Staff writer
USD 398 Superintendent Ron Traxson discussed an emergency plan for intruders for Peabody-Burns schools Monday at the board of education meeting.
One suggestion he offered was that every adult at Peabody-Burns Elementary School would need to wear a badge for identification. Visitors are already required to wear tags but teachers and staff would also be required to don badges.
“It teaches the kids that anybody without a badge is suspect,” Traxson said.
He mentioned that PBES had recently conducted a successful lockdown drill.
PBES principal Ken Parry said he should have an Emergency Operations Plan completed by April. He said he had been working on the plan before the tragedy at Newtown, Conn.
Sixth grade
Peabody-Burns Junior High School teachers Cindy Sattler, Courtney Dealy, Kim Topham, Joyce Eurit, and Annette Weems gave a presentation about teaching sixth graders.
“I’ve never had the homework rate I’ve had this year,” Dealy said. “We have no sixth graders on the ineligible list.”
This is the second school year sixth grade has been a part of PBJHS instead of PBES. Last year’s sixth-grade students struggled, at times, with the transition, as was reported by principal Tim Robertson and former counselor Sarah Grout. This year teachers have been active in separating sixth graders from the rest of the PBJHS population to ease the transition.
Sattler, Dealy, Topham, Eurit, and Weems have also been meeting on a weekly basis to develop an integrated curriculum and track student progress. One example of integration was a fractions lesson in Topham’s science class.
Sattler, a math teacher, reiterated the importance of the sixth-grade being a part of PBJHS for curriculum concerns.
“Sixth grade is the year for math,” she said. “Algebra I students are struggling with the same stuff as sixth-graders.”
In other business:
- The board approved a supervised agricultural experience project for PBHS freshman Josh Morgan. Morgan will place eight cows his family owns on six acres of farmland owned by the district. He plans to have every animal off the property by April 15 and is prepared to have every animal sold by then.
- The board approved one-year extensions on contracts for Parry, Robertson, and PBHS Assistant Principal Ray Savage.
- The board accepted a $2,000 grant from the Peabody Community Foundation including $500 for calculators, $550 for tuxedos and dresses for Voices, $250 for Safe Kids Camp on April 25, and $700 on bicycles for Adventure Club.