Rops was presented with a plaque and gavel for his many years of service to the Lennox School District at his final board meeting as President on July 12, 2021. Rops has been with the District in some capacity since 1977.
On Monday, July 12 the Lennox School District Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting with the budget hearing the main focus.
The General Fund balance has an increase of $269,195, part of that is $113,132 which the District got from the State in June. The intent is to use that money for bonuses for the staff throughout the year.
Also under the General Fund, it was noted that there was a 2.4% increase in teacher salary and that the district will receive over $4 million in state aid.
Esser II funds (Covid funds) of $167,556 have been earmarked for one educational specialist at Worthing Elementary and a part time Title I teacher at Lennox Elementary. A portion of the money will go to Carrol Institute, which supports mental health and substance abuse and Humanity Launch, a professional development to improve classroom culture. Both programs were approved later in the meeting.
A portion of the money was also dedicated to an ACT prep program. Later in the meeting, Jr. and Sr. High School principal, Chad Allison, spoke to the board about options for ACT prep. He has looked into Study Point, which would allow a student to work with a private tutor online. The student would have 16 hours with a live person that would feature 1 on 1 tutoring in addition to homework. The cost is $1700 a student. Those who worked through the program saw a typical increase of 2-4 points on their score. With the cost of the program so high, the District would only able to service about 22 students.
Superintendent Chad Conaway noted that this program would be best fitted for seniors who are on the pathway towards the opportunity scholarship but are lacking the score of 24 to qualify.
Allison also talked about increasing their current ACT prep program from four sessions to eight. He also would like to see the staff get ACT certified and they would then be able to see first hand what it takes to get the students prepared. Allison noted he is working with Sylvan Learning Center. They have a program similar to Study Point. They are suppose to get back to him with details by the end of the week.
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