Board of Education Meeting Recap January 9

The USD 457 Board of Education met Monday, January 9 during a regularly scheduled meeting.  The meeting was held in the Educational Support Center Board Room, 1205 Fleming Street.

January is School Board Recognition Month and Garden City Public Schools is joining other school districts across the state to acknowledge the important contributions local school board members make to their communities.  School Board Recognition Month recognizes that the elected board represents a continuing commitment to local citizen control and decision-making in education.  As citizen leaders who serve our children, individual school board members face complex and demanding challenges.  School board members must develop policies and make tough decisions on educational issues, which impact the entire community.  The board members were presented certificates of recognition.  The Garden City Public Schools Board of Education members include: Andy Fahrmeier, Jackie Gigot, Dana Nanninga, Randy Ralston, Mark Rude, Jennifer Standley, and John Wiese.

The board received an update on Educator Rising from Janette Turpin, GCHS FACS instructor. Educators Rising is a community-based movement that provides Grow Your Own programming through the Educators Rising Curriculum and supporting student activities.

David DeLoach, Principal at Gertrude Walker and his 2nd grade team, discussed their Wildly Important Goals (WIG) at their school.  The goals are helping them to increase literacy across all content areas.

The board approved the proposed student internship program for the district. They discussed and approved the proposed storage building at the district’s Service Center. They also approved the Compensation Study for the district. They approved a Resolution to Extend Term of Board Officers and a Resolution to Set Board Meeting Dates and Times.

Glenda LaBarbera, Deputy Superintendent, presented the five-year strategic plan. This was the first presentation and was not voted on at the meeting.  The board will bring it up again at the next meeting for a vote.

The board voted down the additional structural engineering expense associated with the ESCO project.  They will get more information about the project and take it up at another meeting.

The board approved the following items during the meeting.  They include: the minutes to the December 15, 2022 Board of Education Meeting, scheduling Board Meeting dates for July 10 and 24, 2023, Electric Dishwasher for the Nutrition Department for the bid of $28,670.00 from Central Restaurant Supply, textbook adoption for ELA-Phonics: UFIL Foundations, Consideration and rejection of the Transitional Plan prepared by Burns/Van Fleet Consulting, LLC, and granting permission for counsel to reach out to Burns/Van Fleet Consulting, LLC.

The board held an executive session at the end of the meeting.  The executive session was for personnel matters for non-elected personnel.  No action was taken at the end of the executive sessions.

The next meeting of the Board of Education will be Monday, February 6, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. in the Educational Support Center Board Room, 1205 Fleming Street.

The agenda to the meeting can be viewed here.

The meeting can be watched here.