By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
LA CYGNE – With negotiations all but wrapped up with the certified teaching staff, the Prairie View USD 362 Board of Education was asked to consider a 3% raise for district administrators and directors and a 3.5% raise for classified staff like aides, secretaries and maintenance staff.
At the board’s July meeting on Tuesday, July 9, Superintendent Chris Johnson pointed out to the board that the 3.5% increase was the equivalent percent increase offered to the teachers during their negotiations.
Tamala Snyder, teacher association president, while the board members were in a closed-door session to discuss personnel matters, said that she had received most of the votes from teachers. She added that she was confident that the certified staff agreed to the contract for the 2024-25 school year.
Johnson told the board that the 3% administrative salary raise would cost the district close to an additional $32,000 for the 2024-25 school year over the salaries for the 2022-23 school year.
The board unanimously approved the 3.5% raise for the classified staff but balked on the increase for administrators and directors on a 3-3 vote. Board member Brian Lueker wasn’t in attendance, and his vote would have decided the issue.
Board member Wade Teagarden suggested that the administrators’ salaries be placed on the agenda for the August board meeting, and a motion to do so passed unanimously. The board gave no public indication to a reason for the split vote.
The board also approved a resolution to notify Linn and Miami County clerks that the district would exceed the state’s revenue neutral rate on the budget, even though the budget has not been fully prepared. However, the Prairie View school district, like most districts in the state, has exceeded the revenue neutral rate since the Kansas Legislature passed the legislation four years ago.
The board approved hearings for exceeding the revenue neutral rate at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 and a regular budget hearing a 6:45 p.m. that same evening.
Johnson and district budget manager Kylee Capp were expected to meet with Kansas State Board of Education (KSDE) officials the day after the meeting to work on the 2024-25 budget.
The board received an update on the new daycare center and agreed with Johnson’s suggestion to call it “Little Buffs Daycare.” Johnson said that daycare director Bonnie Hobson, who was hired at the June meeting, was working to get most of the necessary supplies purchased and staff hired.
She said that some of the construction costs of converting to former bus barn in La Cygne to a daycare center were coming in with amounts less than expected, the renovations would likely be less costly than expected. However, she said state regulations required a teacher-to-pupil ratio of 1 to 12.
Johnson also said that Osawatomie USD 367 had not used all of its funds from United Way of Miami and Linn counties, and those excess funds would be applied to the Prairie View project. The daycare facility is expected to be completed just in time for school to start on Aug. 15.
Also on the agenda were items that are renewed annually such as establishing petty cash amounts for each of the schools for the coming school year, that the school term would be 1,116 hours, and that the school board meetings would be held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the district office.
The board approved the following fees:
Preschool: $20 monthly fee (September through May), $25 enrollment fee, $30 snack fee.
K-5 Elementary textbooks fee: $35
Kindergarten: $35 snack fee
Middle school textbook fee: $40
High school textbook fee: $50 with family cap of $110 districtwide
Agricultural materials fee: $20
Industrial tech fee: $15
FFA fee: $12
Class dues: $10
Tech fee: $30
Drivers education fee: $240
The board also:
Reached a consensus to allow Peoples Telecommunications to post a sign supporting Prairie View athletics for a $300 donation.
Approved staff handbooks for classified and certified staffs. The certified staff handbook was amended to include language that would let teachers know that the district would withhold a teacher's salary if their license was suspended because of failure to accumulate professional development points.
Approved a district Professional Development Plan required by KSDE.
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