Sherrard, March 16, 2022 - The Sherrard School Board unanimously approved establishing an alternative school for the 2022-2023 school year for junior high and high school level students.

“I appreciate the board’s support - it’s a desperate need for some of our kids to be able to have a program like this... Overall it’ll make available better opportunities for our kids. We know we have a group of students that aren’t successful in a large setting - we think the smaller, more individualized approach will help these kids be successful not only here, but beyond their school year too - and give them a path to follow,” said High School Principal Tim Wernentin. 

He said they will have room for 5-7 students total who will benefit from the focused schooling arrangement. The group will use a conference room that contains two offices and a storage room at the junior high unless a morek suitable option is found.

“Once we have more space, we can have more kids. If we have two full size classrooms, we’d be able to double it,” said Wernentin.

The board discussed more permanent options in the future - like adding on to the junior high/senior high building or erecting a separate stand-alone building on the property, among other ideas.

Superintendent Alan Boucher said, “Sherrard has always accomplished things the right way. Let’s investigate what it would cost. Just as we put a wrestling and weight room on the back of the high school, perhaps we could add two classrooms on the back of the high school."

Wernentin said Sherrard has needed an alternative school for many years but the need has become a necessity as a consequence of the pandemic. “Some students aren’t either internally motivated or have the family support at home to be successful when they stayed home on remote learning, and they chose to do little or nothing,” he said.

He said the students who need the focused attention have exhausted current available resources including seeing counselors regularly, academic interventions, and after school study halls, “They need constant supervision.”

Wernentin said they’re looking for a teacher with a Type 75 Administrative level certification. “If, by chance, there is some major misbehavior, they could go ahead and just address the situation versus having to bring a current administrator down to deal with the problem. They would be able to deal with it internally, which is our hope - that it could be a fully functional program within itself.”

High School Assistant Principal Alex Johnson told the board they will look for staff who can develop a family-like atmosphere, “This would be giving them someone who can dedicate their time and attention to them and hopefully build that positive relationship.”

“The folks that we hire for this position will be able to build an individual relationship with each kid - we need to be able to hire people to address those needs," he said.

KayCee Cleaveland, board member, agreed, “We need the right person and not just a warm body,” she said. Cleaveland also asked the alternative school committee to develop specific criteria to identify which students would utilize the program.

Wernentin said the goal is to have a positive classroom climate. “We want it to be family-oriented, therapeutic too - because we know many, if not all these kids will have some type of social/emotional issues we’ll have to help address.”

The board also approved moving forward with bids on the expansion construction project underway at Sherrard Elementary after an update from Hodge Construction and architects from Richard L Johnson & Associates.

Bids will be due in April. If one of the bids is approved, construction will begin this summer and be completed in August of 2023. The expansion will add an additional 15,000 square feet to the elementary school including a gymnasium, two classrooms, two conference room areas, two offices and a set of restrooms. The estimated project budget is $6.7 million to be paid for with part of recently restructured bonds totaling $11.1 million - set to be paid off in 14 years.

Employment approved included: Temporary long-term Sub Bus Driver Cindy Dekalb, Joni Gross - increase daily hours by 15-30 minutes of bus supervision depending on daily circumstances, Bob Chandler - JH Track Assistant, Kerek Turner - JH Track Assistant and Kent Brown - HS Football Assistant. Resignations include: Kellie Koch, resigning from her 3rd grade teaching position at SGS effective at the end of the 2021-2022 school year and Amy Cross, resigning from HS assistant cook position effective immediately.