Tricia Strasdin, left, was elected Churchill County School Board president, and Matt Hyde, center, was named vice president. Next to them is first-year trustee Julie Guerrero-Goetsch.
At the last regularly scheduled county school board meeting, members elected Tricia Strasdin to continue as president, Matt Hyde as vice president, Amber Getto as clerk and Kathryn Whitaker as acting clerk.
The trustees also accepted appointments to various committees and schools.
Superintendent Summer Stephens’ progress review of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Board goal of increasing “the percentage of students who pass as end-of-program completers in all CTE areas at Churchill County High School” to 70% at the end of 2023-2024 was provided as part of the superintendent's update.
Highlights of the completed work to date include a contract with Segura Investments LLC to “lead the district’s Work-Based Learning initiatives with the Churchill Economic Development Authority (CEDA) as well as stand up a Career Development Center at Churchill County High School.”
Roundtables were hosted to “increase awareness for stakeholders of current programs of study, expectations of the Carl Perkins Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment, and create connections to potential employers in the community.”
The Board unanimously voted to contribute four Churchill County Board of Trustees' scholarships of $500 each for the 2022-2023 Churchill County High School seniors. The funds for these scholarships are contributions made by individual board members.
During the discussion of transportation policy Hyde and Strasdin voiced some concerns about problems that are occurring due to a shortage of school bus drivers. Coaches have occasionally driven their teams to away games in school district vehicles or multiple teams have traveled on the same bus. This has caused excessive wait times around actual gameplay, a very long work day for coaches and unnecessary extra time out of class and away from family for students and staff. Parents are not currently allowed to drive students to away games, a policy that Strasdin suggested may need to be reviewed.
A report from the district's Human Resources department detailed recruitment efforts to fill personnel vacancies, including a job fair that was held on Jan. 6. Additional job fair opportunities will be available this spring. Open positions are also posted online at Indeed, K12JobSpot, Teachers-Teachers, EDJOIN, LinkedIn and the district Facebook page.