by Mary Rupert
The school year in the Turner Public Schools started well, according to Doug Powers, assistant superintendent of business and public relations.
“We’ve had a great start this year,” Powers said. “It’s been one of our smoothest starts we can remember for quite a while. We are excited about it.”
Powers said the Turner district is going paperless, and for the first time, it did online student enrollment this summer.
He said the district is using the Canvas learning management system, a program that will include the curriculum.
The district has a one-to-one program with iPads for students in third through 12th grades, he said.
The Turner School Board passed a budget on Tuesday that is a 5.743 mill decrease from last year, Powers said.
Turner received some additional state aid in the supplemental general budget recently, he said. On $100,000 of assessed valuation, there will be about $66 savings on an annual basis in the Turner district, he said.
The Turner district this year has a new executive director of administrative services, Lana Gerber, who will be in charge of human resources, he said. She was a Turner student who formerly taught at the old Oak Grove Elementary School and the old Muncie school before working in other districts, and has returned to Turner, he said.
All construction this summer in the Turner district was normal maintenance, he said. There has been some roofing work done at Turner Middle School. Also, a track has been resurfaced, he said. Turner opened the Oak Grove Elementary School building last year.
Also new in the Turner district this year is a college adviser working in the Turner High School counseling office, he said. The adviser’s position is through AmeriCorps and the position is through a grant. The grant is being handled by Kansas State University.
The new adviser will help Turner students set up college visits, fill out financial aid paperwork, and will be one more resource for students when they are ready to move on beyond high school, Powers said. The adviser will help students with applying to any college or trade school they are interested in.
“We have a lot of kids that for whatever reason, just don’t see college as a part of their future, so our counselors work really hard to help them with that,” Powers said. “That’s just one small part of what they do as high school counselors. Having someone dedicated full time with that will be a tremendous help to our kids and families.”