School District receives Shepherd Foundation Grant

POMEROY–The Shepherd Foundation has awarded the Pomeroy School District a total of $28,247.08, as well as an additional $6,000 for two other purposes, announced Superintendent Rachel Gwinn.

The original sum included awards for Future Farmers of America (FFA), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Missoula Children’s Theatre, WSU Garfield County Master Gardeners Program, K-6 Learn 360, Elementary Art, Advanced Biology trip, Fifth Avenue Theatre, K-2 Brain POP Software, First/Second Grade Classroom Library, Sixth Grade Classroom Library, and the Elementary Library. The additional funds included by the Shepherd Foundation was $1,000 for the Senior Class of 2020 Drug and Alcohol-Free Graduation party, and $5,000 to remove and relocate the sign on the east end of town to a more prominent place on the high school campus. The sign was originally funded by the Shepherd Foundation as well, and will be more easily seen when it can be viewed more closely on a site at the high school. The total amount donated by the Shepherd Foundation was $34,247.08.

Gwinn explained to the board that each year she accepts requests from the staff, gathers them and prioritizes them into a list, and submits that list to the Shepherd Foundation. The more students that will be impacted by the individual requests determines the priority status given to that request. She praised the Shepherd Foundation for the generous support they show the school district each year and stated that they have made a “profound impact enriching the lives of the students of the Pomeroy school district.”

In other business, the school board accepted the resignation of Dan Lewis as school bus driver. Lewis is also the pastor of the Pomeroy Nazarene Church, and has accepted a new position with a Nazarene Church in Richland, Washington. He and his wife, Bobbie, will be moving by the end of December. The board accepted the resignation, and Gwinn explained that Jay Franks, Transportation Supervisor, has already begun searching for a replacement. It has been difficult to find bus drivers recently, and it takes about four to six months to fully train a new applicant.

School Board member Kyle Pearson was nominated and approved as the new Chairman of the Board for 2020, and Ashley Koller was nominated and approved as Vice Chairman.

For the elementary school report, Principal Gwinn stated that the Holiday Program went well and she has received only positive feedback from staff and parents. A lock-down drill was performed that same day, which went well. She and School Resource Officer, Jim Nelson, will be looking for solutions to spots in the building that do not hear the announcements well through the intercom system. The Garfield County Health District has received a grant to allow the school to have a mental health counselor in the building once or twice per week. High School Business Education teacher, Tammy Damras received a grant from Umpqua Bank for the purchase of laptops for the FBLA to use for competitions. Damras is the FBLA advisor.

There was no high school principal report turned in to Gwinn, and High School Principal Amy Miller did not attend the meeting.

The school board chose a meeting date for the next month’s meeting, which is set for January 27, 2020, at 6 p.m. in the Shepherd Room of the elementary school.

The board went into executive session to discuss and review the fall coaches’ evaluations.