Santee School Board Meeting Kicks Off the First Day of School

• The board announced that the longtime and beloved teacher Kathy Davis had passed away in the last couple weeks. The meeting was adjourned in her memory and the board members shared a few stories about her and the students she was so good at teaching. See clips of those memories in the video in the media box

Superintendent Report

• According to Superintendent Patrick Shaw, it was the first time in District history that the first day of school was also a rain day.

• Principal Stephanie Southcott had the biggest smile of the day, he said, as she basked in the glow of the new construction at PRIDE Academy. It was noted that about 20 skateboarders were already outside skating in the new parking lot and on the new red benches out front.

• Shaw said he visited all 9 schools and it seemed that had the smoothest first day and the roughest start was , which has about doubled the size of it’s parking lot, which caused a jam, and they are in the process of installing skylights, which caused some dripping due to the rain.

• “Things were running well and in great shape at all sites,” said Shaw.

School Foundation

•The presented a check for $27,000 to the Santee School District. $15,000 will go to help fund Arts Attack, the program that brought Santee school art programs back to life. The rest will help support technology funding at schools.

•The Foundation, which gives $30,000 to $40,000 annually to the district, will be working on a "Feed the Turkey" program next, the proceeds of which will go to get books for the schools. Look for more info on that program soon.

Superintendent Discussion

• This year the district is looking at providing more info to parents regarding student nutrition, said Shaw.

• Cathy Abel, director of Child Nutrition Services at the Santee School District, gave a presentation. Here's the key points:

•Santee uses nutrient standard menu planning when determining what to feed students throughout the day. It is more flexible, which offers more variety.

• Each day there is a variety of 5 entrees to choose from.

• No more than 30 percent of the calories in a school lunch can come from fat, and no more than 10 percent saturated fat.

• See the nutritional standards chart that outlines specifics for each grade level.

• Since student nutrition was on the menu, parent and Wellness Committee member Joe Spencer spoke out against chocolate milk again. See video in media box.

 • The board wants to let parents know that you can let your child's school know what you want your kid eating. Call the school and a note gets tagged in the computer system so your kid cannot get chocolate milk, or can't eat at all without cash, or can't eat the peanut butter they're allergic to.

• The district will be sending out an information sheet about school nutrition to parents in the next few weeks.

Student Attendance

• The Santee School District achieved 96.43 percent attendance in the last school year. All nine schools improved attendance in 2010-11 compared to 2009-10. See the photos of the presentation in the media box to see individual school increases in attendance.

• According to the district, incentives played a big role in this improvement.

• Because of this, 18,024 more hours of study were completed, with  $106,104 more revenue generated for the school district as a result

• 686 students (11 percent of the SSD) had perfect attendance last year!