Superintendent proudly announces district is fully staffed

Staffing for Kimball Public Schools was expected to be difficult this year, but Superintendent Marshall Lewis proudly informed the Kimball Board of Education at their July 11 meeting that "We are full."

Aside from that announcement, the board reviewed and updated board policies and administrators offered reports.

The summer breakfast and lunch programs are doing very well, according to Mary Lynch Elementary principal, Mike Mitchell.

Special Services Director Jamie Soper reported that high school summer school was well attended and Elementary summer school will be complete this week.

Soper further reported that Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) measures for Kimball Public Schools 2015-16 school show that the local district is at 70% for the last school year. This is the best year yet for the Kimball Public Schools data, with the previous year at 63 percent.

Additionally, each elementary grade showed marked improvements from the initial measure during the fall of this year through the spring.

"I think that we can attribute that to teachers that are being very conscious of those students needing extra help," Soper said. "Mr. Mitchell has really pushed that as a district as a whole and we have a reading specialist now that is getting to those kids that are on the fence. That all plays into our numbers and that is great news."

Kimball Junior Senior High School principal Eugene Hanks reported that he will attend a regional session for the blended education pilot program on July 22 in Sidney. Soper, Tech Coordinator Travis Terrill, and teachers Geri Ferguson and Danielle Reader will attend alongside Hanks.

Hanks further reported that the west parking lot will be resealed by 3D Asphalt prior to the beginning of the school year. This process is expected to prolong the life of the current pavement significantly.

While the project was not put out for bids, as the total cost of $11,200 is well below the required $100,000 benchmark to do so, the district did take proposals for comparison, according to Lewis.

"The bid process also limits our ability to make adjustments, such as doing a portion of the project as was ultimately determined," Lewis added. "Our original request for proposals were for all of our parking areas, but during discussions with the Building and Grounds Board Committee, we backed that off significantly."

Lewis added in a follow-up conversation that the replacement restroom stalls for the High School have arrived but have yet to be installed.

"This was also an area that we reduced in scope for financial reasons and is much below our originally speculated budget for that reason," he said. "The lunch tables for Mary Lynch have not yet arrived, but are scheduled to be installed in the next two weeks. We anticipate both projects to be fully functional by the start of the school year."

See the attached story on page A3 for more information on incoming staff members at Kimball Public Schools.