Flippen to speak on bullying

Educator and psychotherapist Flip Flippen, author of "The Flip Side," will be the featured presenter for a USD 234 School District event at Fort Scott High School Monday morning. Flippen's presentation is part of the district's Inservice-Health and Wellness Fair. The focus of Flippen's presentation will be on bullying issues and relationship building techniques. Due to limited seating, the event is closed to the public. However, Diane Gross, USD 234 superintendent, said she has invited several people from the community to attend the event.

"One of the important ideas that I think will come out of his presentation is, how we build relationships, and present ourselves in a way so that we all feel valued in the work that we do," Gross told The Tribune from her office Thursday. "His big message is about building relationships. And I want our staff to understand that, that's one of the first things that has to happen as we address some of the bullying issues that have been coming up over and over again."

Flippen founded his organization, the Flippen Group, in 1990.

According to information from the websites flippengroup.com/education/index.html and www.flipsidebook.com/bio.html, the Flippen Group "helps schools become champions--thriving organizations that grow and succeed, driven by the mutual commitment of administrators, teachers and students. Our approach is to teach, foster and support specific skills, behaviors, relationships, and processes that clear the way to success.

"Today, it is one of the largest educator training companies and one of the fastest-growing leadership development organizations in North America. The company's breakthrough educational processes and curricula are in use at thousands of school districts and campuses nation-wide. His Flippen Leadership Series, a dynamic training that helps leaders establish goals, uncover constraints, and develop action plans that improve performance and profit, has transformed organizations around the world."

"After the presentation, there will be some opportunities to have some followup work in some of the things that he shares in his presentation," Gross said.

Health Fair at FSMS

Following Flippen's presentation at the high school, USD 234 faculty are invited to participate in the second part of the district's lnservice-Health and Wellness Fair, which will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at Fort Scott Middle School. This portion of the fair will feature eight health related "breakout sessions," lasting 30 minutes apiece. Faculty can sign up for a total of four breakout sessions.

"The whole intent is to create a healthier environment for all of us, as we deal with all the stresses that come with the day-to-day operations of a school district," Gross said. "As well as, just even our personal lives."

According to information provided by USD 234, the breakout sessions will include: Yoga, presented by Mercy Health for Life; Relaxation Strategies, presented by Stacy Sauerwein; Big Ball, Big Scooter Soccer, presented by Leah Carter; Walk and Talk, presented by FSHS and FSMS Nurse and District Wellness Coordinator Pam Brown; Strength Training: Beginner to Advanced, presented by Rich Wallace; Diabetes 101, presented by Nancy Evans, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, RN; Foods that Relieve Stress, presented by Lori Nelsen; Health Screening and More, presented by Mercy Hospital staff and volunteers.

Brown said more than 200 district faculty members have signed up for the event. Brown also said approximately 60 faculty members are awaiting the results of lab work from Mercy Hospital, which was conducted throughout the week by Mercy, at FSMS, Eugene Ware Elementary School, Winfield Scott Elementary School, and FSHS. Brown said those who submitted lab work will receive the results during the breakout session "Health Screenings and More."

Adult immunizations will also be available through the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department. Information provided by Brown says the immunizations are covered by USD 234's Blue Cross/Blue Shield (insurance). The immunizations include: Tdap -Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis (whooping cough); Td-Tetanus; and Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.

"The focus this year is on stress management," Brown said. "So hopefully they can learn something that can help them in their own lives and in their classrooms."

More on proposed school-hour calendar

The school board, during its regular meeting Monday night, unanimously approved a proposed 1,116-hour compacted school calendar. This is the mandatory minimum number of instructional hours teachers can spend with students during the school year. Under the proposed calendar, students will spend seven hours in the classroom as opposed to the current six-hour and 33-minute schedule. With this change, the school year will tentatively start in late August.

"When we take and reduce the number of days, one of the features of that particular calendar is it gives us an opportunity to maybe save some money in terms of energy," Gross told the Tribune. "We'll have less days for some of our staff. But I think it's important for people to understand that the idea is not necessarily to reduce their income. Their raise so to speak for next year comes in the fact that they'll be getting the same wage and working less days."

Gross said the proposed calendar gives the district "some" opportunities to reduce the number of days that kids are in school without losing instructional time. And that it "presents us with some opportunities to integrate some of the ideas and requests that have come up out of talks with teachers, students and parents," she said.

Gross said teachers in the district have expressed their desire to explore the possibility of a compacted school calendar "for a number of years."

"This (board approval) gives us an opportunity to at least try that," she said. "And I think it also preserves some of the things that we put into the calendar for this year with early release time -- that's collaborative time with teachers that is needed to address some of the things that we're expected to do with mandates and regulations coming down from the state (legislature). So I think it presents itself as an opportunity to address a number of different areas. So hopefully we'll be able to make that work."

Gross said the district's negotiation process with teachers, who are represented by the Fort Scott chapter of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA), may began as early as March or April.

"(This calendar) gives us a starting point in terms of when school starts and when school ends," she said. "That's something that the board has latitude to make a decision on, without taking that through negotiations. This calendar is what we're going to be operating from for right now. And there could be some adjustments with it, with the (teachers) negotiations process."

Additionally, Gross said she has recently visited with district principals as well as FSHS student Taylor Nielson, each of whom shared their thoughts and ideas regarding school-hour calendar options. Nielson presented his ideas to the board during its regular meeting earlier this week.

"Really, the intent in visiting with principals is that they're taking information back to the building and having conversation with their staff members, and then coming back and having further conversations so that I'm getting input, not just from the building administrators, but from the teachers in the classroom, para-educators," she said. "I've had conversations with some of our support staff. And I'm trying to incorporate a number of those ideas. And visiting with that one student (Nielson), I know that there were lots of conversations that happened at the high school with more than just that one student. I think he was trying to represent, at least a perspective from all the students that he had contact with."

Board Member Jamie Armstrong shared her thoughts on the school calendar with the Tribune.

"There is still a great deal to consider," Armstrong said. "I see some merit in shortening the calendar to allow us to more effectively allocate resources (utilities, classified staff, fuel). But that also comes at a cost to some employees. We are really going to (need to) spend some time to find a schedule that minimizes the impact to staff as much as possible, while hopefully making a good financial decision for the district."