RC Superintendent Tidbits
By: Mark Otten
One of the hot topics in the nation was the peaceful transition of power and I am pleased to announce that this was accomplished within the walls of the Bassett Grade School and Rock County Junior High/High School. We have undergone some staffing changes due to the retirement of Lynn Hickman and now our staff has settled into their new positions. With the hiring of Brandi Hollenbeck as business manager, the high school administrative assistant position opened up. Instead of hiring outside of the organization, it was determined that we could shuffle the deck and cover the position without expending new resources to hire more staff. Ashley Leonard was offered the position and accepted so you will now get to hear Ashley’s voice full-time when you call the high school building. Of course, we still have plenty of work to do in the grade school office and Bobbie Anthony has graciously accepted this challenging position. With the move from the library to the office, it opened up a position in the library which is where we were able to absorb the changes. Kristi Pospichal has been able to adjust her schedule and cover some library time while Tricia Buell did the same in order to keep the grade school library open more often. A special thanks goes out to all of these ladies who were willing to change what they do for the betterment of the district.
The governor has recently announced that the state is now back in green. While this is great news at the state level and for the people of Nebraska in general, this doesn’t immediately change what we are able to do as a school district. Our local health department is still recommending we keep all protocols in place at the local level. This includes mask wearing, social distancing, and quarantining when it has been determined that there was a close contact. My understanding is that this will be the recommendation until the vaccine is more readily available to our people. I do not have a timeline for when school staff will have the option of getting the vaccine as the allocations to our health district has been fairly low. I am hoping it will pick up considerably and we can figure out what our normal will be moving forward. Thanks to all who have been supportive through all of the changes this year.
NSAA has not changed their stance with the protocols for COVID at this time either. We are allowed 50% capacity for indoor events and masks are still required. This will be the case throughout the remainder of the winter sports seasons and then we should be clear for the spring outdoor activities. North Central is requiring your name to be on pass list at this time. If you are not on the list under one of the athletes, you will not be allowed in.