HPS to offer open campus with restrictions
Feb. 14—The Hulbert School Board of Education met Monday, Feb. 13 to discuss college opportunities and a revamp to lunch time.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Evan Teague, a Hulbert High School sophomore, said he and his classmates wanted to improve the quality and quantity of school lunches. Teague said he received 316 signatures from high school students who wanted a change to school meals. He said the small portion sizes and lack of food items on the trays were a significant issue for students.
"Not having enough food is a really big issue for athletes and students because not being able to focus or have enough energy to practice or do work is not good, and you don't know a lot of the home lives of some students," said Teague. "This could be a really important meal for them."
The board terminated its contract with Keystone Food Service, the school's food service management company.
Besides the school's offering a new student information system called Wengage, another piece of new business was taken into account and approved by the board regarding the open campus policy, which Teague mentioned as a possible solution.
Hulbert Public School Superintendent Jolyn Choate said that starting Tuesday, Feb. 21, the school will be extending its open campus policy to allow ninth- through 12th-grade students to go to the Super Stop and Subway during lunch. Those who are on the ineligibility list or sentenced to in-school suspension will be not allowed to participate in the new open-campus policy.
The board approved changes made to policies regarding the Instruction EHDD College Coursework. The school will now be allowing students as young as the ninth grade to attend Oklahoma Christian University to get a jumpstart on completing an associate's degree. Choate said the school already allows students the opportunity to attend Connors State College and Northeastern State University.
"I'm hoping that ninth-graders and 10th-graders will be able to take advantage and if not [receive] an associates, they could at least have a really good and substantial start on their college career by the time they graduate," said Choate.
The Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness License Agreement for the 2022-'23 school year was reapproved, which is what Hulbert uses as an evaluation tool for certified teachers. Several contracts for the next year were also approved, including one with Ruth Kelley for school pictures. A contract with Barlow was accepted by the board, which Choate said the school has had in place for several years. She said while larger school districts will have someone over federal programs, smaller districts will contract someone from companies, such as Barlow, to assist.
The Frantz Law Group contract was approved to provide services in connection to pursuing claims for damages associated with social media litigation. The acceptance also included the district's individual action in filing and preparation. Those with Frantz Law Group have represented several districts across the U.S. against companies like Altria and JUUL Labs to show accountability for youth vaping. The group is also working with several districts, now including Hulbert, to commence litigation against social media companies, such as TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, etc., to show the mental health impact they have caused among teens and children.
"I need those social media companies to understand maybe access to everyone shouldn't be granted because of the detriment that it has caused, as far as social-emotional learning is concerned, like anxiety, depression, and all that other business that affects what we are trying to do here on a daily basis," said Choate.
A decision was made to increase the number of steps on the support employee pay scale. Choate said some positions would increase by different amounts of money each year, so the new pay scale will make all pay scales increase the same every year.
The rehiring of Taf Morphis as the elementary principal and Lakisha Blandon as the middle school/ high school principal was made by the board. Several hires took place, including Claudine Peace as a paraprofessional, Rocci Heather as a facilities worker, and Shannon Gourd as a part-time custodian.
Check it out
The Hulbert School Board of Education will meet again March 20 at the school's auditorium at 5:30 p.m.
