CCS to consider helping with Schroeder upgrade

    A school board committee is going to take a look at funding assistance for the city’s improvements at Schroeder Park.
    Two members of the city’s park board, Miles Colson and Bruce Curtis, were on the Nov. 9 Chase County Schools’ board meeting agenda to discuss the plans and if the school will participate financially.
    One of the fields at the city-owned Schroeder Park is used for games and practice by the CCS softball team.
    Cost estimates from the city’s engineer Miller & Associates were 50% higher than what the park board had acquired for an entirely new ball field and soccer complex in Cornerstone.
    So the board reverted back to improvements at Schroeder.
    Plans now are to make the south field at Schroeder into a regulation high school softball field, turning the field 180 degrees.
    Since the restrooms and concession stand would also serve their needs, Colson mentioned that, as well, for some support in funding from the school.
    “We’re interested in finding out what the interest of the school district would be in participating in some of the costs mainly on that south field and the concessions and bathrooms,” Colson said.
    “We’re looking for a yea or nay from you,” Colson said.
    The school’s decision will help determine how big the scope of work they can plan for, he added.
    The estimated costs presented that night show $247,000 for the south field improvements and $250,000 for the building to house bathrooms, a concession stand and storage.
    Overall, if all improvements are completed on all three fields and with a new concession stand/restroom building, the estimated total is $808,000.
    Depending on funding, the park board intends to at least install new lighting and fencing at all the fields, as well as replace damaged poles.
    The city included $500,000 in the 2021-22 budget for Schroeder Park improvements. That drew a comment from one board member.
    “I think it’s crazy that they’re willing to put in only $500,000 from the city,” said CCS board member Carrie Terryberry.
    Curtis said there are a lot of advantages in changing the orientation of the south field.
    The current layout of the south field is problematic, he said, especially in the fall when trying to catch.
    “The ball is in direct line with the sun,” he said. “It’s actually pretty dangerous.”
    There are no plans to adjust the middle or north fields at this time, Colson said, although rotating the north field could be considered later. Costs estimated for improvements at those two fields were only for demo/cleaning, lights, poles and fencing.
    While the board has talked about adding new parking areas the past year, they are not currently included in the plans or estimates.
    On a question about the press box, Curtis said that might be a school project for the CCS building class to consider.
    Willy O’Neil, a member of the building and grounds committee, said they will meet and discuss it, and then get back with the full board and then the park board.
    With the recent change in plans to improve Schroeder, Colson said they wanted to get before the school board so it can be considered.
    Colson noted the park improvements wouldn’t be the first time the two entities worked on a project together.
    “The pool was a multi-joint use (effort) with joint funding and that seems to have been pretty successful,” he said.
    In addition to city and potential funds from CCS, Curtis noted the board is also looking at other sources of funding, including grants and private donations to help pay for the project. Academic achievement
    The school’s curriculum coordinator told board members that she’s seeing positive trends in elementary reading and math scores, but “there is still work to do.”
    April Lambert updated the board at last week’s meeting on recent MAPS reading and math scores in the elementary grades, as well as ACT data for the high school.
    “Our teachers have been working real hard and seeing positive results,” she said.
    This is the second year CCS students and teachers are working with the American Reading Company program.
    Here are some of the numbers she highlighted from the MAPS reading fluency testing:    
    Kindergarten—Most exceeding expectations, just 8% of the class is not at grade level.
    Third—Only four students not reading fluently, 32 are meeting or exceeding expectations.
    Fourth—100% are reading fluently, with 7% below grade level.
    Lambert also addressed elementary math scores.
    She noted an additional math supplement was added this year for second graders because they were not getting some of the standards in the CCS curriculum.
    “So we expect that to go up quite a bit,” she said.
    Lambert also noted an additional 7-8 math teacher was added to the staff this year. Data from math scores was used to make such instruction and staffing decisions, she said.
    Pointing out first and second grades, she said there are “a ton of kids” in the higher achievement categories for math, and just a few not where they want them to be.
    She and the staff use this data all the time to reach “better outcomes for the kids,” Lambert said.
    Regarding high school ACT scores, she noted this is the first year CCS adopted an “ACT Plan for 9-12” which has freshmen taking a pre-ACT test.
    She said one of the problems CCS has had is that for some students, their junior year was the first time they took the ACT.
    “And that’s not good,” she said.
    The juniors now take the ACT in the spring which also is used for the state standards testing. Lambert said juniors will also take the ACT that year in the fall.
    Sophomores will take the preACT in the fall, and the full ACT in the spring.
    There is a shorter, preACT 8-9 test available to freshmen they now take in both the fall and spring.
    Seniors this year had a retake opportunity for the ACT and 30 signed up, she said. She believes that shows a willingness to want to improve their scores.
    She and guidance counselor Trent Herbert met with students in all the 9th and 10th grade English classes and showed them their scores.
    “Some of it was eye-opening. We talked to them about goal setting,” she said.
    She reviewed recent CCS composite scores on the ACT.
    The recent graduating class of 2021 had a composite score of 20.3.
    The current senior class who took it in the spring scored an 18.5 composite.
    The current juniors who took the ACT last spring compiled a 19.4 composite average.
    Generally, she said CCS is above the state average in most areas, “but we want to be better than that.”
    Based on scores from the March 2021 ACT, CCS’s current seniors are 46% proficient in math, 52% in English and language arts and 54% in science.
    The juniors taking the same test scored about the same in math, were 11% higher in ELA and 9% higher in science.
    The sophomores, compared to the juniors’ scores, are higher in math and science, and lower in English.
    Lambert said when looking at achievement data, it is important to take into account a number of factors. Those include:
    9% of K-12 students at CCS are in the English Language Learners program, meaning they are learning English. She said that is nearly double that of their peer schools (5%) and higher than the state average (7%).
    Four of 10 students’ family income qualifies them for Free and Reduced Lunch. Families of four qualify for free lunch with an income of $35,000. While the 40% figure is below the state average (46%) it’s above their peers (32%).
    The CCS special education population is 12%, lower than their peers (15%) and state (16%).
    74% of CCS students go on to college, which is below the peer average (80%) and state (75%) numbers.
    The board also met at the Nov. 9 meeting in closed session to discuss negotiations and the superintendent’s evaluation.