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By Candie Fix
Managing Editor 

Cody introduces new policies to Haxtun BOE

 

September 28, 2022



An hour and a half long meeting brought on the approval of winter sports coaches along with reports from administration during a Monday night, Sept. 19 regular meeting of the Haxtun Board of Education. The Board also reviewed a number of policies as first readings including one regarding random drug testing. All policies are introduced as first readings and then discussed the month following in the second reading. In the three-step process of adopting policies, final readings and adoption would take place in the third reading at a regular open meeting.

The September meeting opened with a special report from Heather Tanner with Chartwells Food Service. Tanner serves as the manager for Chartwells and has been with the company since 2011. She thanked the Board for the recent purchases of new equipment for the Haxtun kitchen and talked about changes in the food service program, noting there is no longer a whole-grain waiver.

School lunch menus can be found online by clicking the appropriate link from the District website https://www.haxtunk12.org/. The online menu provides all menu options for breakfast and lunch along with nutrient information.

Tanner said Chartwells is currently looking for a lead cook for the Haxtun kitchen.

In her superintendent’s report, Marsha Cody provided board members with several polices for first reading including those for student absences and excuses, graduation requirements, staff dress code, staff ethics and conflicts of interest, open enrollment and drug testing.

The drug testing policy, which would be new to the Haxtun District if approved, is modeled off an existing policy currently in place in Holyoke. The policy includes information on guidelines, standard testing procedures and consent forms. The policy, should it be approved in November following a second reading next month, would affect students who participate in athletic and extracurricular activities.

“The purpose of this policy is to create a safe drug/alcohol free school for all students. It is the belief of the Haxtun School District that participation on any interscholastic athletic team and in extracurricular activities is a privilege, not a right. Students who volunteer to participate in these programs are expected to accept the responsibilities granted to them by this privilege. These students as well as their parents/guardians must also recognize that because of their choice to participate in these activities, they have less expectation of privacy than do other students,” the policy explains.

For more information or to view the drug testing policy, still in the first reading phase, visit the school’s website. More information can be found in meeting minutes posted from the Sept. 19 meeting in the Superintendent’s report.

In other business the Board:

• Approved a resignation from Austin Mitchell as elementary custodian. In motions following, Holly Mitchell was hired as a substitute janitor and Havilah and Jared Andersen were hired as part-time junior high janitors;

• Hired Alicia Schram as high school girls’ head basketball coach; Ross Edwards as junior high girls’ head basketball coach; and Jayden Steib as junior high boys’ head basketball coach;

• Approved an allocation to capital reserves for $240,000 for the HVAC loan payment;

• Approved a letter of support with the Department of Local Affairs for a housing planning grant.

 

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