W-MU says ?so long? to open lunch

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? Open lunch is going to be a thing of the past at Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District.

The W-MU school board approved the first reading and suggested revisions of the secondary and elementary handbook for 2015/16. One of the major changes approved on Wednesday, during the board?s regularly scheduled meeting, was to do away with open lunch for students.

Superintendent Jeff Maeder said this was something he and high school principal Dave Edwards had been discussing. Previously, parental permission would allow kids to leave school grounds to go home at lunchtime.

?I think this is a bad policy,? said Maeder. ?We don?t have the personnel to monitor the kids (coming and going) and it?s a bad idea to let the kids out to go home in the middle of the school day?it opens us up for liability.?

Seniors with open campus privileges will continue to have that opportunity. Maeder said he feels open campus is a reward for seniors and something he is willing to keep.

The board also approved a shared librarian agreement with Columbus Community School District. The name of the librarian has yet to be disclosed. With the agreement, W-MU will have the librarian for two days and pay 40 percent of the salary. The librarian will also work at Columbus for two days and Wapello for one.

During the meeting, the board also heard from David Jorgensen, of the Baker Group, about possible future projects. The Baker Group toured the W-MU campus on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and presented a preliminary facility improvement master plan.

The report showed the building, which was built in 1923 and added to in 1981 and 1991, is still sturdy and in good shape. Jorgensen said possible improvements would include replacing the inefficient steam boilers. Jorgensen also suggested the board consider adding air conditioning to the entire building. Currently, administrative offices, the school store and library have air conditioning units with several classrooms possessing window air conditioning units. However, window units do not filter and clean the air.

School board president Klay Edwards said the district is interested in getting rid of the modular classrooms and doing another addition, but the board hasn?t ?kicked it around a whole bunch.?

Jorgensen suggested the board digest the information provided and maybe have a work session down the road to discuss future improvements. The preliminary report came at no cost to the district.

In other business, the board approved the hiring of:

Tiffany Sammons, middle school resource, $33,925; Tracy Stucker, Pre-K associate, $11.05/hour; Robert Helgerson, sixth grade teacher, $37,420; Rodney Zirkel, bus driver, $19.7/hour.

The board also approved the resignations of Peg Nelson, bus driver, and Renae Jones, cheerleading and drill team coach.

The next meeting of the W-MU school board will be Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, at 6 p.m., in the library.