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The Dewey Public Schools Board of Education approved the addition of an Elementary Team Lead sub account under the Elementary Account in the Activity Fund when they met on Monday night. Superintendent Vince Vincent said Elementary Team Lead is aimed at taking a group of approximately 15 fifth graders and teach them what it means to be leaders in the community and in school. He said the group will likely receive donations or do fund raising events, so the sub account will help the district track the money.

From there, the board approved a new lease agreement with De Lage Landen for copier / printer replacement. Then, a third renewal of a contract with OneNet for Internet Services for the 2021 fiscal year was approved. Superintendent Vincent said the district is on year four of a five year contract even though this is a third renewal for DPS.

A first renewal of the lease agreement with Pitney Bowes for the Digital Postal Meter would be approved by the DPS Board of Education. A contract with Kelley Sells for school psychology services for the 2020-2021 school year was approved as well.

The DPS Board of Education approved the American College Testing (ACT) assessment as the College and Career Ready Assessment of choice for Dewey High School for the current school year. Superintendent Vincent said Dewey High School Principal Brent Dugger first presented this item to the district's ad hoc committee who asks questions and make any recommendations before sending it to the DPS Board of Education to consider. He said they continue to desire to use the ACT because students and parents are familiar with the assessment and because of the fact that it is more widely used by colleges and universities in the Midwest.

High School juniors are required to take the ACT so the State of Oklahoma has agreed for all of those students to take the test. Superintendent Vincent said the district pays nothing for these tests. He said approximately 80 to 90-percent of schools in the Midwest were using the ACT as their test of choice.

The board also decided to sanction the following DPS parent organizations for the year:

• Dewey Elementary PTO
• Dewey FFA Alumni Association
• Dewey Band Boosters

Lastly, the board approved the Gifted and Talented Plan for the school year. Superintendent Vincent said they make very little changes to this plan, but there was one change this year. He said the change involved proficiency based promotion.

This means that students that are on the gifted and talented list would be offered an opportunity to test out of certain courses. Superintendent Vincent said those students would be given credit for the courses if they received a 90-percent or higher on the proficiency exam. He said the exam would be given locally.

This would be predominantly for students who would want to advance and potential graduate a year early. Superintendent Vincent said they are still allowing proficiency based promotions for their lower grades. He said these tests are probably more relevant for the lower grades than they are for the high school courses.