LARNED — The Larned USD 495 heard reports from building administrators and supervisors at a recent meeting of the board of education. The following are approved minutes from the Aug. 8 meeting.
Attending were board members Jay Haremza, Sharon Arnold, Kevin Reese, June Barger, Sharon Lessard, Phil Martin, board attorney, Bonnie Carlson, treasurer, Joyce Simpson, clerk; Jon Flint, superintendent. Absent was board member Kevin Reece.
Superintendent
Jon Flint, USD 495 superintendent, reported to the board that the numbers at Hillside for kindergarten might warrant hiring another teacher, which the board agreed.
Flint asked the board if they would give their permission to remove the cedars in front of Larned Middle School. After visiting with David Spare, Flint reported that Spare felt like he did put the wrong product there.
Nothing would be placed there at this time, just mulching the area. At some point later, some low growing plants would be put in. There was also a couple of cedars removed at Hillside. Flint said that the roofs at Hillside and Northside are complete and so far no leaks have been detected.
The boiler at Phinney has been put into place but will still need an inspection, probably sometime in October. Flint noted that the district should see a savings as was seen at the high school. The Kansas Highway Patrol has done the inspections at support services. The Main dropoff at Pawnee Rock was at the old school building which has been turned into a shelter home of some type, and the owner would like the bus stop moved.
The stop will be moved a couple of blocks.
Each of the board members was given a wristband “pulling together.”  “Pulling together,” will be shared with all staff.
Flint reported USD 495 is very fortunate to have professional staff that go above and beyond what is required. Flint said local coffees are a good way to get information out and encourage community involvement.
Curriculum
Jennifer Anderson, USD 495 curriculum director, reviewed the on-line enrollment via computer and projector to show the board members how easy it is to do the online enrollment. She went through the steps showing what the parents needed to do.
One issue they encountered this year was that some of the parents didn’t think they had received the letter telling them of the on-line enrollment. This year has been a learning curve and there are things that will be done differently next year. Anderson noted that the technology department had really done a nice job on the on-line enrollment.
Anderson reported 95 percent of the parents reported that the on-line enrollment was a great addition. More than 30 percent of the parents had done the on-line enrollment.
Anderson stated that there is a Facebook page on the district website that is only for notification. No one can respond or comment.
Board member Haremza inquired if KASB had any input about the Facebook page and felt it would be a good idea if they were contacted as there had been some issues in Missouri with a Facebook page. KASB will be called to inquire about this item. Anderson discussed in-service times with the board. She also reported that Lea Harding had informed her that 82 kindergarten students were pre-enrolled.