The future of the now vacant buildings that once
housed the Holden Intermediate School was discussed at the regular meeting
of the Holden R-3 Board of Education Monday night. Superintendant, Dr.
Lindell Harrison informed the board that, with the exception of the
school bus maintenance building, the property is no longer in use by
the district. “We are still using the bus maintenance building
at this time,” Harrison said. “But, as far as the rest of
the building... We need to make a decision where to go with it.”Harrison suggested the district has several options for the disposal of the buildings. Options suggested by Harrison included listing the property with a realtor, auction or selling the property by sealed bid. “I don’t believe we have a need for that building,” school board president, Jeff Miller said. “We need to get out of that building for good.” Miller went on to question whether or not the board had any options outside of the outright sale of the property. “I wondered if, for instance, any interest has been shown in regards to preservation of the buildings,” Miller commented. Harrison stated the board is not tied to selling the property. Other options are available and open for discussion. “Government entities, for instance, the city or county, may have an interest in it,” Harrison explained. “There would be other options for educational entities as well, such as if CMSU expressed an interest.” Harrison continued by saying he isn’t clear on how not-for-profit organizations would fit into the picture or how the district would need to handle that option. The Board discussed local viewpoints in regards to the future of the buildings. Miller questioned whether or not any interest had been shown within the community for the purchase or use of the property. Harrison said he had been approached some time ago by someone expressing interest in the property, but he was unsure whether or not the interest still existed. “Is it your preference the buildings be used for something in the community,” Harrison asked the board. “Chances are, if we sell the buildings, they may be torn down.” Harrison questioned whether any of the board members had heard any conversation out in the community expressing a preference for use of the buildings. “Local agencies have known for some time the buildings would be vacated,” board member, Mike Watterson said. “I’ve not heard any strong opposition against tearing the buildings down... I would suggest we liquidate the property to the best of our ability and move on.” Board member, Dale Jarman suggested the board should wait a period of time to see if interest is expressed by government entities or others. Jarman also voiced concern about selling the property under sealed bid, cautioning that the district may not receive a fair amount for the property. Board member, Pat Zvacek agreed with Jarman in regards to waiting to take action on the property. “If we put it out in the community, interest will come around,” Zvacek said. “We’ll start getting some feedback... That’s where we need to start.” A time-line for decisions related to disposal of the property was discussed by the board. “We need to take care of this fairly quickly,” Harrison cautioned the board. “If we don’t get rid of the buildings, we will have to winterize them... Windows will have to be boarded up... I would suggest if interest is not shown fairly quickly, we may need to just auction the property off.” It was decided the board would wait until the next scheduled meeting in October to make a decision regarding the property, in order to take time to assess whether or not any interest in the property exists within the community. In related business, Dr. Harrison informed the board of an upcoming auction to sell off surplus property that is currently being stored in the old intermediate school building. Harrison said, currently there is a gymnasium full of items the district does not have a use for. “A lot of the items are just old supplies that have been replaced with new supplies,” Harrison said. “I’ve given the teachers until the end of this week to clear out anything they may still need... Anything left in the building after that is surplus and needs to be sold.” Harrison said the property in question includes kitchen equipment and desks, as well as a large quantity of tables and chairs. The auction, which will be conducted by Kevin Coleman, is scheduled for Saturday, October 16. The time is to be announced at a later date. In other reports, Dr. Harrison presented the board with a district evaluation of the summer school program, held this past summer. Harrison commented mostly remedial classes had been offered this year, and a large number of high school students had attended in an effort to make up missing credit. Harrison said he’d heard comments from both students and parents that they’d like to see more enrichment classes offered. “We will probably gear toward that, next year,” Harrison said. “We had to deal with the confining issue of space, this year.” Harrison explained that, due to construction at both the elementary and high schools, neither building could be utilized for summer school this year. “We won’t have that problem next year,” he said. Harrison also reported to the board that, in his opinion, the transportation offered for summer school worked well. He explained four bus routes were offered. “There wasn’t any door-to-door pick-up,” he explained. “They picked the students up at several designated locations... It seems to have worked great.” In other reports, intermediate school principal, Donna Fizer presented an update of the Professional Development Plan. The Professional Development Plan is a tool utilized by the district to help teachers keep abreast of new developments in the field of education and continuously work on refining their skills. Fizer reported faculty members grades K-8 have been divided into small groups to study the book, “Classroom Instruction That Works” by Marzano, Pickering and Pollock. She explained the book discusses nine research-based strategies that affect student achievement in the classroom. Fizer also informed the board, beginning this year, the elementary and intermediate schools will be participating in the Professional Development Schools program. Through the program, which several other area districts are also participating in, the schools partner with Central Missouri State University to provide prospective teachers with “hands-on” classroom experiences. CMSU students enroll in the PDS program the semester prior to student teaching. The CMSU students work directly in the schools weekly for three hours. They work directly with Holden students in whole groups, small groups and one-on-one situations. They also attend Holden classes for the purpose of observing and learning teaching techniques from teachers. “We believe it helps us and them,” Fizer explained. “They get to learn, and we get to meet prospective teachers who we may want to employ in the future.” Fizer also explained that Holden teachers who participate in the program receive one hour of college credit for every semester they participate in the program. Holden High School Principal Matt Lindsey presented the board with an evaluation of the district’s participation in vocational programs. Lindsey explained