $16,592.70. This will be an electronic system which will be installed on six doors. There will be two doors that will have dummy locks and will require a key, which Hanson said is necessary in case the electricity ever goes out. Hanson said he was assured that the work would be completed before school starts this fall. A grant has been applied for to offset the cost of the new locking system. The board unanimously approved the Hinton’s bid.

One of the discussion items on the agenda which required no action from the board was the evaluation process for certified staff. Elementary principal Brittany Jesseph walked the board through that process, explaining that non-tenured staff are given one formal evaluation per semester. This fall there will be five non-tenured teachers at Callaway Public School. Tenured teachers, which are teachers that have been in the district for at least three consecutive years, receive one formal evaluation per school year.

High School Principal/AD Heath Birkel explained to the board how the formal observations of the teachers are conducted by the administration. “There are three things that we look for: effective research-based strategies that are being used during the lesson, engagement of the students during that class period, and the relationships the teacher has built with the students,” Birkely shared. “When we get done with that observation we set up a time with the teacher to come back and visit about what we saw that day.”

Hanson added that the administration will be more diligent about performing observations in the 2023-24 school year.

As the board reviewed the 2023-24 student handbook one of the discussions that took place centered around the student dress code, and who makes the decision on what constitutes a violation of that code. Hanson explained that the administration makes that final decision based on whether “it is causing a significant distraction”. Hanson said the state board is working on a policy that is applicable to all schools.

Official updates to the handbook will be action items at the next meeting, set for July 10 1t 8 p.m. Meetings are held in the school library and the public is always welcome and encouraged to attend.

Contact Ellen Mortensen at ellen@syndicatepub.com