February board meeting highlights
Posted on 02/11/2020
Hunter Clark at Feb. Board Meeting(SPS) -- Despite it only taking 14 minutes to reach Executive Session, the February meeting of the Sapulpa Schools Board of Education on Monday night was full of information.

President Larry Hoover promptly called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and handed it over to Jefferson Heights Elementary 5th-grader Hunter Clark to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

The items as part of the Consent Agenda were unanimously approved by the board.

The Hearing from the Public portion was recognized but as no one had previously submitted a request to address the board, the meeting continued on with Superintendent Comments.

Superintendent Rob Armstrong addressed the recent snow days that canceled school for two days and announced the tentative final day for students. Barring any more inclement weather days the rest of this year, students will be released for the summer break on Friday, May 15.

Mr. Armstrong recognized Freedom Elementary Principal Alison Owens for the school’s “A” grade on the Oklahoma School Report Card for 2018-2019. Freedom was one of just two elementary schools in northeast Oklahoma to earn a top score and they celebrated the achievement during an assembly attended by State Superintendent of Instruction Joy Hofmeister. Mrs. Owens addressed the board and told them she had been asked by Mrs. Hofmeister to serve on the state’s Principal Advisory Committee.

Also included in Superintendent Comments:
-- The district’s Mobile Book Bus will be on hand during the United Way’s Live United Awards on Feb. 25 in downtown Tulsa.
-- The Kids Kloset, which has been temporarily closed, will soon reopen on the first floor of the Washington Administrative Center. The former cafeteria is being remodeled and will house the clothes to be the distribution point for the community for new clothes.

Remodeling for Kids Kloset

During Action Items, Assistant Superintendent Johnny Bilby spoke about the 2020-2021 school year calendar. The calendar, which was unanimously approved, reflects a later start date of Aug. 20 as well as separate days for parent/teacher conferences to accommodate parents with students in elementary and secondary schools.

A donation of $4,500 from TTCU was approved as was a $10,000 grant from the Muscogee Creek Nation to fund STEM classroom resources and curriculum development.

The board tabled the discussion on the updates to 544.1.3 Student Activity Drug Testing Policy.

The agenda can be viewed on the district website here.