WELLMAN

A KCRG news story last week may have raised blood pressures of Mid-Prairie school board members, but you wouldn’t have known it at their regular business meeting on Monday night. The Community Room was nearly empty save for the board itself, and they took care of business in an unusually short 33 minutes.

Board actions included acceptance of handbooks for six buildings and programs, as well as approval of first readings for a range of board policy updates.

No decision has been made regarding the policy on Weapons in the School District. New state legislation allows teachers and other school employees to obtain a professional permit to carry guns on school grounds; however, it remains unclear if the district’s insurance provider, EMC Insurance, will allow that as an insurable risk.

Wellbeing Initiative

Half of the July 8 meeting consisted of a presentation by Dr. Chris Grier, a wellness chiropractor, educator, and Heroic Coach, who is developing a district wellbeing initiative. He piloted the program with staff at the Home School Education Center last year and looks to bring it to the entire district this fall.

Dr. Grier acknowledged the district’s vision to make Mid-Prairie “a destination” place staff want to come and stay. However, “We all know that being a public educator right now in the State of Iowa is not the easiest thing to do. It’s a high-stress situation. It’s also a very low-appreciation situation, oftentimes, and that can lead to burnout. It can lead to people leaving the profession or leaving the state for other states where it might be a different situation,” he said.

His goal is to help staff “thrive” through wellbeing lifestyle education, which would consist of monthly live workshops and biweekly emails with video and action-step content.

Home School Program Director Rachel Kerns attested to the helpfulness of the program in her building last year.

Superintendent Brian Stone said he’s “pretty excited” about the program, and that it’s a “big step in a positive way to start building resiliency.”

The Mid-Prairie school board will next meet on July 29 for an in-service workshop; their next regular meeting will take place on Monday, August 12 at 6:15 p.m. at the Central Office Community Room.