The December Student Outcome Report was presented to the Rugby School Board at its regular meeting on Tuesday morning, detailing the assessment results for eighth grade math. McNeff shared results for two different assessments, which found that the majority of RPS eighth grade students were tracking in high growth and high achievement percentiles.

Angela Hager, Multi-Tiered System of Support coordinator, said the assessments were used with the Math Placement Pathway to determine which students required further intervention before they enter eighth grade.

“If they are below the 30th percentile, then we start taking a look at whether we need to intervene and help them out,” Hager said. “We have a couple different ways we do that. We have Title I who does small group work with grades K-6 and then we have targeted math intervention. We started small, our first two years we just looked at second and third graders trying to determine what skills they’re lacking.”

Hager said three first-grade students, three second-grade students, and eight third-grade students were receiving math intervention this fall. The first grade students were receiving intervention one day a week, while second graders received it five days a week, and the third grade students either received intervention four days a week or two days a week.

“When I went to school, if you got it you advanced. The only intervention path when I went to school was you got held back and retained. This is very specific for where they’re at, and if they’re placed they give them what they need. The idea is once they get what they need to they get out,” McNeff said.

Hager said gaps in students’ math skills are often created by absences and other factors that keep them out of the classroom, but intervention provides them with strategies for processing math problems through flashcards and games to help them develop and redevelop skills they are lacking. The students’ progress is checked every two weeks to determine the next stages the intervention will take or if they are able to move on from it.

Lunch Program Administrative Review

School Business Manager Dawn Hauck presented the results from the Lunch Program Administrative Review, which she said identified five items that needed correction.

The first item on the corrective action was the inclusion of language in the RPS policy disallowing “food shaming,” or serving different foods to different students. Hauck said no such practice has or would ever be done at RPS, but the policy didn’t explicitly disallow it, and that it had already been corrected.

The second item was correcting the language on letters sent for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, which Hauck said had also already been fixed. The third corrective item required that all meals contain the correct amount of grains to qualify for reimbursement, which Hauck indicated had also already been corrected.

The last two items still needed to be addressed, according to Hauck, and the first of which was the removal of a Bubbler machine and a reduction of juice sizes.

“The kids aren’t going to like that or understand that, but that’s something that has to leave. Our juices are too big so we have to go to smaller sizes. The stuff that’s required for this is completely bizarre to me because you can have juices which have tons of sugar in them, but you can’t have flavored water,” Hauck said. “But those are some of the things we have to fix. We can’t have Bubbler, Vita-Ice, Lipton Tea, ShineWater, Gatorades, have to all be taken out now.”

The final item required correction for the costs for second meals to be raised from 50 cents to $1.50 for second lunches and $1 for second breakfasts. Hauck said the State was instituting the requirement, but the district could either increase the prices or have transfers from the general fund cover that amount. McNeff recommended this change not be instituted mid school year, and the general fund be used in the meantime.

Volleyball coach resigns

Jessica Fritz has resigned as the RHS volleyball coach. McNeff announced her resignation to the board during his superintendent’s report, and commended her for her leadership and the success she and her teams have achieved.

“She was our volleyball coach for 14 years, and was I would say very successful in that role. Most every year they were one of the top teams in our district, and had some opportunities like winning the region championship three out of the four times in school history,” McNeff said. “I certainly want to recognize her leadership in that area. I want to recognize her efforts. It’s not easy being a coach.”

McNeff was unsure on the timeline for finding a new coach, saying it would depend on job openings in the spring.

School Board President Dustin Hager raised some concerns from reading Fritz’s resignation letter regarding the behavior and interaction with parents and coaching staff.

“I know its been difficult in many other sports as well. I’m wondering how as a school board we can help coaches to navigate it any better,” Hager said.

McNeff cautioned against the board getting directly involved in such interactions barring extreme incidents that require intervention. He said there have been measures taken this fall through coaching evaluations between the athletic director and coaches to identify issues.