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Friday
March 29th, 2024

usd 480 logoELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

While there will be only a few items of new business on the agenda for Monday’s USD 480 school board meeting, there will be plenty of other items for the board to discuss Monday evening starting at 6:30. 

In the consent agenda, the board will be asked to approve the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between USD 480 and Seward County Community College regarding concurrent enrollment. 

“It is the policy of the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) and Seward County Community College to encourage high school students to take advantage of postsecondary opportunities by enrolling in college courses while still in high school,” the MOU noted. “SCCEP is the SCCC program to provide postsecondary learning opportunities for eligible high school students from partnering high schools. The SCCEP meets KBOR concurrent enrollment policies as of the date of this agreement. Academic credit will be granted by the college for course work successfully completed by the student and may qualify as both high school and college credit. SCCEP course work will qualify as credit applicable toward the SCCC Associate in Science, Associate in Arts, Associate in General Studies, or Associate in Applied Sciences degrees. SCCEP course work will also transfer to Kansas Regents universities, as per the university’s transfer articulation agreements. Students will be responsible for payment to SCCC for the negotiated amount of tuition, books and other applicable costs except in the case of tiered technical courses. SCCEP courses must be reviewed annually by SCCC faculty in the discipline to assure grading standards, course management, instructional delivery and content meet or exceed those in regular on-campus sections, and each SCCEP program must be reviewed at least every five years by SCCC to assure compliance and quality considerations.”

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In the first item of the agenda’s first round of new business, the board will also be asked to approve an MOU between USD 480 and the Jobs for America’s Graduates – Kansas (JAG–K) program. 

“JAG–K creates business, industry and education partnerships committed to achieving the mission of JAG, which is to ensure at-risk high school students remain in school, attain basic employability skills through classroom and career-based learning experiences through the students’ time, are provided with academic support services, graduate and receive 12 months of follow-up services by the JAG–K career specialist,” the MOU noted. “Follow-up services help assure JAG–K participants are successfully transitioned into a career and/or pursue a postsecondary education to enhance their career entry and advancement. The Multi-Year School-to-Career Program is based on the JAG model and serves high school students for up to four years in school and for an additional 12 months of follow-up services. The partners are committed to providing a world-class school-to-career program, a process of continuous improvement will be implemented and maintained throughout the existence of the JAG–K accredited program.”

The board will also be discussing e-rate switch projects. 

“This year began a new 5-year funding cycles for e-rate.  We submitted two Category 2 (Infrastructure) projects,” the agenda information noted. “Project A requested bids for three core switches, Project B requested bids for 250 switches for the buildings. The total for both projects per winning bid was $1,088,608 from ISG.  E-Rate funding this cycle is $799,596.00.  E-rate will pay 85 percent of the $799,596 or $679,656.  This means for the total project of $1,088,608 the district will need to pay $408,951 (38 percent of the project). There were lower bids, but these companies did not meet specs (wrong switch, annual maintenance fees not included). USD 480 uses the e-rate funds to continue the rotation cycle for switches and access points.  The e-rate cycle that begins with the 21-22 fiscal will be used for switches.  The plan is to use the 5-year cycles to replace switches and then the next cycle to replace access points.  This ensures that all switches and access points are replaced every 10 years. Staff is recommending the board approve the bids from ISG for the e-rate switch projects.”

The board will have another round of new business after a set of executive sessions, with the first item being discussion of the ESP performance contract closeout agreement – staff is recommending the board approve execution of the closeout agreement with ESP upon legal consent, and to authorize the district to make the final payment of $365,064.20 upon execution. To conclude the meeting, the board will have a workshop to discuss facility needs and upgrades and budget adjustments for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.