Prices for tickets, passes to FSHS athletics increase

The attendance center issue was not the only item that the USD 234 Board of Education addressed during their regular meeting on Monday.

Board members discussed the district's recent budget issues and conducted other routine business during the meeting. Among the items on the agenda were a request from Fort Scott High School for the purchase of athletic equipment, a recommendation to increase gate ticket prices at FSHS athletic events for the 2010-11 school year, consideration of bids, and other matters.

The board approved a request from FSHS Activity Director Larry Fink for the $24,329 purchase of various athletic equipment, including football uniforms, video equipment, and new cheerleader uniforms. The purchase will be made using funds from various accounts including the cheerleader activity fund, the football activity account, the stadium sign advertising account, and the athletic budget. No money from the district general fund budget will be used, officials said.

The board also approved a recommendation to increase gate ticket prices at FSHS varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen athletic events for the 2010-11 school year. Next year, single-ticket prices for adults and students who attend these events will increase by $1, and prices for passes to these events will also rise. An individual pass for students in the district will rise from $12 to $15, family passes for fall and winters sports will each increase from $50 to $55, and a full-year family pass will be bumped from $80 to $90.

Preschool students will be admitted free of charge to all events. Elementary and middle school students will pay regular ticket prices or may choose to purchase an individual activity pass for $15. The district brings in about $30,000 in total gate receipts for these athletic events each year, USD 234 Business Manager Alan Drake said.

The board tabled the purchase of one passenger diesel school bus because of limited funds and due to continued reductions in state aid. Board members voted to delay a final purchase decision pending future input regarding state finances.

The board voted to approve a contract with Midwest Roofing for a project to reroof a portion of Winfield Scott Elementary School built in 1956 pending reference information from the company's prior projects. The bid from Midwest Roofing for the project is $106,155, and a majority of the funding for the project would come from the capital outlay fund which is used for buildings and construction.

Drake said the district has a $92,000 cash balance and $110,000 in its Repair of Buildings fund that could be used toward the reroofing project.

The board also conducted the following business on Monday:

* Approved the $1.1 million district payroll for March. The board also reviewed participation rates for parent-teacher conferences this spring; 49 percent for FSHS, 83 percent for Fort Scott Middle School, 90 percent for Eugene Ware Elementary School, and 97 percent for Winfield Scott Elementary School.

* As required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), authorized EFm Consulting, LLC, to be the district's mitigation planner and representative in the Bourbon County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The board also adopted the plan and will submit the adoption resolution to FEMA and the Kansas Division of Emergency Management to enable the plan's final approval.

* Approved the district's participation in Kids Voting Kansas 2010, provided there is no cost to the district to participate in the program.

* Approved student, faculty and parent handbooks as presented by each of the schools in the district.

* Hired David Brown as assistant track coach, Jessica Uhler as assistant softball coach, Alvin Metcalf, Jr., as assistant baseball coach, and James Fox as assistant tennis coach at FSHS; Jeff DeLaTorre as coordinator for girls' and boys' tennis programs at FSMS, and Maggie Kolbeck as assistant tennis coach at FSMS. The board also accepted resignation requests from FSMS eighth grade language arts teacher Susan O'Bryan, FSMS assistant tennis coach Clyde Stepps, and Kayla Taliaferro, an early childhood education teacher at the Fort Scott Preschool Center.

The board also conducted an executive session to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel, to discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative or representatives of the body or agency, and to discuss matters relating to actions adversely or favorably affecting a person as a student.