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Ellsworth USD 327 board approves child-safety curriculum, new wrestling mats and several personnel hires
Summary
At its Oct. 7 meeting, the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo USD #327 Board approved the Second Step child-safety curriculum for kindergarten and second grade, authorized $28,241.64 for new Resilite wrestling practice mats, accepted three gifts/grants, and approved multiple personnel hires and resignations following executive sessions.
At a regular meeting Oct. 7 at the district office, the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo USD #327 Board of Education approved several actions affecting curriculum, athletics equipment and staffing.
The board voted 5-0 to adopt the Second Step curriculum for kindergarten and second-grade students after a presentation by Curriculum Coordinator Dan Magie and EES counselor Amber Soukup. District leaders said the Second Step materials—covering child-safety topics such as bike safety, stranger danger and physical-body safety—carry no additional cost because materials purchased previously have not yet been used. Board member Cynthia Edgerle moved approval; David Hand seconded.
The board also authorized purchase of new practice wrestling mats from Resilite at a cost of $28,241.64, to remain in the wrestling room for daily use. Board members noted Resilite is on the BuyBoard cooperative, so no local bid process was required. The motion to purchase was made by board member Jake Svaty and seconded by Steve Shepherd; the vote was 5-0.
Separately, the board accepted three gifts and grants supporting district activities: $460 from Rice County Tourism for the FFA Ellsworth Invitational Horse Show arena use; $3,800 from the Horst Reiter Foundation (via First Presbyterian Church) to fund the “Be Alert: Stop Trafficking” presentation; and $3,250 from Ellsworth County Kids Wrestling for velcro upgrades to recently purchased wrestling mats. Cynthia Edgerle moved acceptance of the gifts and grants; the motion passed 5-0.
Following multiple executive sessions held under the non-elected personnel exception of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, the board approved a package of personnel actions. The board approved hiring Zoe Potter as a kindergarten teacher beginning second semester; Cursstyn Browning as junior class magazine sales sponsor; Katie Cole as a substitute teacher; and Joe Montero as a substitute bus driver. The board also accepted the resignations of Danica Uhl (kindergarten aide) and Randy Peschka (seasonal groundskeeper). Cynthia Edgerle made the motion to approve the personnel items; Steve Shepherd seconded and the motion passed 5-0.
On policy matters, Superintendent Deena Hilbig presented updates to several board policies. The board adopted the recommended revised, deleted and new policies (BBG, BCBK and form, CL, ID and IF) but withheld action on policy CJ pending clarification and review at the November meeting. The motion to adopt the package with CJ removed passed 5-0.
Board President Gina McGowan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.; the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
