The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

With the current school year underway, the Frenchman Board of Education met in late August to take care of final staff placements, approve necessary invoices and recognize one of their own for their service to the District. The local school board met in Fleming on Aug. 22 and as most meetings do, opened with staff reports from administration.

Superintendent Steve McCracken said Fleming started the 2023-24 school year with 222 students, that number is an increase of two from the year prior. During his time with the Board, he also reviewed information on upcoming November elections.

Currently there are three seats open on the Frenchman Board of Education. Two of those are for two-year terms and one is a four-year term. Seats currently held by Carmen Vandenbark, Karianne Donnelson and Shane Schliesser are all up for elections this fall.

According to McCracken, currently there are three petitions being circulated by community members interested on serving the local school board. Applications for a seat on the board of education are due back to the District by Sept. 1.

Principal Kortney Firme discussed concurrent enrollment numbers with the Board. Currently, the Board is working to develop a policy in regards to the amount of classes that can be taken off school campus.

"We are finalizing our concurrent enrollment policy. The Board is considering how many college classes students can take away from the Fleming High School campus and the number of college classes they can take while on our campus," McCracken added.

Before moving onto action items, the Board approved the consent agenda and in doing so approved a revised library agreement along with overnight travel for the football team and extra duty assignments.

McCracken explained that the library agreement with the Town of Fleming was edited to reflect that the Town is purchasing the building they currently occupy. That building is owned by the Library Association.

"This document is evaluated annually and that is the only edit for this year," he said.

Throughout a lengthy list of action items, board members approved a number of new hires and staffing changes. Those include hiring Jeannine Cochran as school secretary, Alexis Hise as ag teacher beginning in January, Patty Kuhn as a bus driver and Samantha Swan as a long-term substitute kindergarten teacher. Other changes approved during the August meeting include increasing the technology director's salary to $100 per hour and increasing the athletic director's salary to 20 percent of the base if there is not a planning period to perform duties as assigned.

In the absence of an ag teacher until January, McCracken said himself and Counselor Randy Stahley are teaching ag classes and two of the ag classes are being offered online.

Before recognizing a fellow board member, the Board approved four invoices that exceeded the amount the Superintendent is allowed to approve. Those include $6,337 to BRS Garage for school bus inspections and repair; $5,145 for IXL, a program used by teachers to enhance instruction; $20,927 to Major Heating and Air Conditioning for a glycol filtering system being installed with the HVAC system; and $7,750 to Imagine Learning for the two online ag classes.

At the end of the meeting, administration and the Board recognized fellow member Carmen Vandenbark who was recently honored with the McGuffey Award from the Colorado Association of School Boards. Vandenbark has served on the local school board for four years and currently serves as the treasurer.

Her nomination for the award reads: "She truly exemplifies leadership when making decisions that positively effects the students and staff of the Fleming School District. Carmen also advocates for secure financial practices and consistently sets high expectation for our school district. She is dedicated to doing everything she can to provide our students with the very best education. She contributes hundreds of hours leading the Fleming School District, whether it is by deliberating important issues about curriculum; adopting policies; listening to staff, parents and student concerns or recognizing outstanding programs, Carmen always keeps her vision on doing what is best for students. She is truly committed to providing high quality education of all students."