Here’s a quick look at Monday's Great Bend USD 428 Board of Education meeting.
• The board held a Revenue Neutral Rate hearing and a budget hearing. There were no comments from the public. The board approved a resolution to exceed the Revenue Neutral Tax Rate for financing the annual budget for 2021-2022 and it approved the budget, which was published in the Great Bend Tribune on Aug. 15.
The estimated tax rate for 2021-2022 is 41.094 mills, compared to 41.544 last year and 41.459 the year before. Estimated taxes to be levied are $6,347,035, compared to $6,281,232 last year and $6,448,344 the year before.
• The new Family Engagement Coordinators were introduced. They are:
- Taylor Gobin Eisenhower Elementary
- Haley Kircher Jefferson Elementary
- Kylynn Keeler Lincoln Elementary
- Rachel Keenan Park Elementary
- Alex Westhoff Riley Elementary
- Saylem Ryff GB Middle School
- Jesus Loera Jr. GB High School
• The board discussed operations related to COVID-19 and approved the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Test to Stay Program, which provides an option to the 10-day at-home quarantine for students exposed to positive COVID-19 cases.
• The Great Bend Recreation Commission seeks to increase its mill levy authority from 7 mills to 8 mills. As the sponsoring district, USD 428’s school board must approve the request, which it did. GBRC Executive Director Diann Henderson told the school board that her board has already approved its budget and did not increase the mill levy this year, but will have the authority to do so next year.
“We’ve been at that level for eight years,” she said. The Rec faces rising operational costs and lost income from the pandemic. “We will not be benefactors of any COVID-relief funds,” she said. “But the big thing facing us down the road is we have 162 seasonal part-time employees. We need to be able to find the recruitment and hiring tools just as everyone else.”
• The assistant superintendent/curriculum report from Assistant Superintendent John Popp and Director of Teaching and Learning Tricia Reiser covered several topics. Of note:
- Student immunizations - Voluntary immunization clinics are planned at each school. Student immunizations are required to be updated by Oct. 1. At this point, vaccines for COVID-19 and flu are not required.
- Capturing Kids Hearts - An in-service training by this name was provided to all teachers in August.
- Personnel - There were no personnel changes this month. All teaching positions have been filled in some manner. The need for substitute teachers is more significant than ever.
• Khris Thexton’s Superintendent’s Report also covered several topics:
- Enrollment numbers - The headcount on Sept. 1 was 2,812, compared to 2,798 on Sept. 1, 2020. Part of the increase was due to the addition of 44 preschool students at the new Little Panthers Preschool, included in the Eisenhower Elementary count. This now makes Eisenhower the largest elementary school in the district, with 342 students, compared to 316 for Riley Elementary. Sept. 20 is the date for the official enrollment count for 2021.
- USDA Free School Meal Program - This has been extended through the summer of 2022. Free breakfast and lunch are available to students.
- Fire Safety Awareness Week is set for Oct. 3-9.
• The following grants and contributions were approved:
- $1,510 to the GBMS Robotics Club from DCCCA
- $619.25 to GBMS Athletics from the GBMS Booster Club for WAC Championship banners
- $500 Credit Union of American grants to three teachers: Kristine Boepple at Eisenhower, Denton Lewis at GBHS and Kenzie Unruh at Lincoln
- $100 from Marmie Motors Inc. for the GBHS Panther Paw Shop
- $26,000 from the GBHS Panther Booster Club to the GBHS Activities Department
• A KJUMP Energy Solutions Agreement was approved. KJUMP is the Kansas Association of School Boards’ energy purchasing consortium. The district spent $900 for KASB to negotiate a reduction in what was considered an overcharge for natural gas following the record cold snap last February. As a result, Superintendent Thexton told the board, the district will be reimbursed $20,000. In April, Thexton said the district was billed $75,789.74 for natural gas, although normally the maximum cost for the amount used would be $26,255.57.
