The reopening of Allen Schools was discussed Monday, June 8 ^th , at the regular meeting of Allen School Board. However, just exactly how it will be implemented is far from being set in stone as administrators will work over the summer break to develop a plan for reopening.

Officials are still waiting to see how the COVID-19 pandemic -- which led to the closing of public schools in mid-March -- plays out over the summer.

“The next two to four weeks will answer the question about whether the virus is going away or not,” Board Member Kelly Hurt said during the meeting.

Administrative Reports

Superintendent Jeff Hiatt spoke to the board concerning the matter during administrative reports, which were also delivered by Amy Mayhue, Elementary Principal; and Chris Grimm, High School Principal.

Hiatt indicated the state is strongly recommending that schools reopen according to guidelines set forth in a program called “Return to Learn Oklahoma: A Framework for Reopening Schools.”

The program is a 70- plus page guide, which, according to Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, “is a compendium of factors for individual districts to consider as they determine how to begin the school year with a focus on learning and the safety and ongoing health of students, staff and families. It is not necessary to act on every consideration in this comprehensive framework,” she said.

Hiatt indicated his number one priority will be Allen Schools and all that that entails.

“I want to stress that we are going to take care of Allen, and we’re going to make sure our kids are safe,” he said. “And that our teachers are safe, and that our parents get in and out of the schools safe. We’re going to sit down, we’re going to have some precautions that we’re going to put in place. We’re not going to start the year off in panic mode with all these precautions if there’s no need to. We’re going to try and start school off normal.”

Hiatt spoke about a term that has emerged during the recent pandemic, “the new normal.”

“Here’s a term that kind of drives me nuts, but I hate the term, ‘the new normal,’” Hiatt said, “but they’re just throwing it at me all the time. You know, ‘Well, the new normal for schools ...’ I like to refer to it as the new abnormal, because there is not anything normal with the last three months. If it’s the new normal than I don’t want anything to do with it moving forward.”

Hiatt said he wants “everybody to get back to the old normal, not this new normal, and, if things change, then we’ll be all over it,” he said. “If we see something change, and there’s an outbreak, we’ll deal with it. And we’ll have things in place to deal with it at that time. We’re not just going to stick our heads in the sand and ignore it. But we’re not going to freak out about something that might not even happen.”

Hiatt said administrators and teachers are ready to get back to school. He also said most parents want their kids back in school.

“And I agree with them,” Hiatt said. “I mean, kids need to be at school. That’s what we do.”

However, Hiatt said safety will be most important.

“Safety is going to be the number one thing,” he said. “I don’t want people thinking, ‘Oh, he doesn’t even care about this.’ I do care about it. My kids are here, my family works here, I want it to be a safe environment. I would never put my own kids at risk, nor would I put anyone else’s kids at risk.”

Hiatt said the system will get the word out to parents once a return plan is implemented.

For more on Return To Learn, visit https:// sde.ok.gov/sites/default/ files/Return%20to%20 Learn%20Oklahoma.pdf.

Amy Mayhue

Mayhue began by speaking about enrollment.

“We did start enrollment for next year,” she said. “We had a good response.”

Mayhue said over half of students have completed their enrollment papers.

“We’re going to be reaching out to those that didn’t and ask them to do that,” Mayhue said. “We did make some phone calls to the students where we were like, ‘They may be here, they may not be.’ So, we have a really good idea of what our numbers are, and so that’s what we’re planning for.” Mayhue said changes to the playground are coming soon.

“The concrete slab is in,” she said, “The basketball posts are in, but they’re not putting the backboards up until we’re sure the concrete is set, as we didn’t want any kind of issues.”

Mayhue said new playground equipment should be coming in next week.

“We’ll have new swing sets,” she said. “The tire swings will all be put back up, and everything should look painted and clean. I’m super excited about it.”

Mayhue indicated drainage issues around the playground have been addressed and all will be resolved before school starts.

Chris Grimm

Grimm spoke about new students and graduation.

