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Eisenhower School sees an increase in food assistance
Park Elementary School will get a Little Free Library
USD 428 school board at Eisenhower 2019
Staff at Eisenhower Elementary School talk about their work during a school board meeting held at their school on Thursday. Pictured are, from left: Tandi Mai, English Language Arts coach; Cindy Sandy, after-school programs coordinator; and Adam Kline, math coach. - photo by Susan Thacker

JoAnn Blevins gave her first building report as principal of Eisenhower Elementary School when the school board held a luncheon meeting Thursday at Eisenhower. Blevins previously served as the Riley Elementary School principal.

Blevins shared some demographics for her school.

• As of Friday, Sept. 20, Eisenhower had 315 students in grades K-6. Sept. 20 was the official day for school enrollment figures statewide. Blevins said they started the school year with 322 student but lost a large family. The largest classes are kindergarten, with 54 students, and sixth grade, with 53.

Blevins said 94.5% of the students receive free or reduced-price lunches, up from 70% last year. She believes this increase is due to adding the application for food assistance to the online enrollment process. “It is much easier and much more private,” she said. “It’s easier than it’s ever been before to apply.”

• Twenty-five percent of the students at Eisenhower have a disability. Some special education classes in the building contribute to the higher-than-average number.

• The English-learning population is on the rise at the school with 51 students. “We’ve recently added a teaching assistant to help these students with language acquisition,” she said.

• The staff is split with about half of the teachers having fewer than five years of experience and half having five to 10 years or more experience.



Little Free Library Brit Spaugh Zoo
Sunflower Bank has chosen to give Park Elementary School a “Little Free Library” stocked with books. The LFLs are wooden boxes placed in public areas where people can give or take books. The one shown here is at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo. - photo by Susan Thacker

Action items

In action items, the board accepted the resignation of Andrea Jenkins, a teacher of eighth-grade math at Great Bend Middle School. The board also met in executive session for 10 minutes to discuss the performance of a teacher.

The board also approved the following contributions to the school district:

• Sunflower Bank has selected Park Elementary School to receive a community “Little Free Library.” This decorated wooden box will be filled with age appropriate books to get the program started.

• Park Elementary has also received a $7,500 Masonic Literacy Grant Contribution for after-school programs.

• Lincoln Elementary School received $43.75 from Coca Cola for fundraiser profit incentives.

• Kansas Reading Roadmap Coordinator Cindy Sandy and Eisenhower Elementary School have received a contribution of $1,500 from Walmart designated for the KRR after-school program.