By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Henning School Board is hoping to get a better idea of what its school building may need for the next generation of students at the school. 

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Nov. 22, the Henning School Board approved seeking a facilities study with ICS. The study is estimated to cost anywhere from $10,000-12,000 and would provide the district with a plan on how to utilize its current space, future building needs, possible building projects and provide the district an in-depth look at the state of its building. 

ICS was one of two companies the school board heard from during a special school board meeting a few weeks ago, the second of which was Apex. 

Following the presentations, Henning Superintendent Melissa Sparks checked references with the two companies and shared her findings with the school board on Monday night. The two companies were dramatically different in structure with school board members stating ICS was a much larger company, while Apex was described as more of a mom and pop small company.

In the end, the school board approved ordering the facilities study from ICS by a 5-1 margin, with Matt Reinbold voting in dissent.

In other news

• Accepted $5,630 in donations for the Adopt-A-Class program at the school. 

• Approved the hiring of Ida Rogers-Ferguson as the girls c-squad/junior high basketball coach. 

• Discussed a pair of requests brought forward by the student council to Henning Principal Thomas Williams. One would be changing to a four minute passing period, as opposed to a three minute passing period in-between classes, as well as a time for a snack period or late breakfast each day. Williams said he wanted to bring the items to the school board for discussion since it was brought forward by the students. The school board said it would take the items under advisement. 

• Received the activities report from Randy Misegades. The junior high basketball season is in full swing and there are 11 boys out for basketball in grades 6-8. There are also over 20 girls expected to participate in girls basketball, 10-12 boys from Henning are expected to be in wrestling and 15 boys are expected to be in basketball in grades 8-12. 

• Discussed the first quarter grades at the school. At the high school level, 52.75 percent of all grades were either an A or A-, while 71.17 percent of all grades were B or above. In grades 6-8 a total of 59.53 percent of all grades were an A or A-, while 75.1 percent of all grades were a B or above. 

• Heard the monthly enrollment report for Henning School which found 345 students in grades K-12 and 393 students in prek through grade 12. Last month the district had 347 students in grades K-12 and 393 students in prek-12. 

  • Heard an update on the COVID-19 pandemic. The district will continue to clean classrooms and buses in order to help prevent the spread of the virus. The district will also disinfect desks and surfaces throughout the day. A letter and instant alert was sent out to parents to let them know of things they could do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and what the district is doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.