HOLYROOD — With a full agenda on Monday night, Central Plains USD 112 Board of Education officially approved closing Claflin Elementary School and the Lorraine district office effective July 1.

Both buildings will be offered for sale, and Superintendent Steve Woolf informed the board that there has been interest expressed in purchasing the facilities. In addition, a title search will be conducted to make sure the Lorraine facility can be sold.

The new USD 112 district office will be located in Holyrood in the elementary school.

Woolf presented ideas for organization of the new offices, and work will begin over the Christmas holidays. The board would also like stipulations put on the buildings including use of the gym at CES for sports practices, access to the playground equipment, and that both buildings could be used as a drop-off point for busing.

In other business, heard on Monday night that the student councils of Quivira Heights High School and Claflin High School have chosen school colors, black, silver and forest green, and will call themselves the Oilers.

The process will begin digitizing student records beginning with the year 1980 to cut down on storage requirements.

The board also discussed the scheduling of classes at the high school. The pros and cons of block scheduling and also going to an eight-period day were discussed. Vice-President of the board Bert Besthorn said that the use of block scheduling is not the most efficient use of staff because they have more down time. He suggested looking at an eight period day because kids’ attention spans are as many minutes as his or her age or training teachers on using block scheduling. QHHS Principal Lennie Gales wanted the teachers to be present to discuss this.

The Hall of Fame from the old USD 328 will be moved to the wall near the new district office in Holyrood. The hall recognizes individuals who have been involved in school and have done much for kids.

Those from the Claflin School District will be added, and the board will make requests for nominations in its district newsletter.

Those chosen will be honored during basketball season. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 8, 2011, and the nomination must include the reason for being chosen, five signatures and 15 years of service.

Woolf also brought up busing for the district with his recommendation that Wilson stay as is, and that the southern portion of the district use curb side pickup in the country, and those in the city will be picked up at the schools. He also suggested running activity buses for the entire district.

He recognized that the busing plan would have to be flexible and would undoubtedly change after the district saw how it worked. "It will be a fluid plan," he said.

Also, the board discussed Career and Technical Education Career Clusters and Pathways. The purpose of this program is to provide students with technical skills so that they are employable immediately after high school.

The state offers a free aptitude test so that students can direct their high school classes to their interests. "Students aren’t locked into it," said Woolf. The program integrates career and technical education with the regular classes.

"Almost every job requires more training," Woolf said.

In final business, the board discussed:

•Offering retirement incentives to teachers.

•Dual credit for high school and college classes.

•The schools will spend $3600 to purchase IPads for the elementary schools to share.