JASPER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING RECAP (03/19/2024)

(NEWTON) The Jasper County School of Education had its regular monthly meeting for March last night in Newton. The Board : approved the payment of all bills as presented : approved a contract with Kajeet Company to provide wifi routers to all district buses to not only provide wifi access to students, but also to provide real time tracking of each district bus : amended the 2023-2024 school calendar : approved the 2024-2025 school calendar with the first day of school for students set for August 14th, 2024 : joined the Peoples State Bank of Newton in recognizing the State Scholar students at Newton Community High School, presenting them with a silver eagle coin : heard a legislative update out of Springfield – noting that out of 9,476 pieces of legislation filed this spring, 1,120 bills affect education – also noted that while it appears the state will fully fund the (EBF) Evidence Based Funding Formula, however the categorical funds for transportation & special education will likely be pro-rated – this will affect the Jasper County District which relies on full transportation funding due to its massive square miles within the county : and in personnel – accepted the retirement resignations from NCHS Teacher Cindy Frohning at the end of the 2025-2026 school year and from NES Teacher Tonya Hall at the end of the 2026-2027 school year – also approved Julia Whittler for the Strong Girls Program at NES : next meeting is April 15th.