Staff Bulletin | October 12, 2017
District News

Important Reminders

* Open enrollment continues for the 2018 health and dental insurance plans for district employees. There will be minor adjustments in premiums for the district's health and dental plans through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, while monthly premiums for vision insurance will remain the same. Building secretaries have set up appointment dates and times for employees to enroll. Click here for more information. If you have questions, please contact Melissa Vogts at 341-2226 between 8 am and 1 pm weekdays or melissa.vogts@usd253.net. Open enrollment ends November 1.

* The Community-Wide Drive for Student Needs continues through October 30. People are encouraged to donate new or gently used clothing of all kinds from toddler to adult sizes. Hygiene products, bedding and towels are also welcomed. Donation boxes are currently at Dillons, the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce, Emporia Gazette, both Emporia State Federal Credit Union branches, Good's Cash Saver, Flinthills Mall and KVOE. Birch Communications, Detroit Diesel, Hill's Pet Nutrition and Simmons Pet Food are holding drives to enhance the effort. If you have questions, contact Heather Wagner at 341-2392 or heather.wagner@usd253.net.

Emporia Board of Education

Personnel Report

Appointments

Davetta Breland
Paraeducator, Americus Elementary

Grant Nutter
Teacher Aide, Emporia Middle School

Brandi Smith
AVID Tutor, Emporia Middle School

Andrea Jackson
Paraeducator, Emporia Middle School

Kylee Giffin
Teacher Aide, Flint Hills Learning Center

Nicole Ruiz
Paraeducator, Village Elementary

Casey Doyle
Head Bowling Coach, Emporia High

Rachel Rios
Paraeducator, William Allen White Elementary

Beatrice Delgado
Custodian, Riverside Elementary

Janet Maltby
Paraeducator, Madison Elementary

Dana Cain
Paraeducator, Reading Elementary 

Gloria Jurado
Teacher Aide, Village Elementary

Resignations

Geneva Lawrence-Parks
Paraeducator, Emporia Middle School

Jose Ruiz
Custodian, Emporia Middle School

Theresa Klausmeyer
Paraeducator, Emporia High

Tonya Smith
Bus driver, Transportation

Retirements

Geralyn Strait
Secretary, Food Service

Janelle Miller
Special Education Coordinator, USD 252 Southern Lyon County

Kim Kirk
Principal, Timmerman Elementary

Karen Yeager
Payroll Clerk/KPERS Designated Agent, Mary Herbert

Mary Beth Tabares
Early Childhood Special Education, Maynard Early Childhood Center

Jeannie Jenkins
Instructional Strategist, Logan Avenue Elementary

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1700 W 7th Ave
Emporia, Kansas 66801

Moments

#HoCo17 Royalty


EHS Homecoming royalty for 2017 includes Emma Fornelli as Homecoming Queen and Justin Cerritos and Aaron Pierce as Homecoming Kings after a tied vote. Homecoming festivities culminated October 7 with the annual dance. 

Helping Hands
The Salvation Army food pantry filled up last week as part of KVOE's annual Drive for Food, and Emporia schools played a vital role in the event's success. Students and staff from Maynard Early Childhood Center, Logan Avenue, Riverside, Timmerman and Mary Herbert donated over 7,000 nonperishable food items, nearly a quarter of the total of 31,000 items generated by the Emporia community.

Student Spotlight
Both the Emporia Gazette and KVOE recently featured Hayden Dobbs, a second-grader at William Allen White who greets staff and students at the school every morning and has sparked other students at the school to follow his lead.


Hitting All the Right Notes
The Spartan Pride Marching Band received a Superior rating for its performance during the annual Emporia State University Marching Band Festival on October 4. The drumline also was honored as best drumline in the competition.

Rolling On
The Get Your Motor Running Run, Walk or Roll 5K raised over $1,600 for the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative Occupational and Physical Therapies on October 7.
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Board Business

The Board of Education congratulated  Maynard Early Childhood Center teacher Laura Evins and Emporia Middle School teacher Christy Dragonas for being the district's 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year nominees. Evins and Dragonas were honored for providing differentiated learning experiences and warm environments for their students while also taking leadership roles in their schools. Evins has been teaching at Maynard since 2005. Dragonas has been at Emporia Middle School since 2011 and has been a teacher with USD 253 since 1995.

Also, the board:
  • Received an update from Assistant Superintendent for Business Operations Rob Scheib on the Kansas Supreme Court's recent decision on the Gannon v. State of Kansas school funding lawsuit. The court said changes by lawmakers earlier this year did not provide adequate funding to public schools and gave legislators until June 30, 2018 to make adjustments. 
  • Approved fiscal payments.
  • Approved the August 2017 treasurer's report.
  • Approved 2017-18 site council memberships.
  • Approved an application for the Environmental Protection Agency's 2017 Clean Diesel Rebate Program.
  • Approved a $4,000 Working Here Fund grant from Frontier Farm Credit to the Emporia High School FFA program. 
  • Approved a grant application from traveling gifted staff to purchase Dash and Dot robot equipment and an iPad Air.
  • Approved a donation of 1,000 red brick bell pedestal pavers from the Emporia High Class of 1962 to Emporia High School. A five-foot brick patio will be installed to surround the bell pedestal. Materials and labor costs are covered by the Class of 1962.
  • Approved the purchase of four 10-passenger transit vehicles from John North Ford at a cost of $111,784. The vehicles will replace four high-mileage large SUVs.
  • Received a report from Superintendent Kevin Case who highlighted important information about technology and Internet access for students after attending the Technology and Learning Leadership Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.
In Addition

* The EMPAC employee portal is now available. EMPAC is an employee benefit that provides health and wellness consultations, counseling, money management, legal assistance and more to staff at no charge. Click here for the link. The member login is EPS.