At its Veterans Day meeting the Paola School District Board of Education discussed adopting steps that would preserve the option to levy a state-calculated "cost-of-living" increase and approved several action items, including a $198,700 labor bid for roof work and a paid ridership option for students who live less than 2.5 miles from school.

The board heard a presentation from Speaker 8, who explained the cost-of-living option is tied to average appraised home values and requires the district to maintain a local option budget (LOB) of at least 31 percent to qualify. Speaker 8 said the calculation is handled at state level and emphasized the board would be authorizing only the procedural steps now — a future budget decision would be separate. "If we had levied it this year, the ... total is $511,000 that we could have levied to help with operations," Speaker 8 said when summarizing projected revenue under recent data. He added the board must adopt a resolution and publish a legal notice in the Miami County Republic to preserve the option for next year.

Board members asked for timing and logistics. Speaker 8 told the board the legal notice needs to be published well before the budget adoption cycle and suggested May as the latest practical date to complete publication, though it can be done earlier. He and others stressed the levy is optional; passing the resolution only preserves the option — the board would still decide during budget season whether to levy the increase.

On capital projects the board reviewed roof bid results for middle school sections D and E, field-house repairs and a minor Cottonwood repair. Speaker 8 said materials are purchased through the Trimco/Greenbush cooperative and the low labor bid from Cornell Roofing was $198,700; combined with materials the total project cost is about $310,850.96, well under the district’s $586,000 capital outlay estimate. The board approved the labor bid by voice/hand vote.

The board also approved a paid ridership plan developed with Kansas Central School Bus to serve students who do not qualify for free busing because they live less than 2.5 miles from school. Speaker 3 described the plan as a semester program with a Dec. 15 sign-up deadline for second semester and said enrollment would be capped at 100 riders for the initial offering. Fees were stated as $175 for the first child in a household and $100 for a second child; any additional children in the same household would ride at no charge. "We're not interested in making money off our patrons," Speaker 3 said, describing arrangements for Kansas Central to handle sign-ups and payments and saying the program is intended to be revenue-neutral for the district.

Speaker 3 also presented a renewal of the American Red Cross facility-use memorandum of understanding for emergencies; the board approved that agreement. Late in the meeting Speaker 1 moved the board into executive session to discuss nonelected personnel matters, which the board approved; the session was extended by motion and the meeting later adjourned.

Votes at a glance
- Motion to adopt the agenda — passed (voice/hand vote).
- Consent agenda — passed (voice/hand vote).
- Approve labor bid for roofing (Cornell Roofing, labor $198,700; materials through Trimco/Greenbush) — passed (voice/hand vote).
- Approve paid ridership plan (Kansas Central School Bus) — passed (voice/hand vote); second-semester signups due Dec. 15; fees $175/$100/0 for additional children.
- Approve Red Cross facility-use MOU — passed (voice/hand vote).
- Enter executive session for personnel — passed by motion.

What’s next
The board preserved the procedural steps that would allow it to levy the cost-of-living option next budget cycle by adopting the necessary publication/readiness steps; if the board chooses to pursue the levy it must later adopt the tax during the budget process and publish required notices. Executive-session personnel matters were handled in closed session and the board adjourned at the end of its agenda.