By HOLLY GASKILL
Southern Wells schools learned about a number of facility renovations and repairs for the upcoming months during its board meeting on Tuesday.
The largest items include parking lot and ag building repairs, resurfacing of the track, construction of a softball pressbox and replacement of flooring in the elementary school cafeteria. The total projected cost is approximately $285,000.
Maintenance Director Ryan King stressed that many of these items were well below their original projections. Some items have already been approved by the board, and others will be considered in the future.
Also during the meeting, Superintendent Trent Lehman presented a revised version of the Southern Wells policy manual. The changes presented appeared to be largely for clarity or brevity, and the board agreed to approve them in a first and second reading.
However, board member Todd Fiechter asked Lehman to investigate precedent regarding extracurricular participation for students enrolled in a private institution within the district. The policy draft states these students need only enroll in one class, however, Fiechter questioned if the school was fairly reimbursed for that credit hour. He proposed adding a contingency for a cost per credit hour for this special circumstance.
Lehman stated he would look into the matter before the board’s next meeting, 5:30 p.m. April 16. The draft is available on BoardDocs.
Other updates were:
• The board approved 2-1 a stipend agreement for extra athletic director responsibilities performed last fall by Principal Kim Conner and teacher Joel Roush during the full-time position’s vacancy. Fiechter, who voted against the agreement, said other positions within the district were also likely deserving of a stipend and thought it appeared they were “picking and choosing” who would receive them. Board members Andrew Pursifull and Delora Schneider voted in favor, and Chad Roush was absent.
• Fiechter later also recommended the board amend its policy requiring approval for all conference requests. The administration will now follow a similar protocol as field trips, presenting requests for out-of-state trips and/or costly trips.
• The board recognized the resignation of art teacher Josh Heim and instructional assistant Alyssa Toland.
• The following coaching recommendations were approved: Bret Vickery as baseball assistant coach, Lucas Miller as the junior varsity baseball coach, Geoffrey Horner as junior high golf coach, Jacob Duncan as junior high wrestling coach, and Karadyn Riley and Tony Reeves to split the junior varsity softball coach position in place of Amanda Murray, who resigned from the position. The board also approved a superintendent contract for 2024-26.
• Approved a series of surplus and no-value items from the industrial technology classroom.
• Donations were accepted from Country Cabinets, National Oil and Gas, PRO Mechanical Industrial Contractors, First Bank of Berne and Family Ford for the Business Professionals of America. Anonymous donations were also accepted for the Southern Wells Steve Wagner Scholarship and to cover the transportation costs of a fan bus for girls’ basketball sectional games at Northfield.
• The board approved the following fundraisers: the In Harmony Choir to sell chocolate April 8-19, PIE family dodgeball night April 2, volleyball to hold a youth camp April 15-18, athletic boosters to sell Texas Tenderloins and golf to sell hats beginning in March.
holly@news-banner.com
