RV continues discussion on curbing drug use
Royal Valley Board of Education members are exploring a variety of avenues to curb drug use in the district, such as increasing the use of drug-sniffing dogs at the schools.
Board members spent a portion of their meeting Monday evening reviewing the district’s current drug policies in both the student and coaching handbooks.
In the past several months, board members have been discussing drug use among the student body, as well as the pros and cons of instituting a random drug-testing policy in the district.
During the board of education’s meeting last month, board members voted down a motion (5-2) to develop a policy that would randomly select students to be tested for illegal drugs.
Although board members agreed that there is a concern with drug use in the district and reporting it, they want to explore other methods besides drug-testing at this time.
There are several discipline steps in place in the district if a student is found in possession of drugs or alcohol, said Superintendent John Rundle.
Some of the board members were concerned that the language regarding drugs in the high school handbooks wasn’t as consistent as language in the middle school handbook.
Area drug treatment and rehabilitation services are listed and referenced in district policies.
Rundle reported that Perry-Lecompton USD 343 spends about $3,000 a year to have drug-sniffing dogs visit both the high school and middle school six times a year. The district has a contract with Providence Working Canines of Overland Park.
Currently, the district utilizes local drug dogs from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department to randomly search the high school and middle school one to three times a year.
“I like the idea of increasing the activity of the drug dogs,” said board member Jeff Stithem. “I’d like to find out more details and actively pursue that more than once or twice a year if there is an issue in our school. Your hope is that you never find anything.”
Several other board members also agreed that they wanted Rundle to seek more information on increasing the use of drug-sniffing dogs in the schools.
At the beginning of the meeting, John Calvert, school resource officer; Danielle Alley, Jackson County probation officer; and Lieutenant Bryson Wheeler of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office shared statistics on drug use among county youth.
Alley reported that in 2013, 10 youth (age 17 or younger) were arrested in the county for drug use. In 2014, 13 juvenile arrests were made for a drug-related offense in Jackson County. So far, two youth have been arrested in 2015.
Upon a court-ordered urinalysis, Alley said that six kids in the county had a “dirty” UA in 2014, meaning they tested positive for at least one of the 10 drugs tested.
In 2015, 17 kids in the county had a “dirty” UA after being required to take a urinalysis through the courts. The numbers reflect the total number of “dirty” UAs and not the total number of students tested. Alley said that it is possible for one student to be given a urinalysis more than once in a year.
Of the 23 kids tested in the past two years, 10 of the youth attended Royal Valley schools.
“Lately we’re finding kids using methamphetamines,” Alley said. “It seems like there is a outburst of use and largely in this area. But mostly we have youth testing for marijuana. Sometimes pills, amphetamines. Whatever they can take to get high.”
Alley said the majority of youth arrested for drug-related offenses were enrolled in a local public school at the time of their arrest.
Also during their meeting, the board approved the purchase of bus diagnostic software that will be shared with Holton USD 336.
Jeff Gustin, transportation coordinator, said that he and Mike Porter, maintenance director at Holton, are confident that sharing a bus software system between the two districts could be feasible.
“There are some instances where you don’t know what the repairs are until you plug it into a computer,” Gustin said of the equipment. “Will there be instances when we need the software and have to drive to Holton to pick it up? Maybe. But there’s not a lot to lose here if it doesn’t work to do it jointly. One of the districts can buy the other one out.”
Board members agreed to purchase 60 percent of the cost ($4,620) to purchase a Bosch ESI diagnostic software, with Holton’s cost at $3,080.
“Someone needs to own 60 percent of the software for insurance and liability purposes,” Gustin said.
In other business, the board:
* Approved consent items.
* Heard reports from all school board members on the recent Kansas Association of School Boards convention.
* Collected completed superintendent evaluations.
* Met with David Elsbury, CEO of KANZA Mental Health & Guidance Center Inc., who outlined the services provided by KANZA, as well as the recent purchase of the Moser building in Holton. Elsbury said that KANZA is looking to expand services further in the county.
* Received a legislative update from Rundle. The board also briefly discussed a proposed state bill that would limit residents who have family who work in a school district from serving on a school board.
* Reviewed the district’s current transportation fleet with Gustin, who noted the district has just two buses with standard transmissions. The rest have automatic transmissions.
Gustin said that one of the district vans, which was built in 2008, has 172,000 miles.
“ To keep from having to buy two vans in one year in the future, you might consider purchasing one van in the next year or two,” Gustin said.
Gustin also recommended replacing, in the future, bus #19, which has 171,000 miles.
* Received a preliminary Impact Aid report from Rundle.
* Approved a recommendation by Amy Mosier, district nurse, to utilize a yearly screening questionnaire for food service staff in lieu of a yearly tuberculosis skin test. New employees will still be required to get the TB skin test.
* Received a report on the new E-Walk tool from Susan Pfrang, director of curriculum and instruction. The new tool will be implemented during second semester as a way to observe classroom instruction.
* Learned from Rundle that Jeff Debusk contacted him to see if the school board is interested in purchasing a storage building on Mayetta’s Main Street just west of the district’s current bus garage. The building would be used for storage. Board members showed no interest in the purchase.
* Adopted the 2016-2017 school calendar as presented. The first day of school is set for Aug. 17, with Christmas break scheduled from Dec. 22 – Jan. 3. The last day of school will be May 18.
* Approved school site council memberships at each of the schools. Board member Ann Kelly requested to have the names for approval closer to the start of the school year if possible.
* Approved regalia purchases for the Native American Singers and Dancers for a total cost of $700.
* Accepted a donation of $913 from Jim Lucero and Tim Blevins for the purchase of pole vault poles. The board also accepted a $2,000 Carl Perkins Reserve Grant for the purchase of three RealCare Babies for the family and consumer science classroom.
* Met in executive session for 10 minutes with Rundle and Pfrang to discuss teacher salary negotiations and non-elected personnel.
Back in open session, board member Jeff Stithem left the meeting due to a conflict of interest.
Remaining board members accepted the retirement of Sandy Williams as the computer lab manager at the elementary school effective Dec. 22 and offered the position to Brenda Stithem for the remainder of the school year.
Jeff Stithem returned to the meeting, and all board members accepted the letter of resignation from Jaclyn Long as a food service worker at the middle school.
The board also approved coaching contracts to Alex Crume as the assistant middle school boys’ basketball coach, Willie McClane as the high school golf coach, Charles Nez as the assistant high school baseball coach and Dave Barta as the assistant high school baseball coach.
* Adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. All board members were present.
