The USD 386 Madison- Virgil Board of Education met Wednesday, Jan. 17, and newly elected board members Amy Hind, Justin Isch and Janette Luthi were sworn in, and immediately their terms started with a bang.
During a heated conversation, the board discussed the future use of school facilities during inclement weather. Superintendent Tammy Baird brought forth a question that was posed to her in regards to why the gym can be used for certain groups or individuals, but junior and senior high school students are not allowed to be in the gyms if the school is closed for inclement weather. This question came after the school had to cancel classes several times over the last two weeks due to weather. This also caused several games to be rescheduled for high school basketball teams and practice to be suspended. Baird stated that she contacted several local districts to see how they handle open gym when inclement weather leads to school closures and noted she received differing reviews on the subject. Baird stated that Lebo-Waverly has a voluntary open gym (shoot around), but Burlington, Southern Coffey County and Marais des Cygnes Valley do not allow it. She also stated that Southern Lyon County has a policy which outlines that students are not allowed to be in the gym, although they did state that it has happened in the past. If the weather improved and was nice in the afternoon/ evening hours, the gym was opened to students. Baird advised that Northern Heights says no, unless there are multiple days of school closure. Baird advised the board that KSHSAA currently does not have a policy in regards to gym access during school closures. Baird tasked the board with deciding on two items, and determining a plan moving forward. The first was how the district plans to decide in the future if district students can use the gyms. The second item was if other groups/organizations like the Madison recreation teams, should be allowed to use district facilities if school was canceled. Board member J. Luthi asked who is liable and if the district’s insurance would have an objection, stressing her concern for student safety during bad weather and poor road conditions. Board member Ty Gaines stated that he felt the decision on safety should be a parent’s decision. Isch questioned if it was a Saturday and a student wanted to be in the gym shooting baskets, why that would also not be allowed. Board member Jennifer Watts stated that she agreed, it would be nice to be able to use the facilities, but it should not be mandatory or determine playing time if a student cannot attend a shoot-around. J. Luthi asked Baird to contact KASB and the district’s insurance provider to see if they had any regulations or policies that would prevent the gym from being open.
In regular business, the board elected Dallas Luthi as Board President and J. Luthi as Vice President. The 2024-2025 USD 386 school calendar was presented and approved.
The board heard several updates given by Baird on food service, the FFA building, New Graduation requirements for the class of 2028, Entegrity and KESA. During the food service update, Baird advised the board that staffing continues to be a challenge and OPAA has several positions currently unfilled that the district is covering with their personnel in an effort to provide meals every day. Baird advised that Elementary Principal Amanda Schild has been tracking how many occasions and for how long the Food Service Director Dacia Brandt and one district aide have been required to fill in. Brandt has also contacted OPAA to request a refund to reflect the staffing shortages and the district’s costs associated with using their employees to fill in.
During the FFA Building update, Baird advised the board that crews are working to complete some requirements by the state fire marshal, including installing a hydrant closer to the building. Baird also informed the board that FCS recently donated a welding machine to the program.
Baird went over the new graduation requirements that will be implemented for the class of 2028. They include 24 units of required and elective courses, and activities. Baird advised that there will be the addition of two or more Postsecondary assets from the students plan of study (IPS) as well as some other changes including: Four units of Communications, to include 3.5 units of English and .5 units of communications; Four units of Society and Humanities, to include 3 units of social studies and 1 unit of fine arts; Seven units of STEM to include 3 units of math, 3 units of science, 1 unit of Stem elective; Nine units of Employability and Life Skills, to include .5 units of physical education, .5 units of health, .5 units of financial literacy and 7.5 IPS with an emphasis on Career and technical education (CTE) and pathway courses.
In discussion of the Entegrity project, Baird told board members that they are waiting to finish all the controls until after the HVAC and air conditioning units are installed in the big gym. During the KESA update, Baird advised the board that there has been a change at the state level and the process will no longer be a five-year plan. Instead, it will be reviewed every year, although the process is currently on hold until all the details have been finalized. She stated that next year will probably be a learning year on the new process for KESA.
Mark Adams, Director of Transportation, gave a report on the buses that were down due to cold temperatures. Adams shared that the metal cable on the parking brakes on all of the busses had frozen due to the wind and low temperatures. Adams stated that, as the buses came above freezing temperatures, there were two that had check engine lights. These are anticipated to be simple fixes and should be repaired by Jan. 18. Adams stated that while further researching how to prevent the brake cables from freezing in the future, he had spoken with several of his contacts, including mechanics, bus vendors and representatives from other districts. Adams reported that the consensus was to wait for the cables to thaw on their own to prevent damage. He stated that in the future he will be placing blocks on the tires and setting the brakes with less pressure to help prevent them from freezing. Adams stated that a potential solution towards future prevention would be a bus barn to get them out of the wind and weather. Board member Gary Kile asked if the brakes can be disabled while they are sitting on the lot and then be reattached when the buses are used. Adams replied that he felt this would cause a liability issue for the district, especially with multiple drivers using different buses. If this were done, it created the possibility of someone forgetting to reinstall the brake cable. Adams reiterated that the only good solution at this time would be a wind block for the buses. Kile went on to state that he understood, but felt something needed to be looked into, since he has received several calls and the district has a responsibility to the students to get them to school. In other transportation news, Adams reported that the fuel vendor did a good job making sure that all the buses were treated so they did not have trouble with the fuel gelling up.
Schild gave a report to the board on what has been happening in the elementary school and discussed some maintenance issues that have been identified and worked on recently. Schild also advised the board that the elementary school has two ESU student interns that started Jan. 17.
Baird gave an administrative report on the high school which included the following: the gym roof is completed, this year’s basketball sub-state will be held at Flint Hills High School and due to the recent snow days, seniors will need to report for additional days of school. Baird told board members that these additional days will be counted during the senior trip. Board member J. Watts asked: if a student does not attend the senior trip, how would that be handled? Baird commented that their time would still be counted.
The postseason format for volleyball will change next year to a tournament style and will result in more travel during sub-state.
During the high school administrative report, board member Gaines asked Baird to look into the price of changing the schools to a keyless system. He stated that it could be app based or keycard entry.
The board read the KASB policies to be adopted for the second time and approved to adopt five revisions and two new policies. The policies that were adopted include evacuations and emergencies revision, food service management revision, the new policy for Pregnant and Parenting Employees to adopt compliances to provide reasonable accommodations per the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act. Other policy updates include the revised title to the Uniformed Service Leave, release of a student during the school day policy was revised, a new policy for student misuse of medication and a revised policy for student self-administration of medication.
After several executive sessions for personnel, the board approved contract extensions for Schild and Baird, with salary to be determined at a later date, until 2027. The board also approved Dallas Thompson and Nathan Teichgraber to be hired for the Assistant Track coach positions. Parker Gates was hired as the High School Golf coach and Ashley Redecker as the Title I/Technology teacher. The board also accepted Shannon McGrath’s verbal resignation that was given to the administration.
The next meeting of the USD 386 Board of Education will be held on Monday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
