Alva school board approves consent agenda, personnel hires and temporary budget to cover summer payments

The Alva Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve its consent agenda and a series of routine fiscal and personnel actions during a regular meeting. Board members present approved financial reports, activity and child nutrition reports, purchase orders, and surplus declarations, and they authorized temporary appropriations to cover payments between July and October.

Board finance presenter Mister Shears summarized the district’s cash and investment positions during the financial report. He told the board that Fund 81 (gift fund) had shown $372,724.83 earlier in the year and that the district received a $30,000 gift from Outstate Bank in December earmarked for the fine arts project; he reported the Fund 81 balance at $356,173 in the December snapshot. Shears said year-to-date general fund tax collections were $17,510,230 and that April collections were $806,085 (roughly $82,621 higher than April 2024). He noted some one-time deposits — including approximately $400,000 tied to last year’s teacher pay increase and roughly $183,000 for a school security grant — and said those items skew the year-over-year comparison. Investment yields reported were in the mid-4% to mid-5% range and the district reported roughly $9.97 million invested across operating funds.

Shears reviewed several purchase orders approved under the consent agenda, including technology and classroom purchases, repairs to lease-returned buses, a laser engraver for STEM, a PA-system upgrade at the high school, curriculum purchases (Dave Ramsey financial literacy materials), and CareerTech-supported appliances for family and consumer science. The board also received routine activity fund summaries showing spring fundraisers (baseball and FFA deposits listed) and a child nutrition update that the district served 1,125 more breakfasts and 2,574 more lunches in April than in the prior reference period; Shears said about $15,000 in lunch charges remained outstanding.

On budget timing, the board approved temporary appropriations based on a recommendation from Pat Carroll (Carroll & Associates) estimating 90% of current-year appropriations. The recommended temporary appropriations for 2025–26 were: general fund $14,806,788; building fund $3,875,741; bond/building fund (billing fund) $601,008; child nutrition $601,008 (as noted in the presenter’s spreadsheet); and $300,000 in the gift fund. Approval of temporary appropriations allows the district to write checks and pay bills from July through the date the district files final appropriations with the county excise board (generally in September–October).

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve consent agenda items 3.1–3.11 (minutes, financials, purchase orders, extra duty assignments, activity fund reports, child nutrition report, policies and surplus): approved by roll call (McDermott: yes; Kane: yes; Hanson: yes; Barton: yes). Singleton was absent. - Motion to offer one-year temporary teaching contracts to Madeline Rankin (Washington) and Delaney Lambert (middle school): approved (roll call includes Hanson: yes; Payne: yes; McDermott: yes; Barton: yes; Kane: yes). - Motion to approve the list of certified teachers on Exhibit A (prehire recommendations) and Exhibit B (temporary contracts): approved (roll calls recorded as yes votes). - Motion to appoint support/noncertified personnel listed on Exhibit C: approved (roll call yes votes). - Motion to approve temporary appropriations (amounts above): approved (roll call yes votes). - Motion to approve summer programming instructors and special education extended-school-year staff (items 5.6.1 and 5.6.2): approved (roll call yes votes). - Motion to approve renewal contracts and membership services (TLE evaluation system subscription, Pat Carroll services, S and B CPAs/audit, State School Boards Association memberships, student information/accounting hosting): approved. - Motion to approve the E-Rate resolution and file Form 471 for 2025–26 internet/services: approved. - Motion to approve district youth camps list and associated summer programs (5.9): approved. - Motion to authorize a district school bus for Northwest Technology Center’s medical exploratory MASH camp May 20–22: approved. - Motion to approve out-of-state travel for the high school track team’s competition: approved.

The meeting record shows the votes were conducted by roll call and recorded as affirmative for the items above; the transcript lists board members answering individually (McDermott, Kane, Hanson, Barton, Payne appear in roll-call prompts across motions). Where the transcript did not name a mover or seconder, the board chair called for motions and second and proceeded to roll-call votes.

The board also accepted several employee resignations (listed in the personnel packet) and approved recommended reassignments and hires shown on the exhibits.

The board will sign documents approved earlier in the meeting at the district office. No additional new-business items were brought forward, and the meeting was adjourned.

(See “Votes at a glance” above for specific agenda-item references and outcomes.)