USD 320’s annual audit came out clean. At Monday’s Board of Education meeting, Agler & Gaeddert’s Harold Mayes presented the final audit report to the Board for year end June 2012. Mayes said it was a clean audit with an unqualified opinion. The audit is performed according to the Kansas Municipal Audit Guide, and USD 320 is in compliance with Kansas Statutes. According to the report, there was no material weakness or deficiencies.
In other business, the Board approved a revised K-12 Mathematics Curriculum, which according to Director of Curriculum Dr. Mary Kaye Siebert , hasn’t been updated since 2005. A committee was formed to work on this revision that began in the fall of 2010, and was brought about by the adoption of the new Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards for math, formerly called Common Core State Standards.
USD 320’s 2012 -2013 budget had to be amended. At Monday’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Denise O’Dea said after the state audit, the enrollment numbers reflected an increase, requiring the need to republish the budget for the year. The proposed amended budget is over $9,255,000. and increase of over $264,000. O’Dea said by republishing the amended budget, the District will be able to capture the difference between the two budgets.
In other business, the Board authorized the hiring of a full-time ESOL Coordinator/Teacher for the 2013-14 school year. (ESOL is English Speakers of Other Languages). The Board also approved the addition of an new elective music class for the 11th and 12th grade students.
And, approval was given to hire another elementary school counselor. According to Central and West Elementary Principals, the increased enrollment and the increased social and emotional needs of the youngest students in the district are not been met.
USD 320’s Board of Education approved a purchase and will consider another. At Monday’s meeting, Building and Maintenance Director Jon Stoddard presented his low bid proposal for replacing the 170 ton chiller at the Middle School. He reminded the board the issue has been on the agenda since January, and a bid from Central Mechanical was approved in the amount of over 1-hundred 33-thousand dollars, with the addition of an 8-thousand dollar extended warranty to go thru the 5th year.
The Board wants more time to consider the proposal from Technology Director Anita Statts and Network Administrator Mark Ten Eyk on the prioritized list of technology needs for the District. The board asked Superintendent O’Dea to schedule a special meeting to discuss this, and the Wamego High School Grading Policy that has been in the hands of a special committee since December. The committee was ready to present their 31-page report and summary recommendations at this meeting. No meeting date has been set at this time.
