USD 377 BOARD HIGHLIGHTS AND SCHOOL NOTES
Unified School District #377 Board of Education
306 Main Street, Effingham, KS 66023
BOARD HIGHLIGHTS - REGULAR SESSION MEETING
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2015 BOARD MEETING, 6:30 PM
PRESENTATIONS
- OPAA Food Service Director, Jima Dempsey was introduced to the board. Jima talked about the OPAA Program, her philosophy and goals on expanding the program, which include:
a. Ala carte - serving smoothies, hamburgers, fries, and more drink options, every day (start of next year)
b. Promoting caterings/teacher lodge donations at least twice a month, wanting district more involved.
c. Taste testing with students and teachers on new items.
d. Involving the high school STUCO with surveys on new food items.
e. Plans to hold monthly staff meetings and weekly Management Meetings.
Jima also talked about her plans to provide treats for Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras and St. Pat’s Day. Additionally, she will do food service promos during National School Breakfast Week in March.
- Budget Update by Mr. Wiseman. Mr. Wiseman presented updates on budget matters in the district. Items covered:
- State budget cuts
- Food service budget receipts vs expenditures are $19,037.25 ahead of this time last year, which is a positive indicator of our transition to the new food service program.
- Board Treasurer, Steve Caplinger’s plan to use a CD ladder to increase interest earnings on idle funds that would essentially triple what we are currently earning.
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS APPROVED OR ACCEPTED
- $189.24 for body bars at the Elementary School
- $143.75 plus cost of shipping for 25 dry erase boards at the Elementary School
- $150.00 plus cost of mileage for Lil’ Sluggers Assembly – Royals
- Providing snacks during state assessments (unsure of cost due to new testing schedule)
- $151.83 from Knights of Columbus for Special Education
- $250.00 from Effingham Lions Club for IMPACT test at the JSH School
- From Mr. and Mrs. Pat Kearney - Three 3’ x 10’ red rugs donated to the Junior Class for use at the “Red Carpet” event during Prom.
ACTION ITEMS
6.01 QZAB AND FACILITIES PLANNING
- Received notification from KSDE that the district is 1st in line to receive Zero Interest QZAB federal support in the amount of $755,000. Superintendent Wiseman submitted an application for $3 million worth of QZAB’s last year. The district remains 1st in line and eligible to receive approximately $2.2 million.
- The Board authorized Mr. Wiseman to notify KSDE of the board’s intent to accept the $755,000 in QZAB bonds.
- The Board will hold a special session to prioritize facility projects to be completed with the use of the QZAB.
- Payback on 24-year loan would be approximately $31,500 per year
6.02 PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATIONS APPROVED
- The board took separate action on the retirement notification from Mrs. Susan Kramer. The board regretfully accepted the retirement notification from Mrs. Kramer, effective at the end of the school year. The board expressed their appreciation for the many years of outstanding service Susan has given to the district and USD 377 students.
- Separation notice - Joshua Snyder, Elementary Counselor
- Separation notice - Cindy Timmons, Elementary Aide
- Volunteer Request - Cindy Timmons, Elementary
- Extended elementary teaching contract to Charlotte Michel for the 2015-2016 school year.
- Extended elementary counselor intern contract to Lindsey Wilmoth for the 2015-2016 school year
6.03 KASB POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
6.04 KASB LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS RESOLUTION
- The school board adopted a resolution opposing the Legislature's proposed bills to alter the process and election dates for electing public board of education members in Kansas.
- Link to resolution
6.05 STUDENT TRIPS APPROVED
- Field trip to Kansas City Art Museums (02/19/2015). (alternate date - Thurs. Feb. 26, 2015) Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Both museums are FREE. Mrs. Cave would like to take only her Advanced Art class with 5 students. They can spend time learning about themselves and our world through art. They will have the opportunity to celebrate different cultures and genres of art from worldwide artists. Both museums have interactive, inquiry-based tours that encourage active looking, critical thinking and dialogue. Students will use visual thinking strategies, ask learner-centered questions and hands on activities that will help enhance their museum experience. They plan to visit the different gallery exhibits such as the Post-Impressionists, Rococo, South East Asian and the American Art.
- Sophomore Class Research Field Trip (to Kansas University's Watson Library) 02/24/2015, 8:00a.m. - 2:15p.m. Sophomore's will further their research of the lives and impact of notable historical heroes by attending a research crash course at the Watson library that will include a tour of the library and campus, and will focus on using Watson's digital archives and catalog of biographical texts to dig deeper into the lives of individual some of histories most important men and women.
- High School college field trip to the Creative Center of Art & Design in Omaha, Nebraska 03/04/201,. Five students have shown interest in visiting the Creative Center College of Art & Design and requested a college visit."
- Big 7 League Forensics tournament 03/04/2015
- Mrs. Scherer's 4th Grade Rural School Days in Topeka 03/05/2015 - Experiencing a day in a one room school house
- Mrs. Garoutte's 4th Grade Rural School Days: KS in 1920. 03/05/2015 - Experiencing a day in a one room school house
- College visit - transition planning 03/11/2015. We will be touring Kansas City Kansas Community College campus. Students will be able to visit the specific departmental areas in which they are interested. An admissions specialist will explain all of the services and amenities of the school. Sponsors: Denise Selbee-Koch and Justin Peavey
- Job Olympics at Johnson County Community College 04/1/2015
- FFA to take a tour and trip of the Squaw Creek National Refugee 04/14/2015. Visit the headquarters and discuss wildlife management with the park officials. Students enrolled in the Wildlife Management class will be able to discuss wildlife management with park official and tour a national wildlife refuge. Mrs. Bodenhausen, sponsor.
