Dorchester Times: School Board Votes To Expand Crossroads Conference

Monday, October 27, 2008

School Board Votes To Expand Crossroads Conference

By a 5-1 vote, the Dorchester Board of Education has voted to allow Osceola and Shelby Public Schools to join the Crossroads Conference.

The vote highlighted the Oct. 13 school board meeting. Board members Kahle, Hansen, Bors, Pracheil and Havlat voted to extend an invitation to Osceola and Shelby to join the CRC. Board member Boller cast the lone vote of opposition, according to the meeting minutes.

In other school matters, Dorchester Principal Kubicek reported that student test scores indicate "math computation is an area that needs to be improved." The causes of this concern were discussed along with future curriculum structure.

The board was informed that formal teacher evaluations have begun this month.

During the meeting's committee reports, the Building and Grounds Committee discussed several items related to the new school, including: a plan on securing a new electronic scoreboard for the multi-purpose gym; the multipurpose gym's sound system; concern with wet spots in the new wrestling room; parking lot drainage; acoustics in the band room/stage area; a proposed bell monument; basketball goals for playground; condition of the Industrial Tech building; bids for additional lighting on south side of school; and the establishment of a master maintenance schedule.

By unanimous consent, the school board approved the October expenditures for the General Fund and Special Building Fund.

The next meeting of the school board will take place Monday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

7 comments:

AnonymousOctober 27, 2008 at 7:01 PM
More competition in the conference will draw more statewide respect for the schools in the conference. Why wouldn't we want to add those schools?
I had also heard the Friend wanted back into CRC too...wonder what happened with that?
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AnonymousOctober 27, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Looks like for 4.0 million we wouldnt have all these problems in a new school.

I hope we can solve them without it costing a lot more money.

I am leaving for the my winter home in Texas. I will leave my spot to Cynical richard. We think a lot alike.

Have a good day
Taxed Too Much
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AnonymousOctober 28, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Taxed Too Much must not be living too bad of a life if he can afford to go to Texas during the winter. Must be nice to have "two" homes and still complain how much he has to contribute to taxes. Just an observation.
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AnonymousOctober 28, 2008 at 11:10 AM
hmmm and I wonder where taxed too much's vehicle is registered?
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AnonymousOctober 28, 2008 at 7:36 PM
Sorry......one more comment before i leave.

You people kill me.

I am retired, worked my butt of all my life. Didnt sit on my *** and didnt spend all my money on beer and cigarettes.

Have a good day , and a good winter
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AnonymousOctober 29, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Trust me taxed too much...you must have made a lot of money in your years to be able to go to Texas every winter. My husband and I both work full time jobs and farm on the side. We do NOT sit on our *** or spend our money on beer and cigarettes. Bet you get more out of your social security then you put in. I wish I could say that when I retire. Have a great winter!
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2008 at 8:56 PM
I just spoke with a Texan, and she said you Yankees are ruining Texas.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."