Evancho resigns
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre Unified School District #397 board of education spent an hour in executive session Monday evening to discuss personnel then accepted a letter of resignation from Superintendent Demitry Evancho. Treasurer Peggy Falen and Evancho were called in as needed.
After the board returned to open session, board president Leona Hajek made a motion to offer Evancho a single health insurance policy not to exceed five years if he chooses to retire at the end of the school year.
Jennifer Kassebaum seconded the motion, but it failed on a 3-4 vote. Four votes are required for approval. Hajek, Julie Klenda, and Kassebaum voted for the measure. Clark Davis, Jesse Brunner, John Garrard, and Mark Heiser voted against it.
After the vote was taken, Evancho handed Hajek an envelope containing a letter of resignation. Hajek read the letter in which Evancho announced his resignation, effective at the end of the school year, after 13 years of service to the Centre school district.
Davis moved to accept the resignation. Brunner seconded the motion. It was approved by a vote of 4-3. Davis, Brunner, Garrard, and Heiser accepted the resignation. Hajek, Klenda, and Kassebaum rejected it.
It wasn't until after the resignation was accepted that Evancho realized the insurance offer was not approved. He then sought to retract his resignation and was told it had already been accepted.
Klenda made a motion to revisit the resignation. It was seconded by Kassebaum but was defeated in a 3-4 vote — Kassebaum, Klenda, and Hajek voting for it, Davis, Brunner, Heiser, and Garrard opposed.
Then Kassebaum suggested the board revisit the insurance action. Klenda made a motion to do so, which was seconded by Kassebaum. The motion failed in a 3-4 vote — Kassebaum, Klenda, and Hajek being in favor, Davis, Brunner, Garrard, and Heiser opposed.
Roof contract
John Swarm, field adviser for Tremco, Inc., attended Monday's meeting of Centre USD #397 board of education to discuss a roof analysis he conducted at the district's two sites.
After his presentation, the board voted unanimously to contract with Swarm at a cost of $1,500 to maintain the roofs and assist with specifications and bid work on future roof projects.
Copies of the written roof report were distributed and discussed at the Nov. 3 special meeting. The meeting was reported in the Nov. 5 issue of Marion County Record.
Swarm reiterated his position that the roof on the 1993 classroom addition at the high school needs to be replaced because the seams in the rubberized roofing are pulling apart.
He also said the elementary school roof could be given a permanent fix costing $15,000 to $20,000 or a repair job costing approximately $5,000. He said the board's decision would need to be based on how long they expect the building to be used.
Swarm said he could keep the seams temporarily repaired on the 1993 roof to prevent a catastrophic failure.
After he left the meeting, board members agreed it was too late in the fall season to take immediate action on roof replacement and repairs. They decided to contract with Swarm to keep the present roofs maintained and to buy time to pursue bids on future roof projects.
Evancho reported he plans to submit the roof report to the manufacturer of the roof system, which carries a warranty of 15 years.
Evancho said he has been in contact with Mike Blaske of Brent Bowman and Associates, the architect of the 1993 building project. Blaske acknowledged that architects are accountable for projects they oversee. According to Blaske, seam failure, which began four or five years ago, likely is due to bad rubber.
The superintendent was instructed to continue communications with Blaske in an attempt to procure some sort of agreement with the manufacturer.
"It is the intention of the district to seek corrective action under the provisions of the warranty," Evancho said.
Evancho also presented a written report on an inspection of the sixth grade classroom at the high school site by an environmental compliance specialist. It was a favorable report. No signs of mold were found.
In other matters, the board approved a motion requiring the minutes of the Nov. 10 meeting to show that at no time did Superintendent Evancho attend any portion of the executive sessions in which the transportation director or bus driver were included during the Aug. 27 special meeting.
Two field trips were approved: a Nov. 13 tour to a Kansas State University flour mill at Manhattan by agricultural education students, and a Nov. 14 trip to a Hutchinson Community College science open house by physics students.
The board discussed the purchase of cell phones for use by bus drivers on long trips. The matter was tabled pending receipt of more information.
Brunner announced he plans to attend the KASB convention in December.
The board reviewed the report of the KASB legislative committee. Leona Hajek will be the district's voting delegate.
The board adopted a revised policy on the operating budget.
The board considered a letter from Lester Kaiser, in which he questioned why the discussion about the school bus being taken out of the district was not in the minutes of the June meeting he attended.
Board member John Garrard read board policy regarding minutes, which says that statements by individual board members, whether oral or written, are not to be part of the minutes unless requested by the board.
In a 6-1 vote, with Kassebaum opposed, the board authorized Hajek to respond to Kaiser and enclose a copy of the minutes of the meeting in question.
High school principal Neal Weltha presented an outline of a project he is doing for a practicum class. It is a proposal to project student enrollments in the Centre school district through 2006 and provide facility utilization and alternatives. Weltha said he will provide a written report to the superintendent and board by April 5.
Board members passed a motion requiring them to return their goal- setting forms to Falen by Nov. 17 for compilation. Goals will be prioritized at the Dec. 8 meeting.