the purpose of vocational programs is to enable students to develop skills so they will be employable upon graduation. In addition to classes offered through Warrensburg Area Vocational-Technical School, a percentage of the classes offered at Holden High School are considered vocational. These classes include business courses, agriculture courses, family and consumer science, health and the work study program. Lindsey reported 95% of Holden High School students are enrolled in vocational courses. Lindsey said, related to the growing need for certain occupations, such as computers, automobiles, construction, agriculture and business; the classes offered are appropriate for area labor market trends. In new business, Dr. Harrison announced a dedication ceremony will be held for the new Intermediate School Building on October 3, from 2-5 p.m. He said the public will be allowed to tour the new facility, in addition to the ceremony. The next meeting of the Holden R-3 Board of Education is scheduled for September 27, when they will meet in special session to discuss health insurance. The next regular meeting will be October 11, at 7 p.m. in the Middle School Library. By Christi Stowe News Editor |
The
signs are up and work has begun on a new medical clinic in nearby Kingsville
which will be known as the Western Johnson County Medical Clinic. Steve Flick, who has spearheaded the drive to attract a physician to western Johnson County, will be the featured speaker at the Holden Chamber of Commerce evening meeting this Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Harmony House Restaurant. “He will give an overview of the operation at our meeting on Thursday. We invite the public to attend and learn about this positive development in our area,” said Jenny Sollars, chamber of commerce president. The clinic will be located in the former Equipment Locators Building on 58 Highway in Kingsville which Flick had purchased earlier. If
you are planning on dropping off your elementary or middle school age
child without supervision at a Holden High School sporting event, you
should know that high school administators announced a new rule this
week that requires supervision for younger children at these events
at all times.According to Kelli Spies of the high school, the decision was made for safety and liability concerns. “Elementary and middle school age students must be supervised by an adult at all times. If not, they will be asked to leave,” said Spies. Spies also noted that admission prices, which were voted on by conference schools, have increased to $4 for adults and $3 for students at all varsity events and $3 for adults and $2 for students at all junior varsity and freshmen events. In other news from the high school, Spies says she is searching for Holden High School alumni who were involved in high school activities in the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s who would be interested in participating in Homecoming activities planned for the weekend of Oct. 1 and 2. “We are also looking for individuals who own motorcycles, preferably Harley Davidsons, who would be willing to be part of the Homecoming pre-game show on Oct. 1,” added Spies. Anyone with questions concerning the new rules or those interested in participating in Homecoming, should contact Spies at the high school, 732-5523. Holden
High School and Trails Regional Library have formed a partnership in
the fight against illiteracy. According to Holden High School Library
Aid, Stacey McCune, the relationship has been a meaningful one. “Through
the High School At Work Program, there is a lot of focus on literacy,”
McCune explained. “The idea is not only for students to have the
resources they need accessible to them, but to read at home for fun.”Through the partnership, McCune contacted librarian Jeannae Dickerson of the Holden Branch of Trails Regional Library and obtained applications for library cards. McCune met with every English Class in the high school, explained the necessity of a library card and distributed the applications to the students. According to McCune, those students under the age of 16 require a parent’s signature on the application for library approval of the card. McCune explained the students frequently have book reports and assignments due that require all of them to read a certain book or a specific type of book and there are not always enough in the high school library to go around. “I do what I can to make sure the students have the resources they need, but basically my hands were tied,” McCune said. McCune knew there had to be a solution. “I thought what better way to provide resources to them than to team up with the public library,” McCune said. “This partnership expands the students’ ability to obtain resources in general.” Some of the teachers at the high school have even provided incentives to the students for turning the library card applications back in completed. One of the teachers entered the students’ names into a drawing, in which she rewarded them with various items if their name was drawn. The high school has also added a link to the district’s home page on the internet, where the students can go directly to the Trails Regional Library Website, view the online card catalogs, and reserve the books they need. “With 8 branches of Trails Regional Library we can obtain any book the students may need,” Trails Regional Librarian Jeannae Dickerson explained. “If we don’t have it at the Holden Branch, a request can be made to bring it from one of our other branches.” Dickerson said the library also participates in an inner-library loan program, through which the library can borrow a specific book from any library in the country. “We’ve gotten books in here from as far away as Houston, Texas,” Dickerson said. Dickerson said she did not believe the students really understood all of the resources available to them prior to the partnership between the school and public library. “I really don’t have a lot of teenagers who come in here,” she said. “We have a few who come in and do research on the internet, but not a lot of them check out books.” With the partnership between Holden High School and Trails Regional Library, Dickerson is sure to see more young people in the library. Dickerson reported approximately 60 applications from Holden High School Students for library cards so far. Dickerson is in the process of reviewing the applications. Once finished, she will create the cards and return them to McCune for distribution at the high school. McCune and Dickerson expect that number to grow as students who may not have been interested at the time McCune spoke with them or were absent from school approach her for an application. “This is an on-going project,” McCune said. “There is no deadline. I will continue to encourage the students to take advantage of these resources available to them.” If you are a Holden High School Student or a parent of a high school student and you are interested in obtaining a library card for yourself or your child, simply contact Stacey McCune at Holden High School for an application. For other students or the public, these applications are always available at the Holden Branch of Trails Regional Library. By Christi Stowe News Editor |
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