Board of Education hires several new teachers as school year begins

The Blackwell Board of Education met Monday night to accept the resignation of board member Doug Hodges, who held Board Seat No. 4.

The board also restructured its leadership roles and approved various items, including the district’s gender-neutral bathrooms and conduct policies.

The meeting began just after 6 p.m., with Superintendent Shawn Haskins reading Hodges’ resignation letter.

Hodges chose to step down from the board in anticipation of his grandson being hired at the high school, as well as the possibility of his daughter becoming a teacher in Blackwell.

Hodges said that, if he is able, he will be glad to return to the board in the future.

The board then restructured for the second time in a matter of months in the wake of former board member Stacey Husted’s and Hodges’ resignations. Angie Prince was named president, with Barbara Ihrig as vice president and Tammy Bickford as a clerk.

Haskins said he had offered Board Seat No. 3 to several individuals who were unable to fulfill the role because of their wards, but he was talking to more people. Haskins said he would be seeking Hodges’ replacement as well.

The board then approved the district’s bathroom policy as it relates to gender identity.

The board said disciplinary action would be taken on teachers, students and parents in the school sites who entered the bathroom opposite of their gender.

Separate restrooms will be made available at Blackwell Elementary School, Blackwell Middle School and Blackwell High School for those who identify as another gender.

Next, the board took action on installing LED lights at Blackwell Elementary School. It is estimated that the district will save up to 60% on lighting costs alone.

Switching to LED also will make the district eligible for rebates from the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, with the rebates being $6,000 for the elementary school and, in the near future, $9,000 for the newly renovated high school. Haskins said the middle school would be transitioned to LED as well, and would be eligible for a rebate of $3,000 when the time comes.

Also on the agenda was a cooperative activities agreement with Deer CreekLamont Public Schools to allow their wrestlers to join Blackwell’s wrestling program. The board then hired Michaela De Brugge as the middle and high school choir teacher after accepting the resignation of Max Vowel, who took a position in Texas.

Kay Krauleidis was hired as an elementary school special education instructor, Rachel Jurgens was hired as the middle school secretary, Ciara Miller was hired as the district health care paraprofessional and Nick Maples was hired as the district’s choir accompanist.

The board also hired lay coaches for the 2022-2023 school year, including Annilyn Young as the high school cheer coach, Conner Cline as the high school wrestling coach, Marcus Long as the high school football coach, Ivy Ashford as the middle school cheer coach, Braden Parker as the high school football offensive coach, and Gage Chambers as the middle school baseball and girls basketball coach.

During the meeting, Haskins also addressed the current situation around the open board seats.

Haskins poised the idea of potentially voting to eliminate ward restrictions for the board.

“It made sense when Blackwell had the high school, middle school, and three separate elementary sites so that all of these places could have equal representation and champions for them,” Haskins said. “But it is just not feasible in this day and age to keep our board divided.”

The elementary school is in Ward No. 2, while the middle and high schools are in Ward Nos. 5 and 1, respectively. There are no school sites in Ward Nos. 3 or 4. Haskins stressed, however, that this was simply an idea, and that nothing was finalized or even planned. He said it would make filling seats on the board much simpler.

“We have a lot of fantastic, outstanding individuals in the community who would love to be on the board of education,” he said. “But they can’t because they might live a house down from another board member.”

Haskins also noted that almost no other comparably sized school district is still divided by ward seats.

The meeting ended shortly before 8 p.m.