The USD 410 Board of Education welcomed its new superintendent to his first regular meeting and issued contracts for high school football coaching positions July 13.
?This community has been incredibility welcoming,? Super?intendent Steve Noble said in response to the comments by newly elected board president Eddie Weber. ?We look forward to a long, long tenure. This is the kind of place we?ve wanted to raise our family.?
Noble, who assumed his position July 1, came to Hillsboro from Haven, where he was assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. He and wife Gita have three children.
An item handled as routine business will have high visibility this fall when Max Heinrichs, Hillsboro High School principal, makes his debut as head football coach. He succeeds Len Coryea, who will return to the coaching staff as an assistant this fall as part of the interim arrangement.
Heinrichs is in his second year as principal at HHS. Prior to that he was activities director. An HHS alum, Heinrichs was head football coach at Minnea?polis High School and has been an assistant coach at Tabor College in the past.
Before the board began its formal agenda, Hillsboro High School students Nicholas Ediger and Aaron Slater, along with sponsor Creigh Bell, thanked the board for its support in sending them to the Technology Students Association conference at Denver, Colo., in June.
Both Ediger and Slater are serving as officers for the local and state TSA chapters. Along with their report, the students displayed the national championship trophy won in the structural engineering competition.
The board approved several measures regarding the USD 410/Tabor College athletic facility project: an easement lease for the road on the west side of the parking lot, the operations and financial agreement for the facility, and a sprinkler-system change order increasing the cost from $36,000 to $40,000.
Board members agreed, in response to Noble?s recommendation, to participate with him in a new-superintendent orientation provided by the Kansas Association of School Boards. The two-hour open special board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Concerning the open board position, board members decided to advertise it for two weeks in the local newspapers and then proceed based on the response.
Building administrators Evan Yoder and Max Heinrichs reported to the board.
Yoder, Hillsboro Elementary School principal, said volunteers from Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church ?did a fantastic job? in remodeling the old kitchen into a teacher workroom.
Max Heinrichs, Hillsboro High School principal, reported policies for computer use are being finalized.
?It?s going to be a learning process for all of us,? Heinrich said about issues relating to the 1-1 laptop program for high school students.
Heinrichs also reviewed plans for opening day, which include a 10 a.m. start for new students. Student organization meetings for those involved will be earlier in the morning.
Keith Goossen, director of transportation and maintenance, reported that mileage and usage for district vehicles in 2008-09 was down from the year before. He said he would bring a detailed proposal regarding vehicle acquisition at the next regular meeting.
Noble said the 2009-10 budget will be published later this month and discussed at the August meeting.
?The goal is to keep the mill levy the same,? Noble said, adding the board will discuss proposed KASB updates next month, after he?s had a chance to review them with the district leadership team.
He also announced plans are pending to have an open house for the new athletic facility at the end of August. Formal dedications by Tabor and USD 410 will take place in fall.
Following Weber?s suggestion, the board decided to formally acknowledge Becky Carlson, former HHS girls? basketball and volleyball coach, for her induction into the National High School Coaches Associa?tion Hall of Fame this summer.
In other business, the board:
n appointed its members to board-representative positions for 2009-10: Debbie Geis to the Marion County Special Education Cooperative; Mark Rooker to the Technology Excellence in Education Network and MCSEC alternate; Gary Andrews as TEEN alternate and Professional Develop Council representative; Rod Koons as chief negotiator; Dale Klassen as assistant negotiator; and Eddie Weber to KASB Governmental Relations.
n approved employment contracts for Mary Duckworth and Bernice Mains as HHS/HMS kitchen assistants, Tricia Williamson as HES kitchen assistant, Jessi Weisbeck as HES library aid and Brandi Hendrix as TEEN director.
n approved supplemental employment contracts for Dustin Dalke and Bob Woelk as HMS yearbook advisers.
n approved contract information for classified personnel and pay rates for non-contracted classified personnel
n established substitute-teacher pay at $87.40 per day and $43.75 for a half day for the 2009-10, the same as last year.
n approved meal prices and textbook fees at the same rate as last year.
n approved student fees, including a 1-1 laptop warranty fee of $25 for high school students and an increase in the driver education fee from $75 to $120 because of loss of state funding. Other fees will remain at the 2008-09 level.
n approved dues and fee for the district?s KASB membership and participation in the organization?s legal assistance fund.
n approved application to participate in national school lunch, break and milk programs.
n adopted a 1,116-hour calendar for the 2009-10 school year.
n approved board appointments for school employees and authorized list of USD 410 personnel to carry district credit cards and persons to write checks and conduct other financial functions for the district.
n designated Emprise Bank, Hillsboro State Bank and Central State Bank of Marion County as depositories for district funds.
n designated the Hillsboro Star-Journal as the official newspaper.
n approved payment of bills exceeding $1.28 million this month. Business manager Jerry Hinerman said that?s the highest amount he remembers over the past 10 years.
Board member Geis and Greg Brown, principal of Hillsboro Middle School, were absent from the meeting.
