New Activity Bus Bought For Schools

The purchase of a new activity bus topped the action items for the Kimball School Board at its monthly meeting in July. To upgrade the bus fleet and maintain a rotation, the board opted to purchase a 2023 Thomas activity bus.

With two bus trade-ins, the new activity bus will cost $179,765. The current activity bus is a 2011 model and has over 150,000 miles on it. The delivery time for the new bus is estimated to be March 2023. Graphics/mascot lettering will be available upon arrival.

Under additional action items, the board approved the district handbooks for the 2022-23 school year and approved the purchase of Beyond Textbooks for $10,000.

Items were declared surplus and are now out for bid, including two heating/cooling units and 763 auditorium seats. The auditorium seats will be available for removal when the August date for the new seating is finalized. At the present time, it appears the new seating will be arriving between August 22-26, but those dates will need to be absolute before removal takes place.

Other action items included approval of a 48-month term lease agreement for copier and print services with Capital Business System for $88,293.34.

With no administration reports, the superintendent's report stated that 83% of the fiscal year had been completed, with 59.61% of the budget spent. The actual year-to-date expenditure is $6,627,052.71. The current cash balance in the General Fund is $3,019,111.11.

Jacob Hurla of Community Building Solutions updated the board on the progress of the remodel projects. The doors and windows of the student center are entirely done, and they are currently working on the auditorium windows. The HVAC system is causing some trouble with completion, according to Hurla.

The Mary Lynch heating and cooling system will possibly be completed by the start of school, but it could be a week or two after the start date. At the Jr./Sr. High, it will be November before the switchgear will arrive to complete the project. Community Solutions will give an update at the August meeting.

Board member Matt Shoup has completed his service to the school board and was presented with a gift for his dedication. Shoup has accepted a teaching position with the district as a junior high social studies teacher. Jennifer Griebel will be sworn in to complete the remainder of Matt Shoup's term.

The next regular school board meeting will be on August 8, at 6:30 p.m.