District updates: marketing videos, playground installs, book approval and new club fee

District leadership and board members used the meeting to brief the board on operations and student activities, including marketing, facility work, extracurricular fees and curriculum materials.

Marketing and testing: Doctor Jain reported the district commissioned seven short marketing videos (one per site plus three short feature clips) to highlight programs and staff. He also said staff are preparing for state testing and continuing meet-and-confer planning for next year.

Playgrounds and facilities: Administration updated the board on playground installs at McDonoughton: one of three pieces is installed and open for limited, supervised use; remaining pieces are delayed by shipped parts and are scheduled for completion in the coming weeks, with shade work slated for spring break. Little Falcons and the kindergarten playground at McDowell Mountain are approved and in use.

Student activity, books and fees: Student leaders from STUCO summarized recent events (a movie night, hallway decorating and a planned February pep event). The board approved four donations and a supplemental middle-school reading book (Unbroken) will be added to the collection. The board approved an additional extracurricular fee for a three-on-three basketball club at McDowell Mountain — $25 per quarter — and noted scholarships and sponsorships are available as well as tax-credit designation options.

Transportation job-split: With a long-serving employee (John) retiring, administration proposed creating separate roles: a director of transportation and a warehouse & facilities coordinator to replace a single combined job. Doctor Jain said the change reflects workload and the district will return the job descriptions as action items with an organizational chart at a later meeting.

Ending: multiple informational items will return as action items (job descriptions and org charts); the board also scheduled future budget and audit updates, with the audit and outstanding items to be discussed at the next meeting.