Alva Review-Courier -

The South Barber Board of Education met for over two hours Monday night for their September meeting. They heard about first-of-the-year student activities, hired a new secretary at the high school, approved a 1 percent increase in the teacher salary schedule, learned of a legislative audit regarding federal funds, and discussed financing of the P1 Master Plan at the high school.

Board President Steve Allen called the meeting to order with all members present including: Mariah Doherty, Deb Helfrich, Dooli Rugg, Melissa Simpson, Mark Pollock and Mike Miller. Superintendent Dr. Andi Williams sat at the board table as did board clerk Julie Johnson.

P1 Group representative Dana Dunn attended the meeting. He's presented details of a proposed master plan of physical building improvements at the high school several times at recent meetings. At the last meeting a board member said there was an issue with some of the work completed by P1 at the Barber County Courthouse.

Superintendent Williams apprised Dunn of the comment. When he heard the rumors, Dunn said a P1 rep and a vice president went to the courthouse to review their work. They saw a problem and P1 is paying thousands of dollars to fix the problem.

Dunn thanked the board repeatedly for their honesty and feedback and said P1 always wants to know if there is a problem. Dr. Williams thanked him and said she's ready to put the issue to rest and proceed.

Later in the meeting the board discussed the P1 project. Dunn told them previously that they can likely qualify for some procurement money for pursuing deferred maintenance, which will save money in the long run by fixing the problem. The board approved P1 to start the process for the “Investment Grade Audit” to see what USD 255 could qualify to receive.

School Secretary Change and More Board Action

The board approved hiring Jessica Gebers as the new secretary at the high school. She is from Cherokee and was previously working at SC Telcom in Kiowa. Current high school secretary Kay Roberts will move to the USD 255 Central Office as a district secretary.

The teacher salary schedule was approved by the board. This gave a 1 percent increase to the base and increased health care coverage.

Current bills of $457,480 were approved by the board. Johnson explained the bills were higher than usual as they included a bond payment of about $184,000, purchase of the Malibu car, improvements to the bathrooms at the elementary, etc.

Regarding the Kansas Open Records Act, the board approved charging an entity or individual $50 per hour and 25 cents per hard copy for information requests. Minimum charge is $12.50.

Superintendent Discusses Legislative Post Audit and More

Superintendent Williams said a legislator suggested an audit of schools receiving federal funds to see how they benefited the school. USD 255 is one of the 10 in the state being audited. The audit is to happen next Monday.

Williams said South Barber benefits from federal money for the lunch program, Title I (reading and math) and Title II (for professional development).

Board member Helfrich expressed her frustration with the audit saying it was government intrusion creating unnecessary busy work.

The superintendent said she has apprised the powers-that-be that the mineral revenue that benefited USD 255 for a while is gone for now. She said South Barber is one of 150 schools like that in Kansas.

On other subjects, the superintendent discussed online virtual status programs for students, Classroom Instruction That Works (CITW), and capital outlay updates. She said concrete is now in place between the football stadium and concession stand.

Williams said the accreditation process rolled out July 1. It is a five-year cycle.

The board held a five-minute executive session with no action taken following.

Principal's Report on Students and Upcoming Events

Principal Eric Stoddard gave his first official report at a board meeting since becoming the new PK-6th grade principal. He said over 50 families attended the Open House in August.

Stoddard said there are 157 students in the grade school. The kindergarten class is the largest with 32 students. Williams said the goal is to divide that class next year. For now, parents are in the classroom all day to help teacher Connie Rooks.

Stoddard said there is no longer an On-Watch Status from the state. Instead there will be the KansaStar Plan as it can be used with the new accreditation system.

The new principal said he has two new projects for the school year. One is PBIS, a behavior expectation support system that teaches students expectations of how they are to treat each other and teachers. The other is MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) to better meet the needs of each student.

Grade 7-12 Brent Shaffer said high school enrollment is 68 and junior high is 35. He said they have three foreign exchange students.

As Shaffer gave his report, board member and parent Rugg asked him to watch the parking lot as her family is tired of having profanity written on the windows of their vehicle when parked there.

So far the Chieftain football team is 2-0 with 21 boys on the team. Football homecoming is Sept. 23. Junior high football is 2-0 with nine boys out.

The high school girls volleyball team is 8-4 with 12 girls on the team. Eight girls are out for high school tennis. In varsity tennis Sabrina and Savannah Hughbanks won No. 1 Doubles at a meet. Junior high volleyball is 2-0 with 14 girls out for the sport.

FFA has 37 members. FCCLA is underway with many new members.