PTO begins campaign to buy school supplies

The USD 234 elementary parent-teacher organization is spearheading a fundraising effort to get school supplies next school year for local kindergarten through fifth grade students.

During its Monday meeting, the USD 234 Board of Education learned of the plan from Eugene Ware Principal Dave Elliott, who said the elementary PTO group will conduct a fundraiser with a goal of raising enough money to provide all K-5 students with school supplies for the 2015-16 school year.

"What an awesome service to our community," Elliott said.

Kellie Jackson, president of the elementary PTO, said Tuesday the volunteer organization consists of parents and teachers and its main priority is helping raise funds for school needs.

"We mainly raise funds to pay for things that maybe the school doesn't have funding for, such as educational field trips, so the school doesn't have to come up with money for that," she said. "And if teachers have certain requests for things in their classrooms."

Jackson said other USD 234 schools have PTO groups but the elementary PTO is the group conducting this particular fundraiser to benefit students at Winfield Scott School, which serves kindergarten through second grade students, and Eugene Ware, a third-through-fifth grade school.

Jackson said the PTO has organized the effort primarily to help parents of elementary school students with the burden of paying for school supplies, which can often be expensive.

"It's more of a courtesy to the parents," Jackson said. "School supply purchases fall on the parents ... they already have to pay for enrollment, backpacks and other things for school."

Jackson said several students aren't able to get school supplies each year or they have to rely on programs offered by local churches and organizations that provide needed school supplies.

There are two ways that people can support the fundraiser -- by purchasing an item from fundraiser packets that went home with students Monday, or by making a donation to an online account the PTO has set up called "Go Fund Me," which is a separate account the group has set up for fundraising. Organizers have estimated that $25,000 will need to be raised to see the project through.

"We've estimated about $20 per kid with the amount of students we have; that's a rough figure," Jackson said. "We have some money in our PTO fund right now, but we don't want to have to tap into it. We want to have it next year to pay for things we already pay for. We're trying to do some additional fundraising."

People can donate money without purchasing a fundraising item. The PTO will get a portion of the proceeds from the sale of items through the packets. Donors can also just simply write a check to the PTO or donate school supplies if they choose, Jackson said.

The PTO plans to conduct the fundraiser through the month of March.

"Then the kids will bring their packets back in and after everything is turned in, we'll see where we are and see if we need to do any additional fundraising," Jackson said.

Any money raised for the project not used for the 2015-16 school year will "roll over into the next year" to be used for school supplies, she said.

For more information, Jackson can be reached at (620) 687-2363.

Other business

* The board approved the consent agenda, which included the $1.2 million district payroll, district financial report, bond proceeds reconciliation for January and attendance at school parent teacher conferences. According to district information, attendance percentages for those conferences were 32 percent for Fort Scott High School, 56 percent for Fort Scott Middle School, 89 percent for Winfield Scott School and 91.5 percent for Eugene Ware School.

* Brenda Hill representing the Fort Scott chapter of the Kansas National Education Association, reported the KNEA provides three scholarships: one for a Fort Scott senior, one for any junior or senior in college majoring in education, and one for a district employee. Hill said the deadline to apply for the scholarships is approaching.

* Superintendent Bob Beckham said the district will provide an opportunity this summer for a K-5 summer school to take place at Eugene Ware School. Beckham said the dates for the summer school are July 25 to Aug. 14, and two sessions will be offered. He said the total price tag for the summer school is between $30,000 and $40,000 and funds have been set aside for the opportunity.

"I'm excited to be able to do that," Beckham said.

"That's awesome news," board member Justin Meeks said.

Beckham also said in his report that summer driver's education will take place at Eugene Ware School due to school bond projects expected to be taking place at Fort Scott High School. Beckham also said there is a plan to start fixing the roof at Fort Scott Middle School on June 1 and repairs should take about three weeks to complete. A project to install new bleachers at the district stadium was recently completed. Beckham said "no bond dollars" were used for these projects.

* Approved some additions to board policy as recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards. Beckham said the additions, which become official board policy after board approval, deal with harassment and special education services, as well as accommodations, complaints and racial and disability discrimination. Beckham said he and some board members review board policies once a week and this set of policies has been read through.

"We are in the process of completely revamping our board policy," Beckham said. "We're utilizing the services of KASB to help with that process. One of the initial steps is that sooner or later we adopt some steps."

* The board approved membership in the National Joint Powers Alliance service cooperative and the TIPS/TAPS cooperative purchasing program. Beckham said the two consortia work with school districts "to get the best prices for school districts for purchases."

"They have already gone through the bidding process to get the best prices for school districts," he said. "There is no cost to the district ... this will be good with our bond process going on and speed up some of the bidding processes."

* The board took no action following a 55-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters for non elected personnel and to discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative or representatives of the body or agency.

* A fundraising application for the FSHS cheerleading squad was approved.

* The following employment matters were approved: a leave of absence request from Amanda Johnson, Winfield Scott music teacher; resignations of Elizabeth Grantham, high school English teacher, Katricia Bradbury, physical therapist and James Fox, middle school and high school band teacher, effective at the end of the 2014-15 school year; addition of a Winfield Scott paraprofessional position; transfers of Brandi Ross, Eugene Ware paraprofessional to Winfield Scott paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year and Tracy Homan, high school English teacher to high school media center specialist for the 2015-16 school year; employment of Christine Thomas as a Eugene Ware paraprofessional and Jennifer Wentz as a high school paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year, and Dru Graham as an additional baseball coach; and adjusted high school assistant softball duties between Whitney Dauben and David Brown.

The board also approved employment of district administrators for 2015-16, including Beckham, Business Manager Susan Brown, Director of Special Education Rick Scholes, Food Service Director Robin Button, Transportation Director Gary Bolden, FSHS Principal Shawn Thomas, FSHS Assistant Principal Jeff DeLaTorre, FSHS Activities Director Larry Fink, FSMS Principal Jim Howard, FSMS Assistant Principal B.J. Pruitt, Winfield Scott Principal Marianna Daugherty and Eugene Ware Principal Dave Elliott.