District board meeting recap Feb. 25

Grace Altenhofen, Editor-in-Chief
February 25, 2019

The following is a summary of the Feb. 25 SMSD Board of Education meeting. Board member Sara Goodburn was absent.

 

  • Adoption of agenda; approval of minutes from Feb. 11 regular meeting

 

  • Report by Superintendent Michael Fulton
    • SM South won the state academic decathlon competition
    • A team of five SMSD students placed second at a high school culinary competition
    • 12 SMSD students were named National Merit Finalists
    • The district will not have to adjust the school year to make up for snow days so far
    • Roesland Elementary Pre-K teacher Laura Newcomb and facilities coordinator Brenda Davis were named SMSD All Stars

 

  • Strategic Planning Update
    • The strategic planning committee has written a mission statement and objectives and will continue to work on a plan to meet those

 

  • Reports from Board Members
    • Deb Zila said the KSB Board of Directors has an upcoming meeting and that several candidates have come forward so far in the district’s search for in house legal counsel
    • Mary Sinclair said KASB advocates are still active in Topeka

 

  • Financial Report
    • Chief Financial Officer Russell Knapp discussed the ways in which the district is making up for the $1 million lost in federal funding for next year

 

  • Public Comments
    • Three parents and one student from Briarwood Elementary spoke about their school playground being covered with rubble from a construction project two years ago, and how there is no grass or usable playground space because the rubble still has not been removed

 

  • The SMSD communications team gave an ‘A Day In the Life’ presentation about what they do for the district

 

  • The board discussed the potential for a board policy committee, which would review revised policy and polish it before bringing it before the entire board. They also discussed what board committees will look like, as far as number of members and the appointment of a committee chair

 

  • Approval of consent agenda items

 

  • Approval of Revised Board Policy BB, which changes the voting boundaries for school board elections

 

  • Approval of district administrator contracts

 

  • Comments from Board
    • Patty Mach thanked the SM North Mission for receiving their newspaper once a month and thanked Ed Streich for his service to the district as a follow-up to his retirement announcement at the Feb. 11 board meeting
    • Heather Ousley recognized SMSD’s leadership in being environmentally friendly and thanked everyone on the strategic planning committee
    • Brad Stratton recognized that it has been one year since Dr. Fulton was asked to be SMSD’s new superintendent

 

  • The board dismissed to executive session to discuss litigation