Mt. Vernon high school students taking advantage of A+ program

At the Nov. 20 meeting of the Mt. Vernon Board of Education, a presentation was given on the importance and impact of the A+ program when it comes to Mt. Vernon students.
From the Mt. Vernon class of 2018, there are currently 10 students attending Crowder and 24 students attending OTC that are benefitting from the A+ program. This year for 2019 there are a total of 50 seniors who are A+ eligible. Thirty-six students of those are tutors and six are currently job shadowing. Mt. Vernon High School A+ coordinator Liz Elsey also invited two Mt. Vernon graduates to speak about how the A+ program helped with their college expenses and the benefits of the program.
Elsey also reported that 22 students attended the FAFSA workshop Oct. 30, where they were assisted in completing their FAFSA application. FAFSA is a free application for federal student aid for federal grants, work-study, loans and some scholarships to help pay for college expenses.
The principals and Director of Student Services Jeremy Smith gave an update from parent teacher conferences and reported that the parent portal seems to be helping parents keep track of their child’s grades and progress.
Superintendent Scott Cook reported that attendance is at 95.45 percent and resulted in an increase in average daily attendance of 8.71 students from this time last year.
Winter sports updates were also given at the meeting. High school basketball coach Mike Ray said they are expecting 23-25 boys on the team this season. There is currently only one senior on the team. Girls basketball head coach Grant Berendt reported that there are 15 girls this season and they are very senior heavy with a total of 10 seniors, a good portion of them are developing a lot of college interest.
The Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) committee submitted a plan that was approved by the board. It included new mission and philosophy statements and will be in effect from 2019-2024. There was also an update for the district goal by adding “recruit, attract, develop and retain properly certified staff to carry out the district’s mission, vision, goals and objectives.” Principal Dulcie Price led an effort to create job descriptions for all positions in the district as there has been times when they have been needed.
 The CTS group, the company overseeing school repairs, also presented to the board some options for possible school maintenance projects. For the elementary school: updates for windows and doors, a hump in the floor outside of cafeteria in need of repair, update HVAC and electric, fire alarms and six restroom remodels. They gave an estimate of $2,600,000-$3,300,000.
For the south building at the middle school: updated flooring, paint, doors and windows, restrooms, roof, HVAC, office remodels, fire alarms, drinking fountains and ceilings. For the main middle school building: North wall stabilization, new roof drains, electrical updates, doors and windows, two restroom remodels, new roof, new HVAC, old superintendent’s office remodeled, fire alarms and ceilings. The estimate was $2,200,000- $2,800,000. For the high school, about half of the roof is in need of replacement. The representatives from CTS did say that they are estimating high.