By Martha Jacob –

During the Jan. 18 Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Board of Education meeting, Dr. Kevin Boys, president of Southern State Community College, spoke briefly to the board regarding strategic planning.
The board heard the information from Dr. Boys  and agreed to enter into the process. Dates for the event have not been finalized.
“This sounds like something that will be good for RULH School District,” said Dr. Linda Naylor, Superintendent at RULH. “Dr. Boys has held these Strategic Planning sessions already in a couple of other districts. He has had special training in this field and is willing to pass on what he knows as a service to our school.
“The plan concentrates on reviewing the direction the schools have been going in the last 10 to 15 years, then studies what has worked and what hasn’t worked. When all the information is gathered, a small group will clarify how knowing what’s happened in the past will help our district move forward with better goals. There is no cost to the school and the event will take place on a Friday evening, followed by an all day Saturday session.”
Dr. Naylor reported to the board that the Village of Ripley had received an Arbor Day grant in which many of the events will take place at the Elementary School. The school will coordinate with the village on all the events.
The topic of adding a new emergency communication tool called “CrisisGo” to the district was also discussed.
CrisisGo is a comprehensive emergency planning and communications platform that puts emergency response plans on mobile devices and desktops for immediate use when they are most needed.
The program gives schools staff the ability to access evacuation maps, student rosters, emergency contacts, a personal siren and action checklists specifically for that person’s role.
In other business at the meeting the board accepted a bid from Snapper Contracting for mowing and snow removal.
The approved:
• Mary Sonner, elementary art fair
• Joanne May, middle school art fair
• James Gilkison, high school art fair
• Bradley Cannon, Jr. high girls Track
• Richard Applegate, Jr. high boys’ track
• Jason Thompson, high school boys’ track.
Board treasurer, Jeff Rowley update the board regarding the Shelter House Project. He said that members of the Ripley Village Council had approved the construction of a shelter house by Nelson Otto Construction in the amount of $23,800. The shelter will be located in the green area between the elementary school, baseball fields and basketball courts.