Staff Bulletin |December 13, 2018
Congratulations to Jill Lynch of Walnut Elementary. Jill is the Emporia Public Schools nominee for Master Teacher of the year. She was recognized on Wednesday afternoon at an assembly at Walnut.
Also, congratulations to Emporia Public Schools nominees for Kansas Teacher of the Year, Robert Ovsak (secondary nominee) and Shely Perez (elementary nominee). They were both honored at Emporia Middle School's assembly on Wednesday morning.
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District News

Approximately
500 of our middle and high school students are participating in the Seasonal Celebration.

Seasonal Celebration:
The Emporia Public Schools will present the 83rd annual Seasonal Celebration tonight December 13th in W.L. White Auditorium. The program will feature vocal and instrumental holiday music from around the world performed by students at Emporia Middle School and Emporia High School. The program tonight begins at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening one hour before the performance begins. Admission will be $3 at the door for school-age children and adults. Preschool children will be admitted free. For more information about the program, call Mary Herbert Education Center at 341-2200.

Skyward Transition: 
As a part of a long-term plan to make Skyward Financial/Human Resource software more secure and easier to use, some changes will be happening in the next few years. The first of those steps is a transition away from a locally hosted Skyward solution to a cloud based Skyward service. For more information please read the Skyward Transition Notification Letter.

Hopkins Awards:
During the fall of 2018, USD 253 staff members are invited to submit an application to the Hopkins Foundation to request funding for a NEW special classroom, area, organization, or group project that will benefit students. A total of up to $50,000 will be available to be distributed among the selected recipients for use during spring 2019. The deadline to apply is December 20, 2018. Applications are now available at each school.

Print your W-2:
Starting November 12, employees can elect to print out their own W-2 Wage and Tax Statements and 1095C Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage forms through Skyward's Employee Access.  Click here for instructions and additional information.  Click here for a tutorial.  Employees have until December 31 to make this selection.

Human Resources Reminder:
January 1, 2019 is the
deadline to submit resignation/retirement information to the Board of Education to receive the early notification incentive of $250.

Appointments:
Lily Stolfi
teacher aide, Logan Avenue

Tiffany Berry
paraeducator, Emporia Middle School

Carmen Woodling
teacher aide, Walnut

Pamela Dalby
paraeducator, 386 - Madison Elementary

Isaac Barillas
AVID tutor, Emporia High School

Juan Rios
teacher aide, Emporia High School

Haley Seaman
teacher aide, Maynard Early Childhood Center

Marah Chambers
paraeducator, 386 Madison High School

Shala Daniels
paraeducator, based out of MHEC

Raini Glades
paraeducator, based out of MHEC

Chelsea Britain
paraeducator, William Allen White

Alisha Henery
teacher intern, Emporia Middle School

Abby Williams
teacher intern, Riverside

Shelby Pedersen
teacher intern, Maynard Early Childhood Center

Edna Giesen
teacher intern, Village

Jennifer Whaley
teacher intern, Timmerman

Sarah Truluck
teacher intern, Logan Avenue

Joseph Pomatto
teacher intern, Emporia Middle School

Caitlin Hawk
August 2019 teacher - grade and location to be determined, Walnut

Rebecca Anderson
August 2019 grade 4, Walnut

Jennifer Sandoval
teacher intern, William Allen White

Emma Griem
August  2019 teacher - grade and location to be determined

Matthew Beans
teacher intern, Emporia High School

Elijah Schraad
teacher intern, Emporia High School

Henry Weiner
math/science, Flint Hills Learning Center

Kyle Corcoran
music, Village

Abbey Wiggins
August 2019 science, Emporia Middle School

Resignations:
Jeremy Bernhardt-Purdy
May 2019
strategist, Emporia Middle School

Carol Whittington
bus driver, transportation

Erin Goodwin
paraeducator, Logan Avenue

Katy Siguenza
secretary, Emporia High School

Nichole Holderby
paraeducator, Emporia High School

Christopher Hubbard
music, Riverside

Natalie Waters
paraeducator, Emporia High School

Patricia Del Alba
paraeducator, Maynard Early Childhood Center

Sadie Boline
paraeducator, Logan Avenue

Guillermina Rojas Benitez
bus driver, Transportation

Amalia Gonzalez
teacher aide, Maynard Early Childhood Center

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Board News:
Board Recognitions:
Walgreens Store # 11167 and store manager Chris Negrete were recognized for partnering with Communities in Schools at Logan Avenue to provide school supplies for students.

Board Approvals:
  • minutes from the November 14, 2018, board meeting
  • treasurer's report for Oct 2018
  • district fiscal payments for November
  • rescind Resolution No. 2019-6
  • request to declare a variety of items as district surplus (items include: old style football jerseys, volleyball bags, Chevy pickup, Seasonal Celebration carpet and technology equipment)
  • establish the EHS Jones Foundation Tuition Assistance Program in the amount of $25,000 beginning in the 2018-19 spring trimester
  • accept a $7,600 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation for EHS mental health first aid training
  • extend Superintendent Kevin Case's contract through June 30, 2020
  • support Logan Avenue and William Allen White Elementary to be redesign schools beginning with the 2019-20 school year
  • Emporia Middle School Enrollment Planning Guide for 2019-20 as submitted
Board Updates and Discussions:
HTK Architects updated the board on progress being made toward the facility needs assessment.  Currently, architects are finalizing the secured entrance project to be able to share plans with the board on January 9.  Additionally there are plans for a work session to be held in January to gather final board input and finalize the district needs assessment.

Dustin Avey, Managing Director with Piper Jaffray, presented a financial year end review of progress toward retiring district bonds and the remaining payments. Current bonds will be retired in 2021.

Kelly Bolin, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, provided recruitment updates which included viewing the new recruitment video and promotional items produced by the EHS AMPED class. The video and promo items are a part of the districts continued efforts to attract high quality staff. 

Ryan Karjala, Associate Executive Director of Assessments and Accountability, provided preliminary enrollment numbers for 2018-19 and a historical perspective on enrollment enrollment trends from the past several years for Emporia Public Schools. For additional details on student headcount and free or reduced lunch percentages please review the Enrollment Trends Report

Future Board Calendar Dates:
  • Wednesday, January 9, 2019, 7:00 p.m., Board Meeting, Mary Herbert Education Center
  • Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 5:30 p.m., BOE/StuCo Dinner/Meeting, Emporia High School
  • Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 7:00 p.m., Board Meeting, Emporia High School Library

Members of The Emporia Board of Education

  Emporia Public Schools
1700 W 7th Ave
Emporia, Kansas 66801