Board's New Faces Check In

Scheduled to take office in January 2025, two newly elected Kimball School Board members attended the Monday, Nov. 11, board meeting.

Taylor Brown and Landon Smith introduced themselves.

Taylor is from Kimball and is looking forward to involvement in the school system, while newcomer Landon Smith hails from Holyoke, Colorado, and spent 14 years in Wyoming. He and his family reside in Kimball County. He is also excited to become involved in the local educational system.

Trevor Anderson's superintendent report listed 12.56% of budget has been spent with 16.7% of the fiscal year completed. Actual year-to-date expenditures are $1,469,462.14 with the current cash on hand at $2,597,966.02.

Anderson assured the board that October receipts from the Kimball County treasurer corrected the shortfalls from September. He explained that it was important to maintain "our reserves." The auditor will give his report to the board at the Dec. 9 meeting.

Anderson also explained some board bills that have unexpectedly risen, such as electrical. The board expressed frustration with the electric costs because they previously incorporated some cost saving measures installing LED lighting and a state of the art HVAC system.

Last month, the school system's electric bill from the city was $16,000 but this month is was $4,000 less, resulting in confusion. District officials are looking forward to an energy audit, which will be conducted on usage and kilowatt hours.

Bills that were explained were the Monument Cleaning bill, which was increased due to cleaning of the football stadium and bathrooms, and the $4,400 Strauch Electrical bill for the installation of the basketball shot clocks that are now required.

The superintendent report stated that the route bus has arrived and is operational on a daily basis, and that the heating units are operational despite some minor glitches.

A strategic planning session is scheduled for the board at 6 p.m. Jan. 22.

Leading the session will be Mullen Superintendent Chris Kunci and ESU Director James McGowan. The strategic planning session is designed to chart the course of the district for the next five years.

Action items by the board included a review and approval of policies 702.10, 801.01, 801.03, 802.02, 802.03, 802.04 and 802.05. There were no changes or additions to these policies, which were approved as previously written.

Under discussion items, all board members have received an email with the superintendent's evaluation and the board self-assessment to be completed and returned by Dec. 6.

A survey amongst coaches and sponsors of all activities was taken as to the viability of the SPVA Conference. Although travel times were longer, a vast majority of coaches and sponsors felt that SPVA provided much needed competition. Valentine and Mitchell will join the SPVA next year.

The next regular school board meeting is Dec. 9, at 6:30 pm at the KCTS building.