President Rich Dewhirst called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  Other members present were Afton Schomburg, Ken Miller, Jeremy Davis, Harold Lawrence, and Dan Lucas.  Member Clay Vogler entered the meeting at 7:10 p.m.  Also present were Elementary Principal Steve Waigand, High School Principal Ethan Sickels, Superintendent Craig Walker, Board Secretary Debbie Young, Tabitha Waigand, Kymm Bredensteiner, Marty Farley, and Kerri Acton.
The agenda was adopted and the minutes of the regular meeting of September 14, 2017, were approved.  Mr. Walker reviewed the financial information for the month ending September 2017.  The transfer of funds, the September final check register, the October check register to date, and the activity account checks were approved.  Mr. Walker read thank you notes from Ross and Kaitlea Hastert and Molly Spiegel.  It was announced that the October TABS meeting has been moved from Tuesday, October 17, 2017, to Wednesday, October 18, 2017.  Jeremy Davis will not be able to attend due to the rescheduling, so Ken Miller volunteered to represent the Board of Education at the meeting.
Kymm Bredensteiner and Tabitha Waigand presented information to the board regarding the implementation of standards/skills based grading in the first grade.  This practice is already in place in kindergarten, and they look for a smooth transition as they expand to first grade this semester.  Mr. Waigand reported September attendance for the elementary was 97.7% (180 students).  Kindergarten leads the way for the second consecutive month with 98.8%.  Several upcoming dates and activities were noted along with reports on staff professional development.  September Blue Jays of the Week were recognized for showing RESPECT.  Chris Shimmel and Grace Community Church will once again reward Blue Jays of the Week with a monthly pizza party this year.  October’s character trait is Self-Control.  A special thank you to our Room Parents Organization for donating $500 toward the new hand dryers in the elementary bathrooms.  $247.75 was raised during the Homecoming Bake Sale.  Deputy Rick Sons has been making the weekly rounds in the elementary for D.A.R.E. lessons.  Malisa Linthicum has been bringing the Elementary Bookmobile around to all classes for students to check out books from the public library.  Devon Sons provided our students with an “I’m not scared, I’m prepared” presentation on October 4 during our Discovery (Activity) time.  The presentation focused on what students should do if an intruder is in the building.  K-1 took a field trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo on September 22.  Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, officially announced Rock Port Elementary as a National Blue Ribbon School on September 28.  Preparations are underway for a Celebration Assembly on November 2 at 2 p.m. in the South Gym.  Mrs. Walker is now 1 of 2 finalists for the National PLTW Launch Teacher of the Year Award.  PLTW will be flying Mrs. Walker to Orlando for the 2017 PLTW Summit Conference on Oct. 23-25 where the winner will be announced.  While there she will be able to attend breakout sessions on STEM topics.  Congratulations Mrs. Walker!  Mrs. Farley reported on PLTW activities in the kindergarten classrooms.
Mr. Sickels reviewed several upcoming dates and activities.  September attendance for the JH and HS was 96.37%, and enrollment for grades 7 – 12 is 157.  Homecoming Week went very smoothly, and the students did a fantastic job on the floats.  We had great participation throughout the week for dress-up days, and the students still worked hard in the classrooms as well.  Final results:  Overall: 1st – Seniors, 2nd – 8th grade, 3rd – Juniors; Floats: 1st – 8th grade, 2nd – Juniors, 3rd – Freshman; Window: 1st – Sophomores, 2nd – Freshman, 3rd – Juniors.  We will be hosting the Docudrama on October 25th at the practice field and stadium.  A huge thank you to our local Police, Fire, and Ambulance Departments for helping to organize and put on this important event for our high schoolers.  Our 275 Conference Professional Day was well received this year.  I believe lots of little tweaks from last year helped make it run more smoothly.  There were 35 sessions for our teachers to pick three to attend, and a long lunch block for them to collaborate with other teachers in the same subject.  Special thanks to Mrs. Walker, Mr. Herron and Mr. Waigand for being presenters and representing what we do here at Rock Port very well.  Classroom reports were received from Ms. Heitman, Mr. Skillen, Mrs. Owen, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Palmer, Mr. Parson, Mr. Herron, Mrs. Jenkins, Mrs. Burke, and Mr. Moore.  A first quarter counselor’s update from Mrs. Farmer was reviewed.
Mr. Walker reported DESE is expected to release the APR results on October 20.  Once the information is available he will forward it on to the board members.  Mr. Walker reviewed selected historical data on our students participating in the Upward Bound Program, and gave an update on the school food service delinquent account balances.  He invited the board members to attend the National Blue Ribbon Award Assembly scheduled for November 2, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
Afton Schomburg reported on items discussed at the September TABS meeting, and board members discussed continuing work on the board growth plan.
The board proceeded to address several items of new business.  Action was taken to approve the Rock Port R-II School District Program Evaluation Process and Timeline as presented, to approve the Nine Year Facility Maintenance Plan as presented, and to approve the final state and federal reports.  Following a brief discussion, action was taken to set the date of the next regular meeting for Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. due to scheduling conflicts.  The meeting was then adjourned.