The USD 253 Board of Education approved a substantial purchase Wednesday evening to help provide more security to district patrons as plans for the upcoming academic year are still in development.
The board unanimously approved the purchase of walkthrough temperature scanners at a total cost of just over $85,000. The district does anticipate being able to submit a request for reimbursement from FEMA of just 64,000 or 75 percent of the cost bringing the district’s actual cost to $21,380.
The scanners will be implemented throughout district buildings as part of the district’s mitigation efforts amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A return to in-person classes is one of the current viable options on the table for the district along with continuing virtual learning or adopting a hybrid of the two options. Despite no definitive direction being locked down at this time, Case says the scanners will be an important addition to the district’s pre-established mitigation strategies.
The plan is to distribute eight scanners to Emporia High School, four to Emporia Middle School, 14 amongst pre-K to fifth-grade buildings with each school receiving two each, one to the Flint Hills Learning Center, one to the transportation office and one to the Mary Herbert Education Center.
As for plans for the upcoming academic year, the district is anticipating the release of new guidance from the Kansas State Department of Education Thursday. Case believes the new guidance will likely help validate some of the planning the district has already done up to this point.
The potential still exists for the district to either return to in-person classes, resume online learning or possibly adopt a hybrid of both. Discussions are planned to continue in the coming weeks with more information to be provided at the district’s next meeting in two weeks.
In other business, the board elected Mike Crouch to replace Art Gutierrez as the USD 253 Board President for the upcoming year. Leslie Seeley was elected to replace Melissa Ogelby as the board’s new Vice-President.
The board also received a timeline for the 2021 fiscal year budget from Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Rob Scheib, appointed members to numerous local boards and committees and approved a home rule resolution which gives the board power to make local decisions for anything not forbidden by statute.
Separately the board established it’s regular meeting time and place for the 2020-21 academic year and approved a waiver for generally accepted accounting principles.
The USD 253 Board of Education will next meet on Wednesday, Jul. 22.
