Coronavirus response matters highlighted Wednesday night’s meeting for the USD 251 North Lyon County Board of Education.
Superintendent Bob Blair says he is pleased certain indicators are trending in better directions than they were last month.
Blair also reported on the purchase and ongoing installation of air purifying units through SPARK funding. He says they are demonstrating over 99 percent effectiveness in killing COVID-19 and high effectiveness in killing other pathogens in trials, so he says that will be a good investment if the purifiers work as indicated.
Blair and the board also discussed the ongoing process to solidify attendance policies at winter sports and other extracurriculars — following the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s initial decision to not allow fans and the KSHSAA Board of Directors’ subsequent decision to allow two passes for every participant’s family. He says the adjustment plan is what North Lyon County was already doing.
Board President Matt Horton, meanwhile, says disallowing fans was an easy decision but not necessarily the best one.
Blair also reported on the district’s budget, breaking it down with and without SPARK funding. With SPARK funding in the budget, expenses are down over $600,000 from December 2019 while revenues are up $354,000 due to federal funding and fund balances are up almost $215,000. With SPARK funding removed, total spending is down $847,000, revenues are down $45,000 in large part due to a 3.5-percent cut in state aid and fund balances are up $57,000. Blair says the non-SPARK budget is the one he tracks because it’s a more true comparison to last year’s budget and it is where it should be, given the circumstances.
