HUMBOLDT — USD 258 Board of Education members spent the bulk of Monday evening’s meeting in a closed-door session. Upon reconvening, the board approved:
— The resignation of PE teacher and middle school football coach Zach Rampy, effective, according to President Curt Mueller, “at a date to be determined by the administration when suitable replacements are found for his position within the district.”
— The employment of Mike Miller as head baseball coach, Jay Carpenter and Brett Lisher as his assistants, and Courtney Orth as the elementary school crossing guard.
— Extra-duty contracts for teachers Mary Durand and Hailey Schoendaller for the purpose of producing the spring play, which is a new addition to the district calendar. “I think it’s great that they’re adding that, because there must be an appreciation,” said board member Joe Works. “Yeah, well it would be nice,” Mueller added dryly, “if we could get some boys to play boys this time.”
— Out-of-state travel for the Humboldt High School band and choir, who — if their continued fundraising is successful — will travel, May 6–10, to the Music in the Park Festival, in Chicago. The total projected cost for the jaunt is $20,000, of which the students have so far raised $15,097 (which includes an $8,000 donation from the Whitehead Trust and $500 from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office). HHS will take the stage at 6:30 p.m. on May 8.
Board member Helen Harrington pointed to the “two spots we need to fill for the upcoming year” within the ANW Special Education Cooperative, due to the retirement of teachers John Sheehan and Amy Brewer.
Elementary and middle school principal Kay Bolt drew attention to four of her teachers — Stephanie Oliver, Dave Taylor, Cara Thomas and Misti Czarnowsky — who received awards from the Masonic Lodge “for being exemplary teachers.”
According to Bolt, the elementary school spelling bee produced three top spellers, who have earned a chance to compete for regional honors at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, in I-O-L-A, on Jan. 30.
Superintendent K.B. Criss wound down the meeting with his report, in which he touched on the “school finance court case” and lent his voice to the ensemble of Kansas teachers and administrators who have found some relief in the judicial backstop provided by the three-judge panel, which recently ruled that the state’s financial commitment to its schools was “inadequate.”
“This will be appealed to the Supreme Court,” Criss said. “So, we’ll see where it goes from here. But it was good news.”
Humboldt choir, band trip approved
