ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The USD 480 school board made rather quick work of its agenda at its most recent meeting Monday evening.
Up first in the meeting was the announcement of the latest Educator of the Month, Sylvia Villa from Cottonwood Elementary School, who will be officially recognized at the board’s November 9 meeting.
Superintendent Dane Richardson then gave a quick report for the board.
“I’d like to remind the board the KASB Convention is coming up, that will be Nov. 6 through 8,” Richardson said. “I’ll be reaching out to everyone involved, and there will be vehicles lined up and everything else. I also would like the board to know our auditors came in and began the auditing process Sept. 20, and ran through Oct. 1. They did send some additional questions, but they’re wrapping that up. It’ll be in either November or December when they’ll come and visit with us, give us their report, and then they’ll type everything up for us to give to the board for review. We’ll have that report ready to go in either December or January. We also had our enrollment count day Sept. 21, and we discovered for the 2026-27 school year, that number is 4,472 compared to the 2025-26 year, which was 4,568. We projected to have more, but that was also the week when the ICE activity was going on in town along with some other circumstances, so our numbers were lower. We’ve reached out to the Kansas State Department of Education, and if we can prove that variance, I think we’ll have some grounds to question that. I know there’s been some recent discussions about AVID, and I will be attending an AVID superintendent collaborative conference Oct. 29 in Kansas City so I can learn more about it and speak with other superintendents who have experience with AVID in their districts.”
After approving the consent agenda and the month bills, the board quickly moved through the agenda’s new business items, starting with discussion of camera system licensing.
“The recommended action is to approve a three-year contract with Convergint Technologies in the amount of $24,575.40 for the first year,” Board President Brad Carr said. “The cost for year two will be $25,312.66, and the cost for year three will be $26,072.04.”
The contract was ultimately approved 4-0, with board members Jesus Baeza, Sarah Thompson, and Kaylee Lopez absent.
The board also approved SEED Agreements as presented for up to $5,000 per year and up to $20,000 total for Karina Gonzalez, Nency Guereca Torres, Dalia Guillen, Hilda Rivas de Gonzalez, and Mikayla Zapien Hall and ESOL Plans of Study for Kyle Potts, Kasie Riemann, Wesley Riemann, Ana Suello, Elizabeth Thompson. Both motions were approved 5-0, with Thompson and Lopez absent.
The board then moved on to discussion of the purchase of band equipment for Liberal High School’s “That” Liberal Band.
“LHS is requesting to purchase a new set of concert percussion instruments to serve two concert ensembles,” Carr said. “Due to a scheduling shift that now requires both ensembles to rehearse concurrently, the program must acquire a second full set of percussion equipment to ensure equitable access for all students. Many of the current instruments are also aging and nearing the end of their usable life span.”
“I’m all in favor of this, and they have to come perform for us after they get everything,” board member Nick Hatcher joked before the board approved the motion 5-0, with Thompson and Lopez absent.
The board also approved changes to substitute teacher pay.
“We feel like we’ve been a little behind in this regard, especially for long-term substitutes,” Richardson said. “We’re asking these folks to basically do the job of a teacher in terms of planning and grading and work like that. And even when we were using Edustaff, they were only being paid around only $10 more for all of that extra work. We feel like the changes we’ve proposed will get us back in line, and we’re also hoping it does continue to bring more substitutes in. I know we had around 12 when we started and were taking over from Edustaff, and now we’re at more than 20, so the word is getting out that that’s back to us, and I think that’s also helping in terms of recruitment. We’ve also got multiple teachers out on maternity leave, so this will also help with that.”
The new rates, which were approved 5-0, are now as follows:
• $120 daily = $15/hour Basic Sub - minimum qualifications 60 college credit hours- Emergency Sub license
• $125 daily = $15.63 -Bachelors with Sub license
• $135 daily = $16.88 Certified
• $155 daily = $19.38 Long Term Substitute Assignment Non-Certified Sub (starts on 11th day continuous sub assignment)
• $175 daily = $21.88 Long Term Substitute Assignment Certified Sub (starts on 11th day of continuous sub assignment).
To conclude the meeting’s new business, the board discussed inventory and ticketing software renewal.
“We’ve been using this for quite some time now, and we like it,” Technology Director Rusty Tuman said. “Three years ago was the first time we locked in that three-year rate, and we’d like to do that again.”
Ultimately, the board approved renewing the software for $39,026.73 for three years by a margin of 5-0, with Thompson and Lopez absent.
After board comments and no executive, the meeting adjourned at 6:51 p.m.
