Poteau board approves temporary appropriations, multiple contracts, land lease, trips, surplus and personnel actions

At its meeting the Poteau School District Board approved a series of routine but substantive items: temporary appropriations for fiscal 2025–26, multiple contracts and service agreements, a public land lease bid, activity fundraisers and out-of-state student trips, surplus property lists, and several personnel actions and re-employments.

Temporary appropriations The board approved temporary appropriations for the general fund, the building fund and the child nutrition fund to provide budget authority through the summer months until final state and federal allocations arrive (the board indicated the district typically receives state aid in September). The motion to approve the temporary appropriations passed by roll call.

Contracts and agreements Board members approved a slate of annual contracts and vendor agreements, including drug-testing services for bus drivers and students, Department of Rehabilitation Services transition-to-work arrangements for special education, KTC-related services (math/science and transportation), and an EOMC telemedicine-services agreement. The board also approved continued use of the Syllogist student information system (SIS).

District staff noted Syllogist’s annual charge increased from $42,006.52 in the prior year to approximately $46,052 this year (a roughly 7% increase). District staff told the board this increase reflects the addition of an electronic purchasing-requisition module that will allow site staff to enter requisitions online, route them to site principals for approval, and then to central-office encumbrance staff for coding and conversion to purchase orders; staff said the system will provide transparency about requisition status and permit electronic uploads of quotes and reports.

Public land lease The board accepted the high bid to lease a parcel the district purchased last summer (the acreage currently near FFA facilities). The successful bidder identified in the minutes was Travis Clam; the board recorded the accepted lease rate as $312 per year. The lease allows the bidder to hay the property for cattle grazing and assigns maintenance responsibility to the lessee, rather than leaving the lot unmowed.

Student fundraisers and trips The board approved activity fundraisers for the 2024–25 fiscal year, including a wrestling one-day dual camp. The board also approved two out-of-state trips: a high-school journalism visit to a heritage photography processing lab in Van Buren and a summer-school trip to Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Surplus property The board approved several surplus lists. Principals had weeded library collections and listed damaged or outdated books; the upper elementary also listed surplus furniture. The high-school wrestling program put mats on the surplus list as the district ordered replacements. The transportation department listed a Chevy Malibu for surplus and potential trade-in toward a new Kia vehicle.

Personnel and re-employment The board approved a package of resignations and new hires set out in attachments to the meeting packet. Names recorded in the public motion included newly approved hires and re-employments such as Belinda Westfall (high school English), Kathleen Manlove (third grade), Haley Stone (fifth grade ELA), Felicia McKenzie (sixth grade ELA), Miranda Holly (library/intro to media), Mike Bunch (PHS English 1), Carson Cheek (SEC seventh-grade geography), William Sawyer (primary summer paraprofessional), Krista Kipnick (PHS special education), Jessica Rivera and Raylene Ellis (paraprofessionals), Abby Goins (fourth grade) and Joe Westfall (SEC math). The board approved the personnel changes by roll call.

Financial clarifications and purchase orders District business officials reviewed March financials for the general, building and child-nutrition funds. They reported higher year-to-date revenues due to increased state aid and prior-year federal funding in some categories, offset by higher expenditures for salaries, equipment and textbooks. Staff noted recent March purchases including a lease payment for security cameras, two lawnmowers, and a route bus. The packet also listed purchase orders for 50 Chromebooks for the district’s virtual academy, an item to address changed Medicaid billing procedures, reflective tint for the SEC cafeteria windows, band amplification equipment, and a PO for a 2024 Kia minivan. The child-nutrition POs included a $15,000 beef grant payment to be reimbursed to the district.

Votes at a glance - Temporary appropriations (general, building, child nutrition): approved by roll call. - Contracts and agreements (annual vendor/service agreements; Syllogist SIS): approved by roll call. Syllogist annual cost rose from $42,006.52 to ~ $46,052; electronic requisition module to be implemented. - EOMC Telemedicine services agreement: approved by roll call. - Public land lease (high bidder Travis Clam; $312/year): approved by roll call. - Activity fundraisers (2024–25): approved by roll call. - Out-of-state trips (Van Buren photography lab; Crystal Bridges): approved by roll call. - Surplus lists (books, furniture, wrestling mats, Chevy Malibu for trade-in): approved by roll call. - Personnel resignations and hires (list in packet): approved by roll call.

Several of the approvals were described by staff as routine renewals or annual items with no material cost change; others (Syllogist and several POs) included specific dollar amounts or changes recorded in the packet. Board members did not record separate conditions attached to the approvals during the open session.