Grove School Board Meeting September 9, 2025
This report will be a bit different because I will be injecting my impressions on certain things. As I sat in the meeting, I took notes so that is what I am working with. If I have stated something incorrectly, I will welcome comments from someone who was there to correct. Please email me at pamsheartart@boltfiber.net
In my audience time at the first of the meeting I asked for updates on three items that had previously been brought up. Superintendent Dodson said he would be addressing those in his report. Again, I would advise you to email your audience questions or comments to each board member individually and to the superintendent so there is better opportunity for a response.
I have numbered the three items updated as requested. In the Superintendent’s report we heard (1) status on the electric buses. We have learned that the warranty on the buses will not be honored by the company who bought out LION Electric. However, one of our mechanics was sent to E bus training in California so we can better keep up with maintenance. Our school district will use the LION buses for as long as possible and there is a plan to bring in diesel buses to replace the electric buses so we have a working fleet at all times.
(2) At a conference the first week of September, our Superintendent talked with people from Brightwell Co., the company offering the plan for solar panels on two school roofs. Brightwell thinks they may have solved the problems our lawyers had with the contract we would have needed to sign. We will be getting the details and giving them to lawyers to review. If it appears all is in order, the information will be given to the School Board for a decision whether the project should go forward or not.
(3) In an update on the release time religious classes, it was stated that there were around 70 students from the Lower Elementary signed up to participate in cooperation with Lifewise Academy with classes starting September 15th. Note: I began getting more information about this program on September 17th. I will write about my findings on this blog when I learn more details.
Roofing projects were reported on. Grove Schools are happy with results and want to thank the voters for passing the bond issue to fund these repairs. The red color of the roofs looks great!
Following was agenda item 14 of Regular Business, but I am putting it here.
Projected financial needs for the school is $29 Million. Last year it was $30 Million. We have an increased commitment to provide lunch for every student, which may cause a budget problem. There have been some resignations where the positions weren’t filled again so that will help the budget. Also, Superintendent Dodson sought a $100,000 grant through the OK Dept of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to be used for food in the lunch program. With $25,000 of that grant, he sought bids for ground beef. I was impressed that he had done this as a way of making the cost for extra lunches fit into the budget we have.
The pdfs of Principal reports were displayed on the Agenda. (Sign up to receive agendas in your email box!) These reports were interesting to me.
Principal Smith from the Lower Elementary brought in guests to highlight the reading program where a class (20 students) is bused to Second Chance Pet Rescue of Grand Lake and the students read to the animals. A boy and girl who had gone recently went right up to where the Board sits and talked about their experience. The little boy was very animated!
Another guest of Principal Smith was Louise Templin. She was honored as being the community member who had come to Principal Smith with the idea for this program. Louise also worked coordinating details of the program. A class goes every Friday with time off on special days (homecoming etc.) or when school is not in session. Classes from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades will all be able to participate in a rotation through the school year. Only the children are in the area at the time they do the reading, (so no visitors parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) Louise described this as a “no judgement zone.”
Personal note: Louise is a great supporter of community activities and is always looking for ways to improve community life. Thank you, Louise!
Principal Matthews from the Upper Elementary thanked the Board for the focus on the Personal Development Day recently being on the teachers being able to communicate ideas within their own grade level to each other. This added to unity for their “team”. As I understood, this was different than having a speaker come in.
Principal Kreutz from the High School spoke of the results of their diligent efforts in addressing the drop-out situation. He shared several scenarios of seeking out students if they hadn’t shown up at school. The number of dropouts is one area of evaluation on our state report cards. (My comment: This process can be very complicated, and I was impressed that the HS administration pursues every avenue to ensure their students are in school.)
There was information on the Gifted and Talented program. I didn’t know these are two different areas though they can be combined. Gifted students can be identified as early as 2nd grade. Parents fill out a survey as part of the process to evaluate their own student. Principal Matthews stated that sometimes a parent’s survey can be too hard on a student! Once a student is in the Gifted and Talented program, they are expected to belong there for the remaining part of their school journey. Principal Kreutz stated that a student can be added as “Talented” later if it is noticed they have started to earn awards in a particular area.
That is all until I get more infomation about the Lifewise Academy classes.
Pam Jarrett
