The Broadus School Board met Monday evening, with a weighty agenda planned for the evening.
The board heard from Activities Director Mike Richards regarding replacing the majority of the lockers in the high school locker rooms. The lockers in the larger or traditional boys locker room (which now switches back and forth year to year to comply with Title IX guidelines) has the original lockers from the 1970s, which are rather worse for wear after being slammed shut and stuffed full of gear by generations of athletes. Mike mentioned that he had talked to other area schools about their lockers, and after shopping around found some lockers which would be expected to last for a long time. Plans are to replace 25 lockers per locker room, with some of the old lockers in better condition remaining. Total cost would be $32,754, with $10,000 of that cost coming from the Broadus Sports Boosters. The board voted on and passed a motion to make the purchase. The locker replacement is hoped to be completed by the first fall sports practices in August.
The board accepted Superintendent Jim Hansen’s recommendation to hire Shavon Harmon as the Assistant Cook, as well as accepting the resignation of High School Math Teacher Jeri Dell. Discussion was made on a replacement math teacher – such teachers are in short supply. Hansen said that he hoped to find someone to take the job before school began this fall, whether through the regular hiring process or by emergency teacher certification.
Next on the agenda was the consideration of bus contract bids for the Volborg Bus Route #1. Two bids were opened at the meeting. Warren Wash made a five-year bid for $2.21 per mile, which totaled $54,100.80 per year. The second bid by Ty & Trish Robinson was for three years at $1.92 per mile, totaling $47,001.60 per year. The previous contract was held by Ty & Trish, and was non-renewed at the May meeting.
The school’s lawyer, who was attending the meeting via virtual conference, was consulted on the school’s obligations regarding bids. He noted that the school’s obligation was to take responsible bids, and the decision did not have to be based solely on monetary value. The decision was at the board’s discretion and could be based on performance, ability, or a number of other potential factors.
The board discussed the bids, with Ty & Trish also commenting on the matter. Eventually, a motion was made to accept the bid of Warren Wash, with the board accepting the motion unanimously.
Next on the agenda was the elimination of the Stevens bus stop, on Hwy 212, on the Ashland route, which was passed by the board. The bus will now stop at the state highway shop just down the road from the old stop, coming and going from Broadus. The stop was eliminated to try and minimize the time the bus is parked on the highway, and to minimize the number of times kids would be crossing the highway.
The board next finalized the high school graduation time and place. The 2020 graduation will be held at the HS football field, at 3:00 PM on June 27th. In the case of inclement weather, the graduation will be moved into the gym, and if the number of attendees exceed social distancing guidelines, the overflow will watch virtually from the auditorium.
The 2020-21 school calendar was finalized – the first day of school will be August 19th, with the last day of school May 26th of 2021.
The board then approved the classified, certified, student, and transportation handbooks. These handbooks are available at http://www.broadus.net for viewing, under the “more” tab on the top menu.
An update to the school’s COVID plan was next. With the move to Phase 2, schools have more leeway in opening up for certain activities. Broadus will now allow sports practices in the gym over the summer, as well as a planned volleyball and football camp. The teams will need to clean their equipment regularly during the practices, and temperature checks will be performed on players and coaches before entering the building. Those with a temperature over 100.3 degrees will not be able to attend the event. A check-in list will also be completed, to help with contact tracing if the need arises.
Changes to activity pass and ticket prices were also on the agenda. AD Mike Richards said that only one basketball game last season was profitable for the school – all other games have been losing money. Ticket prices in Broadus have been lower than those at other schools, and in order to break even the board made the decision to increase ticket prices. A single event for an adult was previously $5 – that price will now be $7. Prices for students 9-12 have been raised from 4 to $5. Students K-8 and senior citizens (62 and up) increase from 3 to $5.
Activity passes for an adult increase from 45 to $65, senior citizens from 22.50 to $35, HS students stay at $35, JH students increase from 30 to $35, and elementary students from 15 to $20.
Richards noted that even with the increase, the activity pass is still a great deal – if one were to attend every home game and pay individual game prices, the cost would be well over $100.
The board then voted to not hold a July meeting, unless something along the lines of a hiring or major COVID event comes up. They also approved the Clerk, Dixie Mitchell, to pay June and July bills. The next scheduled meeting will take place August 10th.
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