District reports smooth school openings, refines cell-phone, transportation and staffing plans

At a recent school board meeting, district staff reported generally smooth openings for the new school year while outlining refinements to cell-phone procedures during lockdowns, transportation routing and personnel placements.

District staff said the start of the year went well across buildings after detailed planning and coordination, though a small number of issues emerged that staff are addressing. "We've been able to teach again in many cases," the district staff member said, summarizing teachers' early feedback.

The discussion centered on four operational areas: transportation, a new cell-phone protocol, staffing placements, and summer facilities projects. Staff said the district combined a 6–12 bus run with DHS Westside Academy (referred to in the meeting as DHS West) and that the first days produced "a little bit bumpy" routing and dismissal confusion that staff and bus operators are resolving. One example noted was students being dismissed out of DHS West confused about pickup procedures; staff said routines are being clarified at affected sites.

On the district's new cell-phone rules, staff described trade-offs during an actual lockdown: students texting parents spread unverified information that complicated response efforts. In that episode, staff said the phones amplified speculation that hindered safety operations. The district staff member said the policy will be refined with school-specific variations: "We're implementing this year, but we're gonna get a lot of feedback to refine that work." The staff member also described allowances at some schools (for example, storing phones in lockers or bags at middle schools) while high-school applications vary.

Staff described the district's communication practice during incidents. The district uses ParentSquare for real-time alerts and follow-up communications; "Parents can receive anywhere between 2, 3, or 6 messages depending on what's safe," the district staff member said. Staff said they send an initial real-time message (for example, "Lockdown — this is what we know right now"), then updates as facts are confirmed, and sometimes a follow-up letter after a complex event. The district also noted it can send targeted messages to up to 10 designated contacts for particular incidents.

On staffing, the district reported several placements: Andrew Lamba was assigned at Brock Middle School; Mike Flint served as an interim and was placed at Westside Middle School; Jessica Hill was named assistant principal at Westside Middle School; Jeannie Narkowski replaced Hammy Jackson in a high-school assistant-principal role and "starts Friday," according to the meeting transcript. Staff also mentioned a new associate teacher, identified as Alex, joining from another urban district.

Facilities and summer work were reported as largely complete. Staff introduced Mike to update the board on summer projects and said new equipment and building repairs were installed across campuses. Staff praised the Powell building team for improvements visible to students and staff. One speaker noted that the condition of some items was improved though not all repairs reached a previously discussed dollar threshold.

Board members and staff flagged follow-up tasks: refine and standardize the cell-phone protocol across school levels while allowing site-specific exceptions; continue clarifying transportation pickup and dismissal routines for combined runs; monitor ParentSquare performance for real-time and follow-up messages; and track any residual summer-project items that still need vendor work or staffing coordination.

No formal motion or vote on these operational items was recorded during the excerpt provided; staff described actions taken and next steps but did not report a board decision on policy changes.

The district said it will continue gathering feedback from principals, teachers and parents over the coming weeks and make procedural adjustments as needed.