After discussions at both the January and February board meetings, and an open community forum on the issue, the Callaway School Board has elected to not move forward with plans to extend the existing preschool to a full-day program.

The proposal came before the board once again at the March 13 regular meeting, with about 20 community members present. After some discussion among the board members, Jim Phelps moved to approve the proposed expansion. The motion died for lack of a second, and the issue is laid to rest - at least for now.

The public had an opportunity to voice their thoughts on the idea of expanding the preschool at an open meeting on March 2. During that meeting CPS Superintendent Bryon Hanson presented his reasons for supporting the expansion and why he initially brought it to the board.

“If I didn’t think this thing had academic merit, I would have never proposed it,” Hanson shared.

After listening to Hanson’s summary of the proposal, many of those attending the March 2 meeting had some questions for preschool teacher Jenn Hickenbottom and kindergarten teacher Stephanie Ross. Both agreed with Hanson about the academic benefits the preschool provides to its 3 and 4-year-old students.

“The growth is phenomenal, I’m not going to lie,” said Ross. “They get an opportunity to establish those relationships and learn their way around the school and classroom before entering kindergarten.”

However, while Ross stated that the growth the early childhood educators saw in the first few years of the preschool was incredible, she does have some concerns that perhaps that “growth may be tapped out.”

“We’re already a great program, but are we going to see any more growth? That’s a concern of mine,” she added. “Another concern I have is for the afterschool program, and I’m not sure who all wants to run that. I

cont. PAGE 3 - Preschool think finding help to cover that is something we need to consider.”

Ross also said she feels as though the current half-day program is already meeting the needs of the majority of Callaway children in that age group. “We are hitting 90% plus of the kids that are eligible in our halfday program,” Hanson added.

Another concern that arose during the public meeting was the plan to move the 5th grade class to the high school side of the building to extend the preschool area. Many in the room, both parents and educators, expressed reservations about having kiddos that young mingling with the high school students.

At the March 13 board meeting, Phelps presented a list of pros and cons that he came up with that he read aloud. While the majority of the board members agreed that they could see the academic merits of such a program, they also all shared that they have received numerous contacts from community members on the issue - and most of those were in opposition.

“This just came up in January, and I asked a ton of questions because I am trying to educate myself on the topic, and I have gone back and forth with the pros and cons,” explained board member Rhonda Pandorf. “From what I’ve researched it is successful in towns a little bigger than ours, and not only do I not want student burnout, I don’t want teacher burnout.”

“I feel we are just pushing it too fast for this next year. I would feel way more comfortable talking about it for the following school year,” added board member TR Anderson. “When you are in charge of the taxpayer’s money and how it’s spent, it should weigh on you. And it does. My biggest concern moving forward is that we would be wasting $100,000 of taxpayer money because we had not prepared well enough. I don’t want to see that happen.”

The board did express their hope that the community will step up in partnership with the school and other entities to find a solution to the childcare issue that faces Callaway. While a preschool expansion may be proposed again sometime in the future, it is no longer on the table for the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrative Contracts & Raises Approved Following the decision on the preschool expansion the board turned their attention to administrator contracts for the 2023-2024 school year. The board had approved a contract with a 3% raise for Superintendent Hanson at the last meeting, so this meeting it was the principal’s turn.

First up was Brittany Jesseph, currently serving her first year in a newly created position at Callaway Public School. Jesseph is elementary principal and Learning Coordinator. She was hired last year at a salary of $75,000.

During discussion of Jesseph’s contract, board member TR Anderson shared that he has received nothing but positive comments from teachers, students, paras and other staff members about her performance during this first year. He recommended a raise of 5% for next year, and Pandorf made the motion to approve a contract for Jesseph with a 5% increase in salary. It was unanimously approved.

Heath Birkel is the district’s 7-12 principal and also serves as AD for both Callaway and Arnold. Callaway covers two-thirds of his salary in that position. However, the contract being considered at the March 13 meeting was only for his principalship.

After Pandorf made the motion to approve Birkel’s contract with a 3% raise, Anderson stated that he has had some reservations about continuing to pay the same amount for the 7-12 principal position as was paid when he was doing K-12. The AD salary is separate from the principal salary. After some discussion the board did approve the contract and 3% increase for Birkel 3-2, with Anderson and Phelps voting no. Liana Hrupek was absent for the meeting.

Finally, the board regretfully accepted the resignation of two long-time teachers who are retiring - Suzanne Wendorff and Bob Keeney - effective at the end of this school year.

The next meeting of the Callaway School Board will be Tuesday, April 11 at 8 p.m.