Tea Area School District board approves construction timeline, modest meal-price increases and multiple annual items

The Tea Area School District 41-5 board on Monday approved a series of routine annual items and heard a detailed construction and operations update for the new high school and other district projects.

Board members voted to approve contractor bids and surplus items, authorized administrative signatures and routine designations for the coming year, and accepted recommended adjustments to student meal prices, substitute pay and student fees.

The construction and operations report given to the board described steady progress at the high school and expected temporary-occupancy dates. Most areas of the building are targeted for temporary occupancy by Aug. 1, with the performing arts “pack” area following by Aug. 11, the board was told. Facilities staff said furniture may be moved into spaces before full occupancy is granted, but normal operations (classes, phone-based operations, onboarding in those spaces) must wait until an occupancy certificate is issued.

The district also took delivery of two new 77-passenger propane buses and reported that site, roofing and mechanical work continues across campuses. Administrators told the board the south-end ice system still awaits final work on storage tanks; chillers are running but ice-making was not yet operating.

On finance and purchasing: the board approved a motion allowing the business manager to make inter-fund transfers and to post unbudgeted revenue as needed so accounts show valid balances in the accounting system. The board also approved an authorization for the business manager to pay invoices between regular board meetings when necessary.

The board approved two surplus actions: a Perkins-funded lab plasma table deemed beyond repair and a 2012 bus (the administration reported an offer of $5,000 from Madison for a previously serviced bus). Board members voted to award a reroofing bid for Legacy and DTC to Guaranteed Group at a reported low bid of $229,720; they were also told an older part of the building lacks sufficient insulation and that additional insulation work will be required to raise that area’s R-value. The board approved a separate bid from a company identified in the packet as “305 Company” for $125,000 for another backlog capital project.

On school meals, the board approved modest price increases for the 2025–26 school year after hearing that meal costs have risen since the district last adjusted prices in 2019–20. The approved changes include a proposed 50¢ increase to paid breakfast (the administration said a phased 25¢/25¢ option was possible) and increases to paid lunches (about 15¢ for elementary and middle school lunches and 20¢ for high school lunches). The board also approved a 25¢ increase for extra entrée items; extra milk prices were left unchanged. The administration reported that district breakfast participation is low (roughly 100–150 breakfasts districtwide), and that unpaid meal balances at the end of the last fiscal year were on the order of tens of thousands of dollars (the administration estimated between $20,000 and $30,000 but described that figure as not finalized). Board members asked that the finance committee look at strategies for addressing unpaid lunch debt and increasing Free and Reduced Price Meal application completion.

Personnel and routine annual business: the board took the oath of office for a returning member and elected its officers: Jason Bennett as president and Jay Ryan as vice president. The board approved committee and representative appointments for the 2025–26 year, designated the official newspaper and banking signatories, and approved the administration’s annual list of standard designations (purchasing agents, program administrators, mileage and per-diem rates, bonding, and similar items).

The board approved a consolidation of several federal grant applications (to be amended later if Title II funds become available), the special-education comprehensive plan, and an emergency plan (noted as a protected security document). The board also approved renewal of the Head Start lease at the current rate (no change from prior year), accepted resignations (including Amanda Trelorf, who resigned after 13 years of service) and approved new hires presented by the administration.

Policy and first readings: the board approved second readings and adoption of policies KG (school facilities) and AE (wellness) as presented. The board also reviewed several first-reading policy updates prompted by recent state legislation and Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) guidance. Those first-reading items included revisions to background-check policies for staff, volunteers and contractor employees (including a forthcoming separate policy on volunteer/contractor background checks), updates to school-board election timing to reflect codified law changes, and changes to dropout/withdrawal language reflecting a state law change that lowers the official withdrawal age from 18 to 17.

Other operational items approved included an increase in substitute-teacher rates (the board approved a market adjustment setting the daily substitute rate at $165 per day and $185 per day for long-term assignments of 15 consecutive days or more), and student fees: the board approved a $5 annual fee for students in junior kindergarten through grade 5 to help offset purchase of higher-quality headphones with microphones (to be assigned to students and replaced as needed using fee funds).

Votes at a glance: the board approved the consent agenda, budget-supplement authority for the business manager, surplus declarations, roof bid awards and the $125,000 bid referenced in meeting materials, authorization for the business manager to pay invoices between meetings, second reading/adoption of KG and AE, meal-price changes for 2025–26, admission pricing (with veterans and seniors allowed free entry to activities), board compensation at $60 per meeting, substitute pay increases, committee appointments, the consolidated federal application, the special-education plan, the emergency plan, the Head Start lease renewal, student fees, and the district’s SDHSAA runoff vote as cast for Ryan Rollinger. Where motions were unanimous the board recorded “all in favor” and no opposed votes were announced on the record.

The board discussed next steps for several items (finance committee review of unpaid meal debt, implementation timelines for the construction temporary-occupancy process, and administrative follow-up on Title II grant availability) and set the regular meeting dates for the coming year.

Minor clarifications from the meeting: the roof low bid cited was $229,720; the 305-company bid discussed was $125,000; the lab table was purchased originally with Perkins funds; the administration reported an offer of $5,000 from Madison for the district’s previously serviced 2012 bus; temporary occupancy targets were Aug. 1 (most areas) and Aug. 11 (pack area); two new 77-passenger propane buses were delivered during the summer.