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Awards, Energy Conservation on Board's Diverse Agenda

Feb. 3, 2012 ~ The Olathe Board of Education met Feb. 2 to honor a number of staff and students, learn more about energy conservation and recycling efforts in the district, and receive information about the thousands of young children benefitting from district early childhood programs.

Energy and Recycling Efforts

Operations, maintenance/construction, and individual behaviors are three main factors in the success of the district's Going Green initiatives. Chief Financial and Operations Officer John Hutchison shared an overview of how well these initiatives are doing across the district.

The district's energy program began in 1991 and has led to more than $20 million in cost avoidance since that time. Upgraded lighting and HVAC systems, using Green Seal products, practicing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) strategies, using more paperless communications, establishing Idle Free Zones at the schools, and offering recycling containers at all schools are a few of the many ways the district has "gone green."

Early Childhood Programs

The district provides five early childhood programs for area children: Parents as Teachers, Early Childhood Disabilities program, Early Childhood Career Opportunities, Head Start, and the 4-year-old at-risk program. Representatives from the Teaching and Learning Division gave an overview of how these programs benefit youngsters. Research shows that children who participate in quality early childhood education have increased success in school and life.

Parents as Teachers serves children from birth to 36 months old thanks to funding from state grants, private funds and local funds. Twenty five percent of the families served are considered low income.

The Early Childhood Disabilities program serves 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities and same-age peers from the community. This program is mandated by federal law, and the peers pay a fee to participate. There are 33 of these classrooms in 17 schools and 2 early childhood learning centers across the district, serving more than 650 students.

The Early Childhood Career Opportunities (ECCO) program for 4-year-olds allows high school juniors and seniors to learn to work with young children in a supervised setting. There are currently 29 children and 25 high school students involved in ECCO.

Head Start is a federally funded program for low-income children. It focuses on school readiness, literacy and language, and offers services for special needs as well as ways to include the family in the child's educational experience.

The 4-year-old at-risk program is funded by a state grant and currently serves 72 students at two locations. Risk factors include poverty, single-parent households, teen parent, limited English proficiency, and low developmental progress.

Read Across America

Calin Kendall, president of the Olathe-National Education Association, along with Erin Meyer, fifth-grade teacher from Countryside Elementary School, shared information about Read Across America Day (March 2) with board members. The focus of this special day is to promote reading for all students using the theme of Dr. Seuss' birthday.

Recognitions and Awards:

  • Students from the Distinguished Scholar 21st Century High School Program at Olathe North High School were recognized for winning a $50,000 grant and the secondary school category in the Battle of the Brains competition. Their project was titled "Unplugged."
  • Olathe East High School's Environmental Design program had two finalists in the Battle of the Brains competition. Their entries were "The Elements of Modern Living & Power' and "The Magnetic Science & Technologies Exhibit."
  • Cassie Wang of Olathe Northwest High School received the 2011 Kenneth Smith Award as the most outstanding female high school golfer in the Kansas City area.
  • Dena Steen of Washington Elementary School, Lindsey Colling of Olathe East and Lisa Frahm of Manchester Park Elementary School were recognized for achieving National Board Certification.
  • Sandra Ames of Heatherstone Elementary School, Kate Thompson of Olathe Northwest and Julie Miller of the Instructional Resource Center were honored for the renewal of their National Board Certification.

In other business, the board:

  • Approved a consent agenda including meeting minutes, reports, and student trips.
  • Approved asphalt and concrete bids, a casework bid, and a contract to purchase financial/ human resources/ payroll software.
  • Approved a contract for the sale of Millcreek Center, although the agreement is pending on the buyer securing funding.
  • Set a special meeting with the Olathe City Council at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.
  • Set a special end-of-year meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 27.
  • Voted to change the July organizational meeting to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17.
  • Received information on future action items including the budget calendar and goals for 2012-13, student fees for 2012-13, the district calendar for 2013-14, network electronics bid, bids relating to the new Technical Education Center, requests for pricing banking services and marching band uniforms, Head Start document approval, student trips, and the purchase of iPads.
  • Received the Head Start director's monthly report.
  • Held an executive session to discuss personnel matters and employer-employee negotiations.
  • In post-executive session action, the board moved and approved, that effective July 1, 2012, the superintendent's contract be extended through June 30, 2015, with salary and benefits to be determined at a later date

The complete agenda and supporting documents are online at http://www.boarddocs.com/ks/olathe/Board.nsf/Public.