Re1J School Briefs

School leadership teams to help decide how to utilize mill levy override dollars
Leadership teams tasked with budgeting Fund 26 monies approved by voters last November have been established throughout the district’s building sites so that staff members and administrators may have input on how mill levy funds are used at each school. Positions were filled mainly by volunteers, but in some cases teachers were recruited to help represent a specific group or grade level. Superintendent Doug Tredway says while this action will allow employees to be “the architects of their own system,” the ultimate say for any major budgeting decision still remains with the board of education.

RE1J goals and priorities laid out for next two years
At a January 12 school board meeting, superintendent Doug Tredway introduced the RE1J goals and priorities for the next two years. Official documents state that the district’s vision is to “have the courage, competence and commitment to work as a team of professionals to build a collaborative, innovative, and positive school culture for all learners.” State-mandated UIPs, or unified improvement plans, for both the district as a whole and individual schools, will help achieve the mission of “ensuring success for all students” by identifying trends at each school and creating action steps on how to move forward. Five major improvement strategies were also discussed, which included providing a safe, secure school environment, maintaining prudent fiduciary practices, and focusing on the full implementation of standards-based curriculum by requiring that teachers engage in quality-first instruction.

District performs first reading of the Policy BEC
School board officials discussed standard procedures for executive sessions during a first reading of the Policy BEC at a January 12 meeting. Stated in the policy are rules concerning the recording of executive sessions, which clarify that all sessions must be recorded unless the board is discussing legal matters or subjects related to students. When regarding personnel, an open records request must be made to obtain an executive session recording. State law also requires a notation of the action to move for an executive session, as well as the reason for doing so, within the board meeting minutes.