Open house for new school to feature speakers, HHS band
The finishing touches are being made to the new Holton Elementary School now in preparation for the upcoming ribbon-cutting and public open house set for 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, it has been announced.
Activities that day will start with a welcome to the public and the playing of the National Anthem by the Holton High School Band.
Speakers that day will include Allen Arnold (school board president), Bob Dieckmann (mayor of Holton), Beth Smith (Holton Elementary School principal), Greg Porter (architect with the Hollis and Miller firm) and Mike Feamster or Jeff Bennet (representatives of Nabholz Construction).
Following the playing of the Holton School Song by the HHS band, school officials will cut a ceremonial ribbon and open the school for the public open house.
Dennis Stones, superintendent of schools for Holton USD 336, who has directed the construction of the new school, has announced that he will be stepping down as superintendent at the end of the school term, after three years of employment here.
Stones, who will be 64 in the spring, will be wrapping up 40 years working in public education.
In his letter of resignation to the board, Stones said he has really enjoyed working for the district and with “some excellent colleagues.’’
Stones was also a longtime school superintendent for the Sabetha school district.
In other business, the school board:
*Noted the absence of board members Mike Ford and Allen Arnold.
*Approved Hailey Mattox, as deputy board clerk, to record meeting minutes until board clerk Dee Folk’s arrival to the meeting a little later.
*Approved bills totaling $435,743.49 and payroll totaling $1,144,157.28.
*Accepted the following resignations – Kaylee (Mick) Wilson, assistant softball coach; Louise Tanking, special education para at the elementary; Jaimie Leis, special ed para at Royal Valley elementary; and Juan Sanchez, custodian at the high school.
*Announced the following new hires - Christi Boswell, HMS assistant volleyball coach; Mollie Mulanax, special ed para at Royal Valley elementary; Trish Wagner, para at Holton elementary; Joe Purcell, assistant boys basketball coach at HMS; Travis Henry, assistant boys basketball coach at HMS; Stacia Baer, seventh grade Scholars Bowl coach at HMS; Kurt Haussler, assistant boys golf coach at HHS; and Cullen Jackson, head wrestling coach at HMS.
*Approved the following employee transfer - Patricia McAlexander, para at Holton elementary to registrar secretary there; and Susan Woltje, elementary para at Holton elementary to special education para there.
*Approved the following donation - Academy Sports of Topeka and the Holton Boys Basketball program donated Spalding intermediate basketballs to the Holton elementary physical education program.
*Heard from HMS Principal Michael Kimberlin that students there had raised more than $17,300 in cookie dough sales this year and that those students would be rewarded with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to tour the facilities and take part in health, nutrition and fitness activities there.
*Learned from Stones that the district is developing a suicide prevention plan as mandated by the Jason Flatt Act. All school staff – including non-teacher staff – must complete specified training by Jan. 1, 2017, he said.
*Learned from Stones that soil samples have been taken at the HHS football field for analysis by KC Royals groundskeeper Trevor Vance.
*Approved the bid of $8,500 from Kidwell Painting of Topeka for work involved in painting of the inside of the HHS auditorium over the winter break. Sterbenz & Co. of Topeka bid $18,550 for the work.
*Approved the bid of $24,700 from Sterbenz & Co. for work related to painting the old fair building. Kidwell’s Painting bid $35,000 for the job.
*Discussed the old Central Elementary School that is now vacant. Stones says he is not having much luck in finding local interest to purchase the school building and grounds. It was decided to list it with a realtor.
Later, Stones reported that the cost to demolish the old Colorado school building had been $150,000 with a significant amount of that total related to asbestos discovery and removal at the building site. The cost would be less to demolish the old part of the Central school since the blueprints for both building had been identical, Stones said.
*Continued discussion about having a surplus school equipment auction sometime next month possibly.
*Approved the following school trip requests – High School Southern Plains Marching Band Festival on Oct. 26; High School Honors band students to NEKMEA District Honor Band auditions on Nov. 12; High School Honors Band to Emporia State University on Nov. 19; and middle school bus trip to Arrowhead Stadium.
*Discussed new KSHSAAclassification proposals with Rod Wittmer, HHS principal and a member of the KSHSAA committee studying the issue. More details about the proposal will be reported later.
*Learned from Stones that student headcount is up two students from last year but full-time equivalency (FTE) student totals are down about four students.
*Approved new school curriculum guidelines after hearing a report on school curriculum guidelines from Assistant Superintendent and Curriculum Director Joe Kelly.
Kelly presented the new English Language Arts curriculum that the curriculum development team has put together and reviewed the process about how it was developed.
He also presented some state assessment results from last year – in language arts, 80.96 percent of Holton students tested at or above grade level compared to 76.65 percent statewide, he said.
In math, 83.47 percent of Holton students tested at or above grade level compared to 73.65 percent statewide, he said.
In writing, 61 percent of Holton students tested at or above grade level compared the 51.09 percent statewide, he said.
*Discussed scheduling issues with high school parent-teacher conferences involving practice times for fall sports teams. After much discussion, it was decided that fall sports teams will do their normal practice from 3:30 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. and join parent-teacher conferences by 6 p.m.
*Noted that board member Rex Frazier will attend the Kansas Association of School Boards Conference on Dec. 2-4 at Wichita.
*Discussed district school bus policy and afterwards approved a policy that children not enrolled in the school district will not be transported in any school vehicle or bus without prior approval from the school board.
Stones reported that a staff member had requested to have an infant grandchild (less than three-years-old and not yet eligible to be a pre-school student) ride a school bus with them during their regular bus routes daily. Stones said he visited with the district’s insurance provider and the district’s KASB attorney about the request and both said it was not a good idea due to liability concerns.
*Was reminded that the Kansas Teacher of the Year Dinner will be held Nov. 19 at Wichita.
*Approved a motion to enter into execution session at 8:15 p.m. for 20 minutes with Stones and Kelly to “protect the interests of the individual(s).’’
*Upon returning to open session at 8:35 p.m., approved a motion to re-enter executive session for 25 minutes with Stones and Kelly to “protect the interests of the individual(s).’’
*Upon returning to open session, the school board made a statement reaffirming that benefits in the negotiated agreement concerning coverage for retired certified staff are effective through the age of 65.
*Adjourned the meeting at 9:01 p.m.
