RS Board Proceeds With Virtual Academy

In a meeting Aug. 17, the Rural Special School Board approved a handbook that will allow the district to proceed with the new virtual academy; authorized the purchase of a school bus to replace an old bus that is not working; cleared the way for the district to receive around $200,000 of federal funding, and hired a speech pathologist to provide an additional day of speech therapy.

The board also approved new board policies, including a policy on cybersecurity, and policies surrounding community relations and communication. District Superintendent Delena Thompson told the board that after the approvals, the board is only one section away from having a full set of board policies. The only section remaining pertains to curriculum.
The handbook for the virtual academy covers enrollment in the program, expectations for students and families, what will be provided by the district, and stipulates that students enrolled in the virtual academy are eligible for extracurricular activities. The board had previously agreed to approve a virtual school option with three seats.

Thompson told the board that she had just gotten a list of the federal funds that the district would be receiving, and that the total came to just over $200,000. She said that before the district is able to obtain the money, they needed to sign off on assurances that the funds would be used in adherence with federal guidelines: they can only be used to supplement programs, not supplant them. The board approved those assurances, clearing the way for the district to receive federal funds.

An additional day of speech therapy is needed to meet student needs, Thompson told the board, and the speech therapist the district shares with Timbo was not able to provide the additional time. The board voted to hire Katie Powell, a Rural Special graduate, to provide speech therapy for an additional day per week.

Thompson told the board that one of the buses received in the separation of the school districts had “bit the dust,” and that the spare bus was also not working.

“I didn’t want to do it this quickly, but it looks like we are in need of another bus,” she said.

The board had already authorized the purchase of one bus since beginning operation July 1.

Thompson said the spare bus has a power steering leak that the staff is working to resolve.

The board agreed that a second new bus needed to be purchased, and voted to approve the purchase in order to get a bus in service as soon as possible. Thompson told the board that she would communicate with them prior to buying.

In other business, the board:

• Approved two student transfers – one into the district from West Side, and one out to Mountain View.

• Heard the financial report giving a starting balance of about $393,000.

• Learned that the district had been approved for its own police department, which allows it to provide school resource officers.

• Heard the student progress report from Principal Tanya Stewart. Stewart told the board that the first week had gone well, but that the district has not yet been able to hand out Chromebooks because the devices will not work without Google accounts, and Google has yet to approve the accounts for students. Thompson said from what she understood, the district is about a week away from being approved by Google.

• Heard the facilities report, including the progress made by volunteers in renovating Old Main into a classroom and office space for the superintendent.