“I’ve been contacted by two different families, possibly bringing a handful of kids, ranging anywhere from high school all the way down to, I think it was third or fourth grade,” Grimm said. “We’ve got another new family that’s going to be in town, and that’s going to be a seventh-grade boy and a junior girl coming from south of the Red River. We’ll be glad to have those folks here. They’re still kind of in the moving/ selling phase. I don’t know exactly where they are, but the girl was here today for the workouts, so obviously they’re going to be involved in sure enough athletics and Ag, and possibly other things.”

Grimm said the school is getting ready for graduation.

“That’s what I was doing before coming over here,” Grimm said, “still folding on the programs. I’ve not had lots of complaints about that. I know I’ve heard a few that are floating around, but none that have come directly to me. I’m just glad we’re able to do this, to have this graduation and get it done before some (students) ship off to the military or need to be off to college or whatever. And I’m glad we’ve got an airconditioned gym to do it in.”

Grimm spoke about graduation being held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the new gym, however, he said the students will have a practice ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday morning. He said all but two seniors had picked up their tickets for the graduation ceremony.

“So we’ll be ready to rock and roll on Saturday morning,” Grimm said, “if they all show up Friday morning to practice. So we’ll all know what we’re doing.”

Consent Agenda

The board approved the consent agenda which included the fiscal year 2020 purchase orders and encumbrances: general fund numbers 259 through 261 ($427.11); building fund numbers 59 and 60 ($4,752.23); child nutrition fund numbers 47 and 48 ($13,700); bond fund number 29 ($1,500).

The consent agenda also included the treasurer’s report; activity fund report; declaring an old blue swing set surplus for sale, trade or disposal; and renewal of memberships, services and contracts for fiscal year 2020 - 2021: Kellogg Sovereign (E-Rate); Oklahoma Schools Insurance Group (OSIG); Oklahoma School Assurance Group (OSAG); Oklahoma School Board Association (OSSBA) Employment Services — Unemployment Matters; J&J Educational Services – Impact Aid Services; OSSBA Membership; Oklahoma Rural School Association (OROS); Renaissance Learning – Accelerated Reading; STAR Early Literacy, STAR Math and STAR Reading; Acadience Learning Online (ALO) Elementary Reading Assessment and Screener; Securelysubscription for web filtering, Chromebook/IPad management; Microsoft Subscription Renewal CDW-G; Go Daddy – Renewal for website domain; Tech 10 -- PC Matic -- Antivirus; Neverware – Cloud Ready Software License Renewal; Agreement with Pontotoc County Commissioners; Cindy Sterba – Speech Pathologists Services; OT Solutions – Occupational Therapy for SPED; Paulla Slawson, School Psychologist; Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation – Student Work Study; and Pecan Grove Therapy for Physical Therapy.

Action Items

There was only one action item on the agenda which was consideration and possible action on approval of Alternative Education with Byng Public Schools for fiscal year 2021. The board approved the item.

New Band Teacher

Allen schools hired a new band teacher, Devan Bettencourt Bettencourt attended Monday’s meeting and spoke with the board. He was at Youkum, Texas, the past year. Bettencourt’s wife is from Sulphur and they are coming to Allen to be closer to home.

Executive Session

The board entered into executive session to discuss personnel issues. Upon returning from executive session, the board accepted the resignation of Tonia Kueh, who retired as a 6-8 math teacher, and is going to Sasakawa. The board also rehired the following recurring support staff.

Secretaries

Ms. Becky Boyd

Maintenance/ Custodial

Joe Bakken

Juanita Hamilton

Rosie Postoak

Theresa Williams

Retha Wilson

Melissa Wood

Teacher Assistants/ Paraprofessionals

Gina Alcaida

Crystal Bear

Becky Dyer

Amber Goodson

Felisha Jack

Lindsay Linker

Kayli Ramey

Juanita Riddle

Virginia Rodrigues

Johnna Shires

Patricia Spray

Debbie Vinson

Trisha Wainscott

Nicki Walden

Cafeteria

Bob Huggins

Teri McCarn

Bonnie Stephens

Lacy Williamson

Federal Programs Director

Mary Pat Sappenfield

Bus Driver

Ed Rutherford