DERWOOD BRETT
Consultant
Caddo Hills School students and visitors will be more comfortable during warmer weather following board action taken to air condition the Physical Education Gymnasium. The district board accepted a bid of slightly more than $81,000 which includes all relevant taxes as well as a required performance bond.
Adding air conditioning to the physical education gymnasium has been under discussion for several months following a recommendation by Superintendent of Schools Deric Owens. In his original proposal to the board, Owens noted that adding a cooling system to the facility would increase the useful time of the building by allowing inside programs in warmer weather.
Owens told the board earlier that with the added cooling system in place, it would be easier to hold programs inside during the warmer spring months before summer break and in the hot days and nights when students return in August.
Plans are under consideration to do some remodeling that would broaden the building’s usefulness. An example mentioned earlier was addition of a full-sized stage for theatre productions, concerts and perhaps graduation.
In addition to installation of an air conditioning system, a small storage building will be constructed on one end of the gym for needed storage.
The board granted approval to Justin Neel, Business and Technology Education instructor, to create an additional checking account for the school’s business classes. Owens and Neel explained to the board that it was cumbersome for the school’s accounting office to separate invoices, denote payments and receive money for items sold by the business class.
In further explanation, Neel told the board the business class is working on a project through which they produce a product (in this case snowmen), as well as handling sales and advertising. Daily class discussion gives each student an opportunity to understand what each department is doing and how the departments fit together, much like a traditional manufacturing facility.
The production department is responsible for inventory control, complete with spreadsheets to show what items are on hand, plus the anticipated needs for three versions of the snowmen.
The students have created three versions of the snowman, Neel said. “We have the basic model, a customized model and the Susan G. Koman model. The basic model is a plain and white , the customized model can have almost anything inscribed on the banner, while the Koman model, which is more expensive and generates a $1 per snowman donation to the Susan G. Koman Foundation for breast cancer research.
The sales department is responsible for developing an online order form and a paper form for interested students to take home for parental use. The department is also responsible for selling strategies, which include on campus daily promotions and community activities such as at ball games, nursing homes and other venues.
The advertising department, according to Neel, is given creative latitude to prepare and implement one on one presentations, as well as mass promotion through signage. They also have developed a media campaign complete with commercials.
Neel stated that the project has exceeded his and the classes’ expectations. Originally the group thought they might sell 20 snowmen. He told the board that 80 units have been sold and that the “company” decided to stop sales so they could meet their commitments to customers before Christmas break.
Superintendent Owens told the board that the energy-efficient lighting installation project was nearly complete. He said 95 percent of the agreed on price has been paid, with the remainder to be paid when routine project cleanup is completed.
Johnny Hoyt and Tracy Terwilliger appeared before the board to solicit business for Dayspring Behavioral Health. They told board members that they would like access to students at both the elementary and high school level for behavioral health issue treatment.
Hoyt said his company was the largest mental health provider in the state and offers services tailored for kindergarten through 12th grade. They also provide drug and alcohol counseling.
Terwilliger said the company provides day use services and would either come to the school for client visits or would do home visits. She noted the company offers 24 hours-per-day service.
If given approval by the board, they said they would have a counselor assigned to the school and would eventually want a dedicated space on campus for the company’s employee.
Hoyt told the board that his company had requests from parents expressing a desire to have Dayspring Behavioral Health services available on campus, but when questioned by Owens stated that the company did not presently have any clients enrolled in the school.
No action was taken on the request for student access by Dayspring.
In other action, the board agreed to allow a student transfer to Centerpoint School District and paid the monthly warrants.
The Caddo Hills School Board meets monthly on the second Monday night at 5:30 p.m. in the board room. The public is invited to attend.
