Senator-elect Dr. Roger Marshall has signed and donated five early reader books, titled “House Mouse, Senate Mouse,” to Great Bend USD 428 – one copy for each of the district’s five elementary schools. Marshall’s wife, Laina Marshall, recently delivered the books, said USD 428 Public Information Director Andrea Bauer. The donation was one of several contributions approved at Monday’s USD 428 Board of Education meeting. Others were:
• Lincoln Elementary School received $31.55 in incentive rewards from Coca-Cola and $50.38 from Shoparoo.
• The Food Service department received a $250 incentive refund from Brakebush Brothers Inc.
• Jefferson Elementary received a $50 contribution from an anonymous donor for flexible seating in Deena Smith’s 2nd-grade classroom.
• Two Credit Union Teach, Grow Inspire the Future (TGIF) grants were awarded to teachers to provide innovative teaching environments for students. Shelly Post at Helping Hands Preschool received $300 for Parenting our Future materials and Kenzie Unruh at Lincoln Elementary School received $500 for Osmo Interactive Learning items.
Personnel
The board approved four teacher appointments that will take place at the start of the spring semester and accepted two resignations from employees at Barton County Special Services.
Jessica Delgado and Sarah Cherry will have completed their semester of student teaching and will receive contracts as long-term substitute teachers. Shara Stettinger will teach first grade at Lincoln Elementary School. Robin Linsner will teach business at Great Bend High School.
The resignations were from Michelle Cape, Early Childhood Special Education program coordinator, and Eugene Garrison, a school psychologist.
Fire protection, roof maintenance
The board also approved upgrading the Simplex 4020 Fire Panel System at GBHS, replacing it with an upgraded Simplex 4100ES from Johnson Controls Fire Protection for $29,368 plus sales tax, where applicable. A fire alarm control panel sets in motion a number of tasks to activate alarms, sprinklers, calls to the fire department, etc. Superintendent Khris Thexton said the fire panel at GBHS is the oldest one in the district and the upgrade is needed. The district will be able to do another project at the same time, upgrading the system that operates bells and clocks, and will save money as a result. The work with be done over the spring or summer.
Also approved was a contract with the Mahaney Group, based in Wichita, to properly maintain and repair all of the roofs in the district. The rate is $9,500 for inspection period, with additional fees for time and materials for projects and for reactive leak calls.
Thexton said district maintenance staff have handled the roof inspections in the past. Several years ago he looked into having a professional roofing company do the work but the plans fell through. With this agreement, Mahany Group will physically inspect every roof on district buildings, cleaning debris and doing repairs. “We’ll save costs on repairs in the long run,” Thexton said. The contract must be renewed every year.
Both the fire panel and the contract with Mahaney Group will come from capital outlay funds.
