The Bethel School Board opened the meeting Monday, June 13, with the presentation of a shadow box in memory of Michelle O’Neal.
Michelle was a Bethel alumni and worked in the cafeteria before her passing. Many loved her, and she touched the lives of all who knew her. She was taken from this life in a tragic accident on October 23, 2021.
Lower elementary principal Jenny Affentranger said the shadow box commemorates Michelle, who served the school for 16 years and was a lifelong resident of the Bethel Acres community.
“This shadowbox will remind students and staff to continue her legacy of loving the kids,” said Affentranger. “[It will] remind us to be friendly to everybody by meeting the basic needs of our students, whether it is to wash a soiled jacket or to give an extra serving of food just to make sure that our little people leave the cafeteria with warm, full bellies.”
Affentranger said that after visiting Michelle’s husband, Chad O’Neal, it was decided that another way to continue her legacy was to open the Mrs. Michelle’s Angel Fund.
“The main purpose of the fund is to make sure no lower elementary student would be given an alternate meal due to a negative balance,” said Affentranger. Other uses would include class t-shirts, coats, and possibly glasses or other needs that may arise.
The board approved the fun, and donations may be made to Bethel School and writing Mrs. Michelle’s Angel Fund on the check’s memo line.
Affentranger said, “She was a student, parent, lunch lady, custodian, co-worker, friend, and prankster. Michelle always had a friendly word to say.
The shadow box will be displayed in the Bethel Lower Elementary cafeteria.
During public comments, Bethel teacher Alicia Gardner addressed the board about school policies regarding dress codes.
Gardner said she had watched a presentation by Julie Miller through OSSBA (Oklahoma State School Board Association) and provided a copy of the slide presentation to the board for review.
She said that according to the presentation, three main questions should be asked when deciding whether to approve a policy. ‘What is the educational purpose of this policy? What is the safety purpose of this policy? And when it comes to discipline, is it within our purview to discipline for it?’
Gardner said the teachers like to teach but do not like enforcing what seems to be outdated dress code rules. An example used was people with piercings or wearing leggings in public, and these people are probably in “your own families. It does not seem to fit that standard of interrupting the educational process.
“We’re [teachers] wanting to give some input as to what things would we like changed,” said Gardner. “I hope these are some things that the board, our policymakers, with the assistance of your superintendent, your principals, your teachers, families, and students - all of these layers play a role in how you decide the policy needs to be written, what is really good for our community and our students, for teachers for positive classroom experiences.”
Gardner provided another handout to the board that included possible changes to the 2022-23 high school handbook. The handout referenced changes to piercings, leggings, shorts, jeans (specifically jeans with holes), crop tops, and tank tops. The handout also referenced eating and drinking in the building or, more specifically, bringing outside food or drinks into the building to consume during the first hour.
In a third handout, additional suggestions were listed to review in the policy handbook. These suggestions included exemptions to semester tests and white sack lunches for unpaid meal charges. Also mentioned was the inclusion of the Oklahoma Supplemental Online Course Program in the student handbook.
Superintendent, Dr. Matt Posey said he had spoken with Lt. Jarod Strand about utilizing the campus to provide school staff training after recent shootings. He also said he would contact Homeland Security for a school security assessment. He also said that students participating in sports for the 2022-2023 school year will have to submit a biological sex affidavit. This was recently signed into law by Gov. Stitt. The details for how this will be done are still being worked on.
An updated transfer policy was approved. Posey said wording had been changed to allow the transfer of staff/employee children where before the language provided through legislation specified certified personnel children. The policy can be found in its entirety viewing the June 13 agenda found on the Bethel School website.
The board approved the hiring of the following personnel for the 2022-2023 school year; Quinesha Pounds - cafeteria; Kari Vaughan, Adrienne Quirk, Melissa Lackey, and April Watts - Paraprofessional; and Aaron Smith - support contract and as Head High School and Jr. High Wrestling Coach.
On temporary certified contracts, the board approved Courtney Howser as Counselor and Adrienne Wooten for Middle School Special Education.
Charlsie Giddens was approved to be reassigned from child nutrition to Paraprofessional.
The board will meet again on June 27, 2022, at 6:30 pm in the Board of Education building. There will not be a meeting in July.
