This is not a full recap of all issues discussed at the Board of Education meeting. These are not official minutes. For more information on the Board of Education meeting, click here.

The board approved the household economic survey as well as the incentive ($10 off the curriculum fee for all students and the technology fee for students grades 7-12). Because there are free and reduced lunches for everyone, families will not have to fill out the free-and-reduced lunch form. However, the state still needs the information for at-risk funding. By filling out the survey, families will be giving the state that information to make sure that both families and the district get the support they need. The surveys and consent forms will be available on July 12. If you have more questions, see the Q&A later in this newsletter.

The board also heard an update on Newton High School’s academic recognition plan. Newton High School Principal Caleb Smith gave a presentation on the topic and also gave a recommendation at the board’s request at the end. Smith’s recommendation was to:

• keep the Cum Laude system but base it on GPA, dropping the ACT requirement

• make the GPA levels higher

• only weight AP courses or have a system for some college credit courses approved by the principal and department chair

• remove honors courses from weighted system and remove course requirements from cum laude

The board wanted to take some time to review all of the information as well as get feedback from the public on this topic before a decision is made. The goal is to have a decision before school starts.

The board also approved a special hiring bonus for hard-to-fill positions. The signing bonus would be authorized by the superintendent and would only go up to $5,000.

Board Meeting:

In order to accomodate for the economic survey, the first date to make payments on fees has been pushed back to July 15 . It will not be on July 1 this year.

The economic survey will be sent out on July 12. We ask you fill it out as soon as possible with the attached consent form. When you fill out a survey, you can get $10 off of textbook fees for all students and $10 off of technology fees for students who have technology fees (grades 7-12). This is per student so if you have multiple students, you get multiple discounts.

Please note, this also means that there will not be any free-and-reduced forms this year. The economic surveys will replace them.

More information can be found in this Q&A.

Looking for a new job?

Get started on your new career in education at the “All Aboard 373 Job Fair” Help us make a difference in the lives of children. USD 373 is hiring bus drivers, paraeducators, substitutes, food service workers, aides, Latchkey workers and more.

Find the right job for you! Each school or department will have its own table where you can learn more about job opportunities and ask questions.

This year we have two tracks:

1)Interviews will be held for those who applied online before the job fair on our jobs website.

2)You can also just show up, ask questions to find the right fit for you and apply at the job fair. We'll schedule an interview later if you choose this option.

Resumes are welcome, but not required.