Board Approvals:
  • minutes of March 9, 2022
  • fiscal payments
  • treasurer’s report for February 2022
  • Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) membership dues, legal assistance fund renewal fees, and the season pass for unlimited district registration to the KASB workshops and seminars for 2022-2023
  • donation of $7500 from the Hopkins Foundation to support Camp Hope
  • donation of $1,000 from the Emporia Community Foundation to the EHS Future Farmers of America to offset the cost of jackets
  • Stephanie Pope, Director of Budgets and Accounting as the temporary KPERS Designated Agent
  • job description, Fiscal and Human Resources bookkeeper/clerk
  • declare miscellaneous furniture items from Walnut Elementary as surplus
  • job description, student support specialist
  • purchase of proposed math resources for preschool, elementary, and secondary levels
  • Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Emporia Middle School Additions and Renovations from McCownGordon Construction for $16,021,814 and Build for the Future Executive Committee (BFEC) be allowed to apply funds for architectural and engineering costs, soft costs associated with the construction phase, and USD 253 furniture, fixtures, and equipment up to the Maximum Master Budget Value of $18,698,285.
  • bids from Navrat’s for Emporia High School special education classroom furniture, fixtures, and equipment
  • purchase of one route bus from Kansas Truck Equipment and one special education bus from Midwest Bus Sales
  • Resolution 2022-3 as submitted with the addendum to include a provision to sunset in two years from the effective date of the resolution
  • signing a one-year agreement with Brown & Brown/Hays Companies to provide Health Insurance Consulting services

Board Information/Updates:
Riverside Redesign:
Ms. Katie Adams, Interim Principal, and teaching staff from Riverside Elementary provided the board with updates on their Redesign progress. The group reviewed their goals and strategies for how those goals will be reached. The goals that Riverside staff are focusing on include increasing attendance and math scores, and decreasing behaviors. They also shared their independent plans of study and project-based learning highlights. The board was pleased with the Redesign progress and praised the team for their hard work and dedication. Click here to view the Redesign presentation.

Math Core Resource Adoption:
Administrators from the Teaching and Learning Department and members of the Math Curriculum Council presented math resources that are being recommended for the district to purchase for the 2022-2023 school year. The current district math resources no longer align to state standards and teachers are navigating their own resources to better align with the standards. The review process first began in December of 2021 and the team has followed an aggressive timeline to identify a new math curriculum for each academic level so that it could be in place for the 2022-2023 school year. Council members each presented the strengths and challenges of the proposed resources. At the conclusion of the presentation, the board voted to approve the proposed resources for preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. Click here to review the math resource adoption proposal.

McCownGordon Construction:
Mr. Eric Woltje, McCownGordon Senior Project manager provided an update on the district's construction projects. Highlights included the Jones Early Childhood Development Center which is wrapping up the playground installation and final kitchen furnishings. Additionally, the science wing at Emporia High School is nearing completion and the construction team is working on the final punch list of items to complete. At Logan Avenue, work is being done on the new addition and some additional work inside the building is needed due to asbestos that was found. The building is safe and a plan is in place for moving forward. Construction will begin at Emporia Middle School this June with an anticipated completion of December 2023. The board voted to approve the EMS Guaranteed Maximum Price which came in at $18,698,285 only 1.4% over the original projected budget.

Woltje also provided an update on the overall bond status which currently shows 94% or $73,615,834 of the master budget complete with a current savings of almost $500,000. With these savings, the district is in good shape in moving forward to complete the bond construction. Click here to review the construction update.

District staffing
Dr. Brad Kempf, Interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, provided a 2022-2023 district staffing update. Kempf reviewed how schools are staffed and also how full-time equivalencies and educational units are calculated. In continuation of efforts started in March of 2021, the district has worked to reduce EdUnits in order to right-size the district for the 2022-2023 enrollment. By doing so, every building is currently staffed as needed, and new teaching resignations can be posted for hire. This also allows the district to change the baseline EdUnits to include a second student support specialist at each elementary school. Click here to review the staffing update.

Future Board Calendar Dates:
  • Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 5:30 p.m., Enrollment Study Committee Meeting, Mary Herbert Education Center
  • Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 6:30 p.m., Board Meeting, Mary Herbert Education Center
  • Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 6:30 p.m., Board Meeting, Mary Herbert Education Center
  • Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 5:30 p.m., Staff Recognition, W.L. White Auditorium
  • Sunday, May 22, 2022, 3:00 p.m., Emporia High School Graduation, W.L. White Auditorium