Updated COVID-19 practices are coming for USD 253 Emporia at the conclusion of the current school year.
During the USD 253 Board of Education meeting Wednesday evening, the board approved a motion to maintain its current mitigation strategies until the final day of school this Friday. Once the school year has concluded the district will then adopt a set of adjusted practices that will alter and eliminate certain mitigation procedures.
Per the board’s approval, masks can be taken off during outdoor activities and temperature checks and health screenings will no longer be required. Additionally, mask use will be optional, regardless of the age, unless people are on school transportation — in which case, everybody will need masks.
The district will also maintain cohort groups when indoors with at least three feet of social distancing required when in a cohort and six feet of social distance when indoors and not in a cohort.
The district is also planning to explore “surveillance testing” options for the 2021-22 school year.
USD 253 Superintendent Dr. Allison Anderson-Harder says there were several factors that contributed to Wednesday’s decision.
The new practices are set to go into effect on Jun. 1.
In other business, the board approved the master contract for certified staff and salary packages for all staff for the current academic year. The tentative package includes no base salary increases, but it includes a one-year $1,000 stipend, so-called horizontal and vertical step movement, individual supplements and continuation of a $15,000 scholarship pool.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Rob Scheib says the stipend was an effort by the district to bring some certainty to a year that has been filled with uncertainty.
Scheib explained that staff who worked the entire school year will receive the full $1,000, however, staff who are returning next year will receive a portion of the stipend in June and the remainder in August or September. Employees who came on in the middle of the school district will receive varying portions of the stipend depending on when they came on board with the district.
According to Scheib, staff who began in the first trimester will receive the full $1,000 stipend. Staff who began in the second trimester will receive 66 percent of the stipend and staff who began in the third trimester will receive 33 percent of the stipend.
Separately, board members voted to approve a transfer of property at 3301 W. 6th Ave. — the Flint Hills Technical College main campus — and 620 Constitution — the Adult Learning Center — to Flint Hills Technical College. Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Rob Scheib says the district originally operated the college when it first came to be and thus owned the main campus property.
According to Scheib even after the college became a separate entity, the district retained ownership of the property due to renovation work that took place at the college as part of the district’s previous bond initiative back in 2000.
The district expects to pay half the closing costs as part of the transaction. An exact date for when the transfer will be finalized is currently pending according to Scheib.
The USD 253 Board will reconvene on Wednesday, Jun. 9 at 7 pm inside the Mary Herbert Education Center.
