by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Instead of paying for specific classes next fall during registration, all USD 353 student parents could be paying a flat rate of $100 before the 2014-15 school year.

Wellington High School Principal Dale Adams has proposed to the Wellington school board a policy in which every student will pay $100 in school fees during registration regardless what classes they sign up.

The hope is to give some students incentive to take higher end courses in science and industrial arts without having to pay extra up-front initial fee costs.

However, the trade off is, those students must pay for supplies of the projects throughout the course.

For example, if students take Level 2 Cabinet Making, they will be in charge of paying for all supplies. Currently, the schools pay for the supplies. Adams said that makes the projects the students can do to be very restrictive since there are no funds available. By paying for their own supplies, students could build as big of project as they so desire.

Adams said traditionally two or three students each fall are forced to take another class because their parents don’t want to pay for fees of these special classes.

On average, Adams said, school parents pay around $116 a student. On the low end, students can pay $62.82 for no special cost classes. Other students on the other hand, pay in excess of $150 to $200. If adopted, the policy will start at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year.

•••••

Irate paras 

The board heard from a group of upset paraprofessionals of a policy change in the Classified Personnel Handbook which affects their personal day leave. Paras, who are considered classified which are non-teacher employees. Under the new handbook policy, they must save personal days in case there are snow days. In the past, classified employees received two snow days.

Janette Moser, spokeswoman for the paras at Thursday’s meeting, said the policy is inconsistent with another paraprofessional handbook policy written in April 2011 that is currently on the USD 353 website which enforces the previous policy.

Moser also expressed disappointment that the paras were not properly informed of the measure by the board or the USD 353 administration, when the handbook was approved by the board in April and there was no place in the board minutes for which the new policy was discussed.

Board President Jackie Berryman said she hated that there was a communication breakdown in the process, and will make sure there will be steps in the future to better inform classified employees.

She did, however, defend the new policy, stating that although she wishes USD 353 could pay classified personnel more, those changes were made to help the overall district financially in order to make budget.

•••••

New calendar

The board approved the 2014-15 calendar which will be essentially the same as the year before with the exception of parent-teachers conference which will be moved back from February to January, as has been the case in years’ past.

Adams said parent-teacher conference attendance was down due to the heavy scheduling in February and a basketball game.

Wellington is on a 1,116 hour schedule which equates to 177 days. Wellington used to be the only school in the area that based its school hours on hourly rate. Other schools always used a daily rate of 180 to 185 days. Wellington Superintendent Rick Weiss said other school districts are getting in line with Wellington’s hourly rate because that is their way of making budget since less days means less expenses.

•••••

Snow days

Weiss said at this current time Wellington does not need to make up snow days. USD 353 called off school on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. However, if there is another snow day then it will need to be made up on an available open date.

“It won’t be on spring break,” Weiss said. “That has become a sacred holiday for people traveling out of town.”

•••••

School safety rooms 

As was outlined last month (see story here), the board will be discussing the possibility of building safe rooms and making school buildings more safe from weather and criminal activity. The board agreed to discuss the issue further on Feb. 26 during a work session and invite various building site councils.

Weiss warned that Senate Bill 305 is being contemplated in committee that will eliminate any state funding for public school construction. If the bill passes into law, the state will no longer help pay for public construction for anything after June 30. Currently, any bond issue passed by USD 353 voters will get 52 percent state aid. If this bill passes, USD 353 voters would pay for the full expense.

“The theory is to cut property tax levels at the state level,” Weiss said. “But the money will have to come someplace so local taxpayers will be saddled with the full financial burden.

“Either the taxpayers will have even higher property taxes or there will be no school construction projects at all. Regardless, it is another example that there are a group of people in Topeka who really don’t want public schools to survive.”

•••••

In other board news:

•Patron Jerry Wilson suggested that the football field should be renamed after John Gifford, a longtime high school football assistant who recently retired.

•Gerald Gilkey, Grant Director of Sumner County Drug Action Team, requested that Wellington High School participate in the “Life of the Athlete” Drug and Alcohol program.

•Wellington Assistant Superintendent Larry Roth said that a new contract with the teachers are about to be signed on Monday. The information will be sent out to teachers thereafter. “It was a much better group to work with than the one’s we have had in the past,” said board member Angie Ratcliff.

•Employment changes at USD 353 are as follows:

Transfers: Stephanie Frazier from receptionist to data coordinator; Dean Houslouer from temporary grounds keeper/maintenance to Central Office and Roosevelt Coordinator.

Resignations: Randy Strothman- Director of Driver’s Education; Cherity Elder – WHS head volleyball coach; Lis Aquilar – WHS assistant volleyball coach.

Hirings: Hannah Shuck, WHS assistant softball coach; Stephanie Smith, WMS assistant boys tennis coach 2014 season; Shanna Fairbanks, WMS head boys tennis coach 2014 season; Rita O’Bryan, Circle of Friends Supplemental; and James Ginter, Circle of Friends Supplemental.