Last week during the Winslow Unified School District Governing Board meeting, Superintendent Connie Gover gave an update on COVID-19 cases within the district. Currently there are seven active cases of the virus, with the bulk of those at Winslow High School. “We are following the CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidelines that say you have to quarantine for five days and then when you return, wear a mask for five days.”
The district continues to follow recommendations for sanitizing and keeping classroom visitors to a minimum. Those interested in more information on active cases and mitigation strategies can visit the district website at www.wusd1.org and click on the COVID dashboard link. Navajo County remains in the medium exposure risk category.
In other business, and in the absence of Board Clerk Debbie Martinez, the governing board:
* Ratified vouchers in a routine procedure that allows the board to submit vouchers to the county superintendent between meetings.
* Approved the hiring of Iris Wells, Sheri Hatfield and Cheryll Daly as substitute teachers.
* Approved the hiring of Lyra Rose as an English Language Arts teacher at Winslow Junior High.
* Approved Michael Mendoza and Bryan Larsen, each as seventh grade football coaches, and Chuck Hodge as a volunteer coach.
* Approved student activity fundraiser requests including the Football Club for Bulldog Cards and online sales, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) for school store and coffee shop sales, the Junior National Honor Society (NHS) for dance admission sales, and Junior High Art Club, NHS and Student Council for concession sales at athletic events and dances.
* Approved a memorandum of understanding between WUSD and Little Singer Community school for special education assistance in a routine procedure.
* Approved both classified and certified administrators as qualified evaluators for the 2022-23 school year.
* Approved Greg Schalow to continue his services as the district hearing officer.
* Approved a procurement procedure exemption and acceptance from the School Facilities Board (SFB) for a boiler replacement at the Industrial Arts building. The reason for the exemption is a supply chain issue showing the boiler will not be available in time for winter weather if it is not ordered now.
* Approved the renewal stipend for staff that had a contract for the 2021-22 school year, signed a contract for the current school year and remain employed. The stipend will be funded through the federally awarded ESSER III (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grant.
* Accepted an award in the amount of $20,850 for assessment services on the HVAC systems at the Industrial Arts building. The district will be responsible for the remaining cost of $5,004.
* Approved the stipend for athletic director at Winslow Junior High School to be shared between Gina Williams and Stephanie Lymer.
* Approved the rescheduling of governing board meetings. The Dec. 21 meeting will be cancelled, the Jan. 4, 2023 meeting will be moved to Jan. 11 and the Jan. 18 meeting will be cancelled, all due to winter recess.
* Determined governing board members Al Leonard, Joey Hartnett, Dodie Montoya and Marilee Ervien will be attending the Arizona School Board Association meeting in Blue Ridge on Oct. 26.
* Heard the financial report for the month of July from Business Manger Casey Hancock. Eight percent of the school year has elapsed with 2.9% of the budget spent.
The next meeting of the Winslow Unified School District Governing Board will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14 in the board meeting room, located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
