By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

USD 408 will charge a $30 enrollment fee when each student enrolls Aug. 5.

This is the first year since 2005-06 that the district will have enrollment fees.

The fee was approved at the Board of Education meeting Thursday.

At the meeting, board member Keith Collett said he had vehemently opposed enrollment fees because “they smelled like tuition,” but this year the fee was necessary.

Math Standards Review

The board also reached a compromise on the Math Standards Review class at Marion High School.

Math Standards Review is a class for students who pass Algebra 1 but score substandard in math on state assessment tests.

Math Standards Review will be offered for credit to students who meet its criteria, but students must get permission of the instructor and school administrators.

“You know those classes in college where you had to get the professor’s permission to join?” Collett said. “That’s what we should do with Math Standards Review.”

Board members agreed that Math Standards Review could not be a substitute for Algebra 1 or Geometry, which are graduation requirements. The course is pending approval from the Kansas District School Improvement Team.

Appointments

Several appointments were renewed.

Chris Sprowls will return as board president. Sarah Cope will retain her position as vice president.

Becky Summerville will continue as clerk, and Martin Tice will return as treasurer.

Cope also will remain as a representative with the District School Improvement Team. Lyle Leppke will once again be the board’s representative to special education, with Sprowls offering to be an alternate representative if Leppke can’t make a meeting. Jan Helmer will return as representative to the Technology Excellence Education Network, with Collett as an alternate.

New English teacher

After a 20-minute executive session, Superintendent Lee Leiker announced that the district will offer a contract for a high school English teaching position to Christopher Rome. Rome graduated from Fort Hays State University and grew up in Ellinwood.

Darby Simpson was previously offered the position but recently turned it down.

In other business:

• Mileage reimbursement will remain at 50 cents a mile, and the price of school breakfasts and lunches will stay the same.
• The board decided to print only 200 large district calendars this year. Each month an updated calendar will be available online. Leiker said he wanted to make the calendars more accurate, especially for spring events, and save money.