Union Public School District officials are encouraged by recent testing data, which shows students are on track to perform well on this year’s state assessment tests. Students took their second 9-week benchmark tests in December, showing how much they had learned before Christmas break.
In a regularly scheduled Board of Trustees meeting Monday, Superintendent Tyler Hansford said most grades showed great progress in the first half of the school year.
“With the exception of third-grade ELA and eighth-grade ELA, the numbers were spectacular,” he said.
Both third-grade and eighth-grade have a high population of students with IEPs (Individualized Education Plans), which are custom education plans for students with learning disabilities, Hansford said. With many students needing additional or special instruction, he said those two grades being a bit behind was normal.
To help shorten the gap, Hansford said the district had reorganized before leaving for Christmas break to give third- and eighth-graders additional access to special education instructors, who are better able to meet the needs of the IEP students.
Looking at the benchmark data, Board President Chad Brasher said it was clear students had retained a lot of the information they learned last year and had built upon that success.
Also, in Monday’s meeting, the board voted to terminate the Bluff Springs Church lease of 16th section land due to nonpayment.
“It was due in July,” Hansford said.
The church, which is located past Neshoba Baptist Church on the way to Dixon, sits on a 1-acre parcel of land, Hansford explained. Although the Bluff Springs Church still has the lease, services have not been held there in a number of years. With the building unused and the lease unpaid, he recommended terminating the lease to allow someone else to have it.
“What I recommend is we petition to reclassify it as commercial,” Hansford said, adding the land is currently zoned as church land.
Reclassifying the land would increase the property’s value and lease amount, currently $192/year, as well as open the parcel up for more opportunities. Hansford said he had already heard from one interested party, who wanted to remodel the church into a duplex to rent out.
“If he made significant improvements, that would increase the land value over time as well,” he said.
The board agreed terminating the lease and reclassifying the land would be the best financial decision. Under state law, the district will need to advertise the proposed zoning change to give the public a chance to weigh in. If no complaints are registered, the board plans to move forward with advertising the property for bids.
