Reduced Lunch Applicants Decrease

Members of the Kimball School Board heard from the principals and the food service director for updates during their meeting last week.

Danessa Terrill told the board that the number of families applying for free or reduced lunches was down from 51% to 41%. Still, Terrill attributed this to the fact that all students receive free lunches, so some families didn't feel a need to apply, but but Terrill said it "ties into other funding."

According to Terrill, the school district received an $11,000 grant for disposable products last year, but they are back to using trays for lunches. The COVID restrictions seem to be behind them at this point as they are back to normal serving, although they no longer have a salad bar at Mary Lynch. One staff member serves fruits, veggies, and salads instead of a salad bar.

Kimball Jr/Sr High Principal Danielle Reader said she was pleased with the first quarter results of the Stampede Card. One of the student benefits of the Stampede Card is open campus, but students must have two or fewer tardies. Reader reported that tardies for first quarter had been cut in half.

Both principals, Reader and Jamie Soper from Mary Lynch, spoke about their second quarter districtwide goal, which is to have 90% of students from the second to 11th grades proficient in math facts, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Tests from last spring and this fall indicated that students suffered from summer regression. The intent is to put the math facts into the students' long-term memory.

Superintendent Trevor Anderson's report provided the Superintendent Advisory Committee members, who include Trey Cook, Wyatt Cook, Aubrey Culek, Dakota Vrbas, Cody Brinkman, Renee Murdoch, Ashlynn White, Julia Winstrom, Charlotte Hargreaves, Trey Schindler, Gideon Casmiro and Kaitlin Heeg.

Anderson's report said that the current cash balance in the General Fund is $3,120,503, while in 2020 the balance was $2,411,131, and the previous year, 2019, the balance was $1,268,895.

The board also approved a contract for Premier Land Management Services, approved board policies and then discussed building, grounds, and transportation.

A lengthly discussion on transportation focused on updating the bus fleet as the current busses were described as being old, needing repairs and having lots of miles.

The in-town bus route was discussed, and the discussion leaned towards closing down in-town routes. The in-town routes tear up the busses and require an extra driver. The district is not required to provide the in-town service.

Informal discussions have been held with the Kimball County Transit Service to see if they are equipped to provide additional transportation services for students needing rides.

At 7:41 p.m., the board went into closed session to discuss negotiations.

The next scheduled meeting for the Kimball School Board is Monday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the Kimball County Transit Service building.