The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

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March 11, 2010

Joplin board reviews summer school changes

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

Changes are in the works for the Joplin School District’s summer school program.

What has traditionally been a 25-day program will be broken into two, two-week-long sessions in June and July, according to Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer.

“We’re going to give kids a little time out from school before starting summer school,” Besendorfer told the Joplin Board of Education on Thursday night. “We think this is going to be really important for retention and keeping their brains in gear.”

The board also received an update on the renovation of North Middle School from Jim Lattimer, an architect with PLJBD Inc.

Lattimer said the bulk of the construction effort remains centralized in the 80-year-old original structure, which is being renovated and expanded with two wings. The main entrance has been tiled, and windows have been completed in the new library and media center. That area once was the school auditorium, and Lattimer said the district staff has worked to refurbish the original stained-glass chandeliers, which are to be hung over a study area in the new library.

After the presentation, the board unanimously approved $22,620 in change orders for the project. Construction is expected to be completed this spring.

In other business, the board:

-- Approved a proposal to upgrade the security system at Joplin High School. The plan calls for an investment of $178,899 to bring the total number of surveillance cameras on the campus to 110.

-- Approved payment of district bills in the amount of $5,900,657.



Program approval

The Joplin Board of Education on Thursday night endorsed Franklin Technology Center’s adult education program. More than 220 adults take courses through the program, with 93 percent receiving some form of financial aid.

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