Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Sweet Home High School students may find themselves forced to stay on campus during lunch period if local business owners continue to experience problems with litter, theft, vulgarity and other rude behavior, District 55 School Board members agreed Monday night.
The board also on Monday approved a three-year contract with the teacher’s union.
The closed-campus issue came up as board Chairman Scott Proctor and Supt. Larry Horton reported results of an informal poll of local store owners who are located near the high school. Horton noted that awareness of students’ poor behavior has increased since six teens were arrested on Sept. 29 outside the high school campus for allegedly selling drugs in the area.
Horton and Proctor said Monday that merchants’ attitudes have changed towards the idea of keeping students on campus during lunch. In previous years, when that was suggested, business owners who get students as customers during lunch time have opposed the idea of closing the campus.
“I talked to seven businesses that were all in support of closing campus during lunch hour,” Horton said of his round of discussions. Proctor said he talked to three more that were all in favor of a limited closure, despite the business they get from students.
The two noted that students’ foul language, which sometimes can be heard throughout some local restaurants over the drive-through loudspeakers, in particular can be a turnoff to other customers and a concern to business owners.
Board member Jeff Lynn, a police officer, asked if other members were aware of some students’ behavior during the lunch hour.
“Has anyone here witnessed this?” he asked. “It’s pretty amazing.”
He suggested that board members should take some time and watch what goes on around the markets and fast food restaurants near the high school.
“Speedee Mart gets the brunt of it,” he noted, particularly since students can no longer loiter on the property of the now-closed Pit Stop restaurant across from the high school.
“Speedee Mart (owner Christian Kim) is very upset,” Horton said. “He’s ready to come speak to the board.”
High school Principal Pat Stineff said she and her administrators have yet to discuss the issue with teachers or students, but among themselves they’ve considered the possibility of dividing the lunch hour into two sections, one from 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. for juniors and seniors and a second, from 1 to 1:30 p.m., for freshmen and sophomores.
“I suspect more problems are coming from the younger kids,” Stineff said. “(By splitting the lunch periods), we might be able to isolate where the problems are.”
Horton noted that having two lunch periods would cost the district more, since the 10 cafeteria workers would have to stay an extra hour to make it work.
Board member David VanDerlip suggested that the school actually might see more revenue from students if they had to eat lunch there.
Proctor also asked Horton to come up with estimates on the cost of having a double lunch period, of installing surveillance cameras — another move the board has discussed, and the cost of hiring a school resource police officer.
In other action, the board:
— Approved a three-year contract that would increase district teachers’ salaries by 2.25, 2.5 and 3 percent over the next three years. The teachers also will receive step increases each year. The teachers union had originally asked for a 3 percent cost-of-living increase in addition to a 2.5 percent salary increase, Horton said.
The contract would increase the monthly insurance contributions, “the insurance cap,” by the district to $700, $750 and $800 over the next three years. Teachers currently are allowed $550 per month but actually get $619 using money saved when union members opt out of the insurance benefits.
The new contract would eliminate that opt-out money. It would also give part-time certified employees pro-rated insurance benefits, based on the number of hours they work, instead of the full benefits they now receive.
Also, instead of early release days each month, it would end elementary schools 45 minutes early on Wednesdays, beginning March 20, to give teachers prep time on those days.
Union representatives at the meeting Monday indicated they are ready to have their members vote on the contract, which must be ratified before it goes into effect.
— Learned from Horton that the district has 106 more students now than it did last year after the winter break — some 30 more than before the holidays.
“Normally, the number of students drops,” Horton said. “This is very positive for our district. I expected a decline over the holidays and instead, I saw an increase.”
— Approved calendar changes to incorporate the new release times, contingent on whether the teachers contract is ratified.
– Received a proposed charter school agreement with People in Education, the group that operates the Sand Ridge Charter School in Sodaville, to establish a charter school within District 55, provided PIE can meet the requirements in the agreement by March 15.
“We have to have a signed contract by March 15,” Horton said.