Huntingdon Primary to Add Sixth Pre-K Class

HUNTINGDON (July 16) — Thanks to two grants, Huntingdon Special School District will soon add its sixth Pre-K classroom.

During the July 16 meeting of the Huntingdon Special School District Board of Education, Dr. Jonathan Kee, director of schools, said the school received two monetary grants to allow the school to add one additional Pre-K. $80,000 is for salaries and benefits, and $30,000 is for classroom supplies and furniture.

Three of the existing five Pre-K programs are in collaboration with Head Start. The new classroom will concentrate on educating 3- and 4-year-old students with disabilities along with typical peers.

In other business, Amber Douglas and Wendy Allison spoke about the new student assessment tools available to teachers. They noted the new program provides instant feedback on the testing and offers teachers great insight into each student’s progress or lack thereof. Parents will also receive the progress report. Teachers will receive training on how to utilize the program during in-service training.

Dr. Kee said the new assessment tool cost the system approximately $30,000.

Kee also reported the school system filled one vacant teaching position by realigning the teaching responsibilities of existing faculty members. Instead of hiring the new teacher, two educational assistants, each at the primary and elementary schools - were added with the funding.

Construction continues on new classrooms at the primary school and classrooms, the new dining room, restrooms, and kitchen will be mostly complete by school time. Six new Kindergarten classrooms are ready for occupancy.

Window replacement throughout the building will be completed during the fall of 2024.

The school district now owns the parcel of land at 310 Hale Street, and the Town of Huntingdon will raze the on-site building. The property now presents an issue of limited visibility for motorists in the school zone.

Staff changes include:

Miranda Jones transferred from Huntingdon Middle School Education Assistant to the Primary School.

Macon Bullock from HMS History to Huntingdon High School History.

The newly employed are Callie Wofford, HHS Science; Clay Pinson, Seventh Grade Social Studies; Brittany Bolen, HMS Educational Assistant; Chloe Glass, HPS Educational Assistant; and Kelsey Brittain, HPS Educational Assistant.

Charla Govan, HPS Educational Assistant, submitted her resignation.

The local School Board Policies were updated to match the changes to state law.

A few, of note, is no unauthorized person may step onto a school bus, including parents.

Seventh and eighth-grade students will learn about fetal development through a pre-approved, short video. The law prohibits instruction on topics related to sexual activity for students in grades K-5.

The school board also adopted a policy on using artificial intelligence for instructional and assignment purposes. The technology supervisor, Scott Carter, must approve and maintain a list of approved AI programs used in the district.

Any student with a documented academic or behavior delay may be retained in the same grades of K-2 if the parents believe the retention may benefit the student.

School staffers may be eligible for leave from work if assaulted. This is an expansion of the law, which already included teachers.

A new law requires any valid threat of mass violence is now included in the list of zero tolerance offenses.