Staff writer
The Centre USD 397 board of education accepted a letter of retirement from school counselor Lacy Wallace. The board thanked him for his years of dedicated service to the school district. Wallace came to Centre High School in the fall of 1993.
An iTeam of students from the third and fourth grades gave a demonstration of how they use iPads in the classroom to enhance their educational experience. The team presented at the TEEN Mash-up workshop Jan. 16.
Several fourth-grade students, led by teacher Jean Brunner, gave presentations of Kansas characters that were originally given Jan. 27 at the Kansas Day Open House in their classroom.
Recognition was given to Candace Tajchman as Tri-County Educator of the Year, Carissa Shields, winner of the Marion County Spelling Bee, and the Centre scholars’ bowl team, which finished second at regional and third at state.
In other business:
- The district will purchase a new 65-passenger school bus from Allied Bus Sales for $75,179. The price includes the trade-in of a used bus for $2,200.
- The district will purchase a new Oliver planer for the ag shop for $7,275, from BP Services, Kent, WA.
- The board approved a request from Kellie Headley for her daughter, Courtney Mai, to attend Centre High School. Courtney is a freshman.
- Part-time cook Irmy O’Dell will be paid based on wages worked for each pay period rather than 12 equal payments throughout the year.
- The board accepted the audit report. Auditor Jay Langley presented the report via telephone. He noted no discrepancies in the district’s bookkeeping. He said his company has noticed a trend upward in the number of student lunches that are not paid. He said it is something to watch. He also said the district’s fraud policy should be stressed to employees, and that reports of fraud should be reported through the right channels.
- The board took no action on a request from Families and Communities Together to approve a payroll deduction option so that district employees can make a contribution to FACT each month.
- The board met in executive session with Superintendent Jerri Kemble and Transportation Director Bob Mueller for 20 minutes to discuss student matters. Another executive session with Kemble dealt with certificated staff negotiations.