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Board outlines budget priorities and names bargaining teams as negotiations season begins
Summary
Board members listed individual 2025-26 budget priorities (daycare relocation, vocational/arts programs, mentor pay, food program and transportation staffing), and the board assigned members to bargaining teams for certified and classified contracts. An action on bus driver wages was previewed for March.
Board members each described priorities to guide the 2025-26 budget: Chair Steve Lowell said he wants to relocate the infant portion of the daycare to Mazama and to maintain secondary-level electives; John Rademacher prioritized vocational, art and music programs and keeping elementary counselors; Brooke Kliewer called for a larger teacher mentor program and incentives for after-school tutoring; Marc Staunton emphasized food-program cost-effectiveness, bus-driver hiring and retention, and technology tool efficiency; and Jill O'Donnell prioritized reducing class sizes and expanding elementary curriculum.
The board also set bargaining teams for upcoming negotiations. Steve Lowell and Jill O'Donnell will serve on certified negotiations with KCEA; Marc Staunton and John Rademacher will serve on classified negotiations with KCACE; Brooke Kliewer will be the alternate. Superintendent Glen Szymoniak told the board to expect an action item at the March meeting to increase bus driver wages in response to transportation staffing concerns.
