Wellman

For the second consecutive meeting, the Mid-Prairie school board toured one of the district’s buildings, this time viewing renovations completed at the high school over the summer.

During its August 10 meeting, the board toured improvements at West Elementary with Principal Robin Foster. Two weeks later, members toured the relocated art and family and consumer sciences rooms, the renovated business classroom and the culinary room.

The art room was moved into the former weight room, while the FCS room was relocated to the former art room next to the culinary room.

Board Secretary Jeff Swartzentruber described what the business classroom looked like before it was renovated.

“The power sources came down from the ceiling, so they couldn’t be moved,” Swartzentruber said. “They were bolted down and looked like something from the 1970s.”

At the end of the tour, Superintendent Brian Stone demonstrated a new interactive touch-screen display at the high school.

Eighth graders participating in high school athletics

During its August 10 meeting, the board approved the first reading of a policy that would allow eighth-grade students to participate in high school athletics under certain circumstances.

At its latest meeting, the board discussed the second reading and reviewed the proposed regulations but did not approve it.

Some board members expressed concern that moving eighth graders to high school teams could negatively affect middle school athletic programs.

Board Vice President Jake Snider questioned whether the regulations provided enough guidance for determining which students could move up.

“I’m concerned that down the road we’re going to have issues and people are going to ask, ‘Why not?’” Snider said. “I can think of several simple hypothetical situations that could create problems with this policy.”

Snider also questioned whether the change could discourage ninth- and 10th-grade students from participating and mask a larger decline in athletic participation.

“Could this lead to more ninth- and 10th-grade students becoming overwhelmed and eventually quitting?” Snider said.

“Could this become a Band-Aid that only slows the long-term decline of our athletic department?”

Board President Randy Billups discussed the possibility that eighth graders who are not moved up could become discouraged and quit.

“Students may begin asking, ‘Why can’t I be moved up?’ and decide not to participate,” Billups said. “If that happened, I think we would realize it wasn’t working. We don’t want to weaken the eighth-grade program because that’s what builds the program for the future.”

Board member Ryan Schlabaugh said his biggest concern involved academic expectations.

“My biggest concern is probably the academic expectations,” Schlabaugh said. “Do we have a standard for what constitutes acceptable academic performance? To me, that is the gray area.”

Schlabaugh also said he trusted Athletic Director Pete Cavanaugh to make decisions under the proposed guidelines.

“My personal opinion is that I trust Pete to make that decision based on the guidelines we have in place,” Schlabaugh said. “If we fall outside those parameters, then we can tighten them.”

Under the proposed regulations, eighth-grade participation would be considered an exception rather than standard practice.

The appropriate coach, athletic director, building principal, student and parent or guardian would be involved in the approval process.

The board did not take action on the second reading. Members wanted Athletic Director Pete Cavanaugh to include the number of participating eighth graders and the programs affected in his monthly report.

Substitute teachers pay

Stone recommended increasing substitute teacher pay because Mid-Prairie has struggled to attract substitutes and its rate was not competitive with neighboring districts.

“We’re simply not competitive with neighboring districts in this area, which is why we’re considering making a change,” Stone said.

The board approved increasing substitute pay from $150 to $165 per day for the current school year.

Stone also discussed the possibility of hiring a floating substitute to work wherever needed, although the district is still researching the idea.

Adult meal prices

The board approved raising the adult lunch price from $5.10 to $5.15 after district officials were notified of a new federally required minimum. The motion also covered an increase in the adult breakfast price.

Employee evaluations

Stone also presented the district’s employee evaluation tools for certified and noncertified staff, coaches, school business officials, directors and administrators.

Certified staff members are evaluated using forms designed for licensed employees. Teachers are generally evaluated on a three-year rotation unless they are new to the district.

Noncertified employees—including bus drivers, cooks, custodians, paraeducators and school nurses—will use a standardized form intended to make evaluations more consistent.

Stone said head coaches are evaluated after each season, while district directors are evaluated annually.

He also explained that administrators evaluate certified staff members, while instructional coaches provide support rather than conduct evaluations.

“For us, it is administrators,” Stone said. “We are very careful to make sure instructional coaches are not evaluative. They are there to push and assist, not to evaluate.”

Other business

The board approved a $26,960 contract with Hill for Literacy to provide professional development and training for teachers throughout the 2026-27 school year.

Next meeting

 The next Mid-Prairie school board meeting will take place Monday, September 14, at 6:15 p.m. in the Central Office Community Room.