- Band students to Topeka Civic Orchestra's Free School Day concert 04/20/2015. The Topeka Civic Orchestra will present a free concert to students on. The times will either be 10:00 am or 1:00pm. I will take all 6-8 band students. Mr. Worthington, sponsor.
- Kindergarten would like to take a field trip to the Discovery Center in Topeka, Kansas 05/07/2015. They will eat lunch first at Gage Park and then visit the Discovery Center at 12pm. Sponsors: Natalie Brammer and Jessica Paden - Kindergarten Teachers, Teacher's aides: Sara Hinz and Katie Lanter.
- May 23-26 - Band trip to Chicago
6.06 BUS BIDS
- Board approved recommendation to accept bus bids from Midwest Transit Equipment.
- Cost per bus = $75,426 for a total of $150,852
- Accepted trade-in bid for buses #37 and #41. Total trade-in = $8,000
- Total cost minus trade-in = $142,852.
6.07 ROOF BIDS
- Tabled awaiting more information to be provided by Mr. Wiseman - see Board Highlights addendum.
6.08 APPROVED OF MUNICIPAL INVESTMENT POOL (MIP) RESOLUTION
7.01 SCHOOL CALENDAR 2015-2016
7.02 LEGISLATIVE BILLS
- Discussed Senate Bill 60 - Eligibility of Home School Students in KSHSAA Activities
- The bill provides for students attending home school to be eligible for all school activities which come under the rules of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. The bill would allow home schooled students to participate for four consecutive school years regardless of whether the student graduates prior to completion of the fourth school year. The bill was introduced as a Committee bill by the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs. This exempts the bills from legislative deadlines and allows it to be worked this session or in next year’s session. SB 60 has now been referred to the Senate Education Committee.
BOARD HIGHLIGHTS ADDENDUM AND FOLLOWUP NOTES
- Elementary Roof Replacement Notes - As a member of Greenbush, we have access to Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) services, such as Tremco Roofing / ATI. AEPA is a national purchasing cooperative.
- Tremco provides facility asset management solutions to reduce roofing and building envelope life-cycle costs. They make their money on the materials, which according to their Senior Field Advisor, Brian Meyers isn't as much as non-AEPA projects. I talked to Brian this morning about the services they provide:
- Streamlined procurement process
- Single-source responsibility - turnkey. Tremco will supervise the project and actually have someone on the roof to inspect quality of workmanship.
- Tremco only uses "Best of Class" local contractors who have the highest standards for workmanship and ethics.
- The district’s guarantee is in the warranty. Tremco backs up its projects with a 10 year warranty against material defects and shoddy workmanship.
- Tremco is the "general contractor" or what he deemed as "one throat to choke" liability.
- Year 2 and 5 Tremco does a full inspection and addresses any service items at no cost - part of warranty.
- Sample of the warranty we will receive from Tremco (10-year)
- NOTE: Brian Myers, Tremco Senior Field Advisor, was up on our elementary roof earlier this week and believes we need to put down a patch to prevent a major leak and to keep water off of our deck. The deck is not part of the roof replacement project. Any work necessary to repair the underlying deck will be extra. Mr. Wiseman approved for Tremco to patch a 200 square foot area at a cost of $2,000.
- Exterior Lighting Assessment
- David Law from American Electric out of St. Joe is conducting an assessment of our exterior lighting system at the JSH and the ES. He will make recommendations for upgrading parking areas and for lighting up around the building.
- A-Z Theatrical Lighting was out Tuesday to assess our auditorium lighting system, which is antiquated and needs upgraded.
- School Security Quote from American Digital Security Greenbush AEPA - Total Cost for new security system - $63,670.30 (April 2014)
- American Digital Security (ADS), a Kansas City company, is a Minority (MBE) owned company and Ingram's 29th fastest growing company in the Kansas City area.
- ADS specializes in the design, system installation, and service of megapixel IP video surveillance, card access control, door intercom systems, and intrusion detection systems.
- Link to ADS Quote for review
- Link to ADS map for review
KANSAS’ FUTURE COMMUNITY MEETING IN HIAWATHA FEB 19TH
Incoming Kansas Commissioner of Education, Dr. Randy Watson will be in Hiawatha on Thursday, Feb 19th for a community conversation about education in Kansas. He is asking for parents, educators, members of the business
community, school board members, legislators and other interested parties are all encouraged to participate in these
conversations that will help define the state’s strategic plan for Kansas education.
The meeting will be from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM at the Fisher Center in Hiawatha.
Mr. Wiseman is hoping for at least one person from each of the following groups to attend: building administrator, K-3 teacher, 4-6 teacher, 7-8 teacher, 9-2 teacher, male and female students (grade 11 or 12), and parents or site council members.
Anyone interested in attending should contact Mr. Wiseman at the Central Office - wisemans@usd377.org or 913-833-5050.
Link to notification flyer