From BOE Meeting April 16. 2018
This message is from Mr. Van Ranken:
At the USD 240 BOE meeting on April 16, 2018 there was a topic thats centered around the desire of a group of students to start a GSA group (Gay-Straight Alliance). I understand concerns of all sides as it relates to the formation of this group. What I want USD 240 patrons to understand is that the district will follow the law as it relates to student organizations (school-sponsored or non-school-sponsored). You may not be in agreement with the decision, but please understand that decision is based upon guidance from our KASB attorneys, policies centered around student organizations, and legal obligations that we will adhere to.
I am including a link in this post to a document entitled, “Dealing with Legal Matters Surrounding Students’ Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”.
This document was produced by several professional organizations that you will see noted on the front page. It contains many sections that speak to the reasons for decisions that are being made in public schools, not just Twin Valley, regarding issues around gender identity. It helps to provide guidance for schools struggling with how to meet the needs of ALL students.
Ultimately, it is important to understand we are here for ALL students. We want ALL students to feel a part of our system with the capacity to become happy and capable adults.
I strongly encourage you to take a look at this document as it relates to this topic. After having done so and you want to discuss this issue further, feel free to contact me. I will be glad to have that conversation with you.
Welcome to Twin Valley!
Welcome to Twin Valley! The 2017-2018 school year is upon us! On behalf of the staff of Twin Valley, we are excited to be here and look forward to serving students, parents, and the patrons that make up our school communities.
Below are some facts about the district that might be of interest:
- The communities of Bennington, Culver, and Tescott all reside within the district boundaries.
- USD 240 contains two PreK-12 attendance centers located at Bennington and Tescott.
- Both centers offer a wide variety of academic and extracurricular opportunities for schools their size.
- The district boasts a great deal of current technological tools as our students in grades six and seven have a 1:1 technology in the form of IPads and our students in grades 8-12 have Chromebooks. The technology infrastructure provides our students with quality Internet access throughout our facilities.
- Twin Valley encompasses over 260 square miles of Ottawa and Saline County and serves approximately 565 students. The district map can be found on this link /vimages/shared/vnews/stories/51f80973bc0da/School%20District_240%20lines.pdf
- The facilities are current and very well-kept. The maintenance staff, students, and teachers take great pride in their facilities and it shows in the physical appearance of the buildings.
- In August of 2017, two district schools, Bennington Jr./Sr. High and Tescott Elementary School were selected to be a part of the "Kansans Can School Redesign Mercury 7" initiative in which we will be engaging our staff and school communities to redesign those schools (along with their district counterparts) to better serve the needs of our students as they enter the post-secondary phases of their lives. Our district selected Virgil "Gus" Grissom as the moniker for our portion of this redesign project. Seven schools were selected out of 29 that applied to the KSDE this past spring to participate in this project. More information will be forthcoming as we progress through the school year as it relates to this initiative.
I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to serve the students, parents, and patrons that make up all student populations that attend Twin Valley Schools. I look forward to working with the school community to continue the strong tradition of academic and extracurricular excellence.
Go Bulldogs and Go Trojans!