Lisbon schools superintendent pleased with direction of district

Improvement showing on state report card

By MARY ANN GREIER

Staff Writer

LISBON -- Lisbon Superintendent Joe Siefke likes the direction the school district is going when it comes to the state report cards, with Lisbon improving to 3.5 stars overall this year from 3 stars last year.

"The district's in great shape," he said.

Lisbon improved overall in several categories, which demonstrated the progress being made. The report cards were discussed during the board meeting Thursday night.

McKinley Elementary School Principal Dan Kemats, whose building scored 4.5 stars, said, "We made improvements in a lot of areas." He praised the school staff during a recent meeting. McKinley scored 5 stars each for progress and gap closing which measure growth and a reduction in educational gaps for students.

Kemats said the only blip on the report was early literacy where the score was 1 star this year. Last year, the score was 2 stars. He blamed the blip on a decision made in the spring to not do an alternate test for students as part of the determination process to advance to fourth grade.

He said they have Read Ohio coaches in place and they're doing better.

"We made a lot of gains and we feel good about where we are," Kemats said.

David Anderson Jr./Sr. High School Principal Keith Edenfield also addressed the report card, with the high school scoring 3.5 stars overall.

"I'm very happy and proud of my staff as well on the scores of the report card," he said.

DAHS showed a lot of improvement and growth in testing, in one area scoring the highest in the county. He said gap closing was where the school showed a lot of improvement, meeting the goals set by the state. He said there was 17% improvement in the area of chronic absenteeism and the graduation rate was the highest in five years.

He said it's truly encompassing of everyone in the building, both students and staff.

"I'm very proud of what we did," Edenfield said.

For DAHS, the graduate component scored 4 stars. In the area of College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness, DAHS scored 5 stars.

In other business, during last month's meeting, kindergarten teachers Gwen Weikart, Amanda Smith and Lauren Stauffer talked about attending a training called Conscious Discipline through the Educational Service Center paid for by the Family and Children First Council. They shared that it's about taking a relationship approach to discipline and forming relationships with the children, building a classroom family.

Smith said they make the kids feel noticed. For example, if a child has missed school, the class sings a welcome back song when they return. The connections help the kids feel safe, helps their emotional state and the kids are ready to learn.

Weikart described what they're doing as walking a path, "providing them with what they need before expecting them to grow."

The teachers came back with a lot of ideas to use in the classroom.

"A lot of this could help the students later on. I believe in it," Smith said.

Stauffer, who's in her first year, talked about activities they can use to build that community, and suggested starting this program with all grades. Her class starts with a good morning song. They learn how to take deep breaths.

"I've seen a lot of growth with my students. When they get frustrated, they take a deep breath and they're better," Stauffer said.

All three teachers praised the instructor for the program, with Smith adding they all enjoyed it and it was great.

Siefke was glad to hear it was both exciting and productive.

Last month, with some of the heavy rains, there was a flooding problem at McKinley, with 15 inches of water in the bottom room. District Maintenance Supervisor Roger Tullis said there was a constant problem in that area because of a spring. When a really big storm came through, the water had nowhere to go when the sump pump failed. Three pumps for the HVAC system motors were under water. At the time, he said they had a plan and went into great detail about what they were trying to do to fix the situation.

Tullis also gave a shout out to the Lisbon Fire Department and Chief Mark Hall for helping to pump the water out. He also thanked the custodian crew.

Two new sump pumps were purchased.

During the meeting Thursday, he gave a brief update on the flood issue and said over the winter months, they'll determine what needs done further, whether a new motor or pump needs purchased or can be repaired. He indicated they'll be ready for the spring season.

The next meeting of the school board will be 5 p.m. Nov. 12 at the administration building.