Blair Oaks School Board approves curriculum, policies

The Blair Oaks Board of Education approved policy updates, heard reports on buildings and events, and considered curriculum at its October meeting Tuesday night.

The board considered a significant number of policy updates from Missouri Consultants for Education based on legislative changes.

Some of the policy and regulation updates included a requirement that candidates for school board reside in the district for at least a year before the election, an update allowing non-resident owners of property to enroll their children in the district with some limitations, and a requirement that districts provide computer science classes, among others.

Those policies were presented at the September board meeting, when the board elected to delay action to allow the public and the board time to review them.

The board voted to adopt all policy changes excluding a policy that would apply to districts that allow corporal punishment. Blair Oaks does not allow corporal punishment.

The board also reviewed and approved an outline of preschool and elementary core content curriculum, along with secondary math curriculum.

The board heard an update on professional development from Professional Development Committee President Kristin Buschjost. She said the committee was looking at options for how to continue providing professional development considering the difficulty in finding substitute teachers.

During the reports portion of the meeting, Middle School Principal Melinda Aholt said the school is starting some new initiatives this year. In an effort to help students learn the skill of organization, Aholt said the middle school provided a planner for each student. The school has also set a goal for the students to decrease D and F grades and missing assignments.

Director of Building and Grounds Randy Prenger said minor plumbing replacements were taking place in every building, crews were looking at centrally locating a nurse's station at the elementary school, and the district was looking at new folding chairs for graduation and other events.