Wellington school board approves $25 month health insurance increase; has more hiring to do…
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington school board approved a $25 monthly increase in the district’s contribution to employees health insurance for 2016-17.
With the new school year officially beginning on July 1, Wellington Superintendent Mike Whitener took over the reins of USD 353 with his first meeting of the year. It lasted 90 minutes – short compared to normal school board meetings.
The $25 increase totals $350 per month per employee that the school is contributing. School employees participating in the plan should expect to shell out $100 to $150 a month out-of-pocket expense depending on what tier of the insurance plan they so choose.
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Employment news
Besides hiring Rick Roitman as the head Wellington boys basketball coach (see story here), the board hired Cecily Jamison as the head seventh grade volleyball coach.
Whitener said Wellington still needs to hire a math teacher at the high school, and a chemistry teacher which will be vacated by Luke Smith once the hiring is made. Smith was recently hired as the WHS and WMS activities director.
Wellington will also need to hire a Kennedy Elementary Principal to replace Randy Fox, who resigned earlier this month.
Meanwhile other resignations were accepted:
•Caitlin Hendrix – assistant forensics and debate coach;
•Smith resigned as high school assistant golf, eighth grade head football coach, and high school assistant basketball coach.
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New school meal prices set
USD 353 is currently in the process of converting over to the new OPAA Food Management service where food is prepared by a company and shipped to the school district. It works similarly to the bus service system that USD 353 participates.
The board voted to set prices for the school lunch. Breakfast will remain the same as 2015-26 and it will be an extra nickel for lunch from the previous year.
The prices are as follows:
Breakfast – $2 for adults.
$1.50 for students.
Lunch – $3.55 for adults; $2.55 for Kindergarten to fifth grade students, $2.80 for students sixth to eighth grade and $3.05 for students ninth through 12th grade.
Whitener said students will have three choices of food selections. One of those choices will be a salad bar.
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In other news, the board:
•reelected Jackie Berryman as board president and Larry Mangan as vice president;
•appointed Stephanie Frazier as board clerk;
•appointed John Ott as district treasurer;
•designated the last Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. as a work session;
•took no action after two executive sessions on non-elected personnel.
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Construction update:
Whitener expected all construction to be completed by August 12 with the exception of landscaping and minor exterior work. He said the new Wellington Middle School auxiliary gym is about complete with a new floor getting put in sometime very soon. The older gym is also getting a new floor and that too is about 90 percent complete.
The new Wellington Middle School parking lot is also expected to be completed before school starts with new markings. The route for the vehicles will be similar to last year’s.
