The Prairie Hills USD No. 113 Board of Education (BOE) met at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, at the district office in Sabetha. Board members present were Kathy Lippert, Leslie Scoby, Jim Scoby, Kent Saylor, Phillip Buessing and Stan Keim.

Doug Renyer of Wetmore spoke to the BOE about his application for the vacant No. 4 interim position on the board. This position became available when Anissa Bloom resigned from the board in March. The board members voted all in favor to accept Renyer for the No. 4 position until Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. After citing the school board oath of office, Renyer joined the board members for the remainder of the meeting.

The board adopted the agenda as amended.

The board received written reports from building administrators Nathan Bauman, Andrew Lillie, Matt Garber and Gay Frazee, as well as Director of Student Learning Lisa Suhr.

Superintendent Todd Evans presented Suhr’s Director’s report to the board since Suhr was absent during the meeting. He talked about Kansas Communities That Care survey results.

The board approved the consent agenda as amended, including the following: minutes from the Aug. 14 special board meeting; minutes from the Aug. 14 regular board meeting; minutes from the Sept. 5 special board meeting; approve financials; September bills for the amount of $1,923,809.44; August payroll for the amount of $476,099.40; move Axtell P/T conferences from Feb. 5, 2024, to Feb. 8, 2024, 5 to 8 p.m.; accept a donation from Healthworks for the Sabetha High School (SHS) HOSA Group; accept donations from Sabetha Booster Club for $695 and $3,656.51; accept donation of $8,080 from Kent and Donna Saylor for Sabetha Elementary School (SES) signage; accept a donation of $150 for student lunches from the Salvation Army; accept a $2,000 donation from Bert’s Express for softball; accept Sabetha Music Boosters donation for SES whiteboard; approve CW Fit agreement; approve Site Councils; permission to sell a Thomas 2003, 53-passenger diesel bus – approximately 188,306 miles and a 2006 Suburban with approximately 153,386 miles; contract with Penn Bachelor as part-time SES Instructional Support Staff; and accept donation for $6,285.38 from GMCF SHS FFA & IA Support Fund.

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Evans talked to the board briefly about selling two district vehicles.

Strategic Plan

Evans presented the USD 113 Strategic Plan for 2022 to 2025 to the board members and talked about changes that were made to the plan. Saylor requested to change the plan’s name from Strategic Improvement Plan to Strategic Educational Plan. The board was in favor of this change.

The BOE members approved the Strategic Educational Plan for 2022-25 with all in favor.

Axtell Gym Lights

Axtell Public School (APS) principal Frazee talked to the board members about the lighting issues happening in the APS varsity gym. Evans presented a bid for $7,979.04 to install new light fixtures and LED light bulbs in the gym. The board approved this bid, 7-0.

SHS Biology Room

Evans presented an agreement for professional services from Civium to remodel the SHS biology room. Basic services proposed would be $9,500. The board approved the agreement with all in favor. This project is to be paid for through the USD 113 Foundation’s endowed Science and Business Fund.

Acoustic Panels

Evans presented the board with a proposal from AHRS to furnish and install acoustic sound panels in the SES music room. The total cost of the project would be $14,360, to be paid for through the USD 113 Foundation’s endowed Sabetha Fine Arts Fund. The board members approved this project with all in favor.

Also at the meeting:

Superintendent Evans and the board members discussed a new open enrollment policy issued by the State. No action was taken on this agenda item. This topic will return at the next BOE meeting in October.

Board members went into a 30-minute executive session for attorney consultation for the district, which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship. After the first 30 minutes, the board members went back into executive session for 20 more minutes. Present for the executive session were the board members, Superintendent Evans and Board Attorney Martin Mishler. Following the executive session, the BOE voted 7-0 to publish a letter providing information about the land transfer.

To view the Superintendent’s Report on the meeting, visit https://screenpal.com/watch/c0QlDpVC04J.

To view the meeting on YouTube, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6h2flQU6Jg.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 9.