The West Liberty Board of Education met on Monday, Dec. 4, for their regular board meeting.
The agenda included a report from West Liberty High School Principal Brenda Arthur-Miller as well as an update from Adam Loria of the activities department.
President Jacob Burroughs began the meeting right on time at 6 pm. Board members present included Becky Vargas, Kira Achen and Audra Daufelt. Also present at the meeting were Superintendent Shaun Kruger and Secretary Abby Ortiz.
Principal Arthur-Miller, activities director Loria and assistant principal Andrew Genz also attended the meeting to present their reports.
Genz and Arthur-Miller presented data from the first trimester, which ended in mid-November. Genz took a look at the numbers of high school students who passed all their classes, and the data showed a notable increase over the last three years.
At the end of the academic year in 2021, 76 percent of students had passed all their classes. That number increased to 81 percent by the end of 2022, and last year rose to a whopping 90 percent.
For the first trimester this year, 87 percent of students are passing all their classes, which is a leap above the first trimester data from previous years.
Each trimester is typically seeing approximately a three percent increase, which gives Genz hope that the end of year numbers will be even higher than last year.
“I’m really liking this trend,” Genz said. “Starting out at 87 percent is really promising for us.”
Genz then looked at the GPA across the high school, which had a total of 370 students at the time of counting. Principal Arthur-Miller mentioned that new students have been added since then.
“Number 399 starts tomorrow,” she said.
“All our classes were above a 3.0,” Genz said, “which is great.” The average GPA across the school is 3.15, or B average, with ninth grade coming in highest at 3.31.
There are plenty of incentives for students to do well, like earning free activity passes. A points system is in place and students can earn celebrations and passes by maintaining good grades and good attendance.
The ninth grade is winning with 74 points so far. Genz is keeping track of data weekly and sharing it with the students.
Genz also looked at the relationship between attendance and grades, and the numbers are very clear. 33 freshmen had no tardies, and their average GPA was 3.89, while the 29 students with five or more tardies had an average GPA of only 2.72.
“My goal with this is to show students that being on time and not having unexcused absences can really make a big impact on your GPA,” Genz said.
“Also, the kids really clapped on this one,” Genz said as he proudly announced that 87 percent of ninth grade students served no detentions related to attendance issues.
“Schoolwide, we had 76 percent of students receive no detentions for tardies or unexcused absences,” he said.
First period is where the most attendance problems are happening. Genz is still brainstorming ways to make sure students are getting to school on time.
Activities director Adam Loria presented the new eligibility requirements for student athletes.
Students are expected to pass their classes in order to participate in athletics at West Liberty High School.
Students who are failing two or more classes will be notified that they have a week of probation.
During that week, they will be allowed to compete but will need to raise their grades. After the probationary week, students who have not raised their grades will not be allowed to participate in any athletic competitions.
“We’ve got some kids who just aren’t engaged in classes until the last week or two of the trimesters and all the sudden now they scramble and pull their grades up,” Loria said.
Loria also acknowledged that this is a problem for teachers, who find themselves suddenly buried in work that was handed in late and needs to be graded.
He hopes to encourage students to be more aware and engaged in the coursework throughout the trimester and not just at the end.
Loria also hopes that the new policy will increase parent engagement as well.
“We encourage it,” Loria said, “check your child’s grades.”
Principal Arthur-Miller delivered the On-Track report, which details whether students are on track to graduate, and the numbers look good.
97 percent of freshmen are on track to graduate, 91 percent of sophomores, and 95 percent of juniors. The senior class came in lowest at 88 percent.
“This year’s senior class, they are the last of the covid babies,” Arthur-Miller said. They would have been freshmen in the spring of 2020 when the schools all closed.
The number of students on track to graduate has been increasing over the last three years.
There are several open positions for athletic coaches within the district, with many new positions having been added in recent years due to the number of interested students.
Any interested and qualified parties should check the district website for more information.
The board also discussed the plan to relocate the visitor bleachers from the old football field to the new complex.
They will be using Expert Edge, who have already been involved with seating at the new sports complex. They will also be adding handicap accessible areas with ramps.
“He can start as soon as it’s approved,” Superintendent Kruger said.
The board approved, then moved on. The new scoreboard at the athletic complex is in progress, and the concession stand is near completion. For some aspects of construction, the weather will be a factor.