Geary County Schools board approves landscaping, staffing and insurance items; receives academic and special-education reports

Geary County Schools Board of Education members voted unanimously on multiple consent and action items and spent the bulk of the meeting receiving reports on district assessment, special education, attendance and discipline.

The board approved a landscaping package for the new Early Childhood Center, formalized a title change for an existing teacher position to “instructional coach/teacher,” added a team-leader stipend for the Early Childhood Center, approved personnel and administrator contracts, and renewed the district health insurance plan for the 2025–26 plan year. Most motions passed on voice votes or unanimous roll call votes.

Why it matters: the landscaping vote finalizes how the new Early Childhood Center campus will be finished for opening, the staffing and contract votes update personnel arrangements ahead of the coming school year, and the health-plan renewal fixes employer and employee costs the district will carry next year. The reports the board heard show modest district academic gains and ongoing pressures in special education and student behavior that district leaders say will require continued programmatic work.

Votes at a glance - Approve Early Childhood Center landscaping package (motion as presented): motion moved and…