News

By ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The USD 480 school board will be reviewing some upgrades and updates at its next meeting Monday evening starting at 6:30 after a board workshop at 5 p.m. Monday’s meeting will be in Room C107 of the Liberal High School East Campus. 

The meeting will begin with administrator reports, including one from Director of Operations Chad Mease. 

“With the LHS East Campus field conversion, that dirt work is well under way,” the agenda information noted. “With the Bright Start Early Learning Center front entry project, demolition is complete and the footings are poured. With the elementary schools’ ductwork reconfiguration project, the crews have moved to Meadowlark Elementary School. Finally, we are seeking bids to replace the HVAC that serves the district’s IT Bunker.  The existing equipment is approaching 20 years old, and we have been seeing an uptick in repairs and downtime.”

Up first in the agenda’s new business will be discussion of access control equipment. 

“USD 480 solicited pricing to purchase spare inventory of our access control hardware to be utilized throughout the district,” the agenda information noted. “Pricing is provided under Kansas State Contract #51040 for Facility Security Systems, and staff is recommending the board approve the quote from Convergint Technologies in the amount of $33,670.27.”

Up next will be discussion of LHS corridor fire door repairs, for which staff is recommending the board approve a quote from DH Pace in the amount of $14,155.

Up next for the board will be discussion of LHS East Campus soffit and roof repair. 

“USD 480 solicited bids to repair the soffit and flat roof sections of the old gym area at LHS East Campus,” the agenda information noted. “One bid was received from DV Douglass in the amount of $82,428, and staff is recommending the board approve that bid.”

The board will also be asked to approve the 2024-2025 Elementary and RISE Academy Handbooks before moving on to discussion of an agriculture program at LHS. The potential of such a program had been discussed at the board’s Aug. 21, 2023 meeting, where the board heard from some local citizens about the potential benefits of such a program. 

“I would like for the board to consider forming a committee to add an agriculture education program, along with a National FFA Organization chapter, to USD 480,” local citizen Evan Winchester said at the meeting. “The first question that comes up is ‘Why would we add an agriculture education program?’ Well, first and foremost, one of the main emphases we have in education, in my opinion, is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education, and there’s no better way to enhance that learning that to give students hands-on opportunities, which can be done with an agriculture education program. As you also know, in the Liberal community, agriculture and energy are the two primary economic drivers, and what better way for area students to understand what’s going on in their community and how their community operates? There is funding through the Kansas State Department of Education, and there’s an additional 0.5 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent), so this doesn’t just happen, it does require some additional funding. I do want to filter through just a small sample of the 36 approved courses through this, because I don’t if people really stop to think sometimes about what all can be taught through agriculture education. A big one is Environmental Resources and Wildlife Science, that could cover a very broad number of students who could come into an agriculture education program. With Food Science, if you want your student to take a class so you can retire and let them pay for everything, send them to college for food sciences. There is also Small Animal Care, Agriculture Biotechnology, Agriculture Leadership & Communications, and Agriculture Entrepreneurship.”

“I’m originally from Gold Canyon, Ariz., which is a suburb of Phoenix. I’m a first-generation agriculturist in my family – my mother is a nurse and my father is an attorney,” SCCC student Ashlyn Cook-Huggins said at that meeting. “I enrolled in an agriculture class my freshman year of high school hoping it would help me become a dermatologist, and obviously, I strayed from that path, but in the best way possible. Agriculture classes have provided me with a plethora of opportunities I never would have received otherwise, and they have shaped me into who I am today. All of the classes I’ve taken have allowed me to find my true passion in life as well as give others in my class a head start in their careers. I’m here to be an example of how an agriculture education program and a National FFA Organization chapter would be beneficial to all students throughout the district. All these require is support from this board and district, and some passionate teachers willing to give their time to build this amazing program.”