Several matters were discussed at Monday’s Valley Grove School Board meeting.
The board approved the district’s 2022-23 calendar, and the calendar includes Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, as a day off for students.
The panel had talked about possibly giving students Veterans Day off at their meeting last week following a suggestion to do so by board member William Copley.
One school board member, Melanie Anderson, was not in favor of students having Veterans Day off.
She also said she felt that having the makeup day in June would be unproductive.
In other business Monday, the board resumed a discussion that started at last week’s meeting following a request from varsity baseball coach Geoffrey Sanner that the district contribute $5,000 to purchase a Fungo Man pitching machine for the team.
The team had already raised $11,000 out of the $16,000 needed to purchase the machine.
When school board vice president Cindy Swendsen said there needs to be rules on who can use and maintain the machine, Sanner said the machine would be kept “under lock and key.”
The board unanimously approved the $5,000 contribution.
There was also a brief discussion Monday about the addition of a Pre-K teacher and aide for the 2022-2023 school year using grant funding and permission to advertise for the positions.
The board unanimously approved the postings for the jobs.
In another matter, certified public accountant Mark Turnley presented a report on the audit of the district’s financial records that ended June 30, 2021, and the real estate tax audit for the period of July 1 through Dec. 31, 2020.
There were no concerns on the audit and there were no findings against the district, Turnley said.
The board unanimously approved the audits and several other financial matters.
The board also unanimously agreed to continue a four-day work week during the summer beginning the week of June 13 and ending the week of Aug. 15.
District offices will be closed on Fridays, and this is being done for energy consumption purposes.
The board approved the retirement of high school custodian Darry Brink at the end of this school year.
Swendsen wished “him well into retirement.”
And Superintendent Kevin Briggs told the board the CDC is no longer requiring masks to be worn on school transportation vehicles.
But students and faculty will still be required to contact trace and quarantine if they come into contact with someone who has COVID or if they test positive, Briggs said.
