Safety to improve on playground
At their final meeting of the year, the Perkins County School board approved the installation of rubber mulch, borders and mats at the elementary playground.
The board began looking at this option more in-depth last winter when a staff member was injured in an area where melted snow pools and freezes.
“Looking at it from a safety factor, the sooner we get it done the better,” said Board President Jayson Bishop, but he and board member Amy Kroeker also questioned if it would disrupt the recess schedule.
Elementary Principal Nicole Long said they can easily work around that by having recess elsewhere.
Board member Angie Patrick said there have been snow and ice already, and they don’t need anyone else falling and getting hurt.
Long said Custodian Dana “Butch” Gorgen has done an excellent job of keeping the area as safe as possible, but there is currently no other way to the playground.
Scott Osler made his last motion as a Perkins County School board member to approve the $52,276 bid by Sterling West in Gothenburg for the project. Up to $16,616.25 can be covered by grants. The board approved unanimously, with Ryan Hendricks absent.
The board also approved a nearly $10,000 quote from Potts Electric for new LED lighting in Pritchett Gym. Board member Larry Pritchett, abstained from the vote.
The family of Jim Glenn is donating $5,000 towards the project.
Official school calendar
Athletic Director Jeremy Struckman noted the official calendar for PCS is on the school website at perkinscountyschools.org.
Patrick asked why there are so many different calendars, as it gets confusing. She also said the Google calendar is easy to transfer to phones, which is why many people use it.
The calendar is powered by rSchoolToday, a sports management platform used by nearly every school in Nebraska. Struckman said all of PCS’s sports contracts are through rSchool, which automatically generates the calendar.
Other calendars have been removed, and there should now be only one calendar to access.
Gym projection
The new gym projection was delivered and installed last month at a cost of $5,175.
Renee Seiler’s marketing class has been selling advertising to be displayed on the jumbo screen during varsity events and on Striv.tv during timeouts and halftime. If interested, contact Seiler at 308-352-4735 or renee.seiler@perkinscountyschools.org.
Patrick mentioned the light in front of the screen which makes it difficult to see. Picquet said he and Seiler have discussed some options to correct this.
Points of interest
• Negotiated agreements for 2019-20 and 2020-21 with certificated staff were unanimously approved. Base pay for 2019-20 increased $600 to $35,000, and will increase another $600 for the 2020 school year.
• High School Principal Dean Friedel said he sent notifications to a couple families and the county attorney due to lack of attendance.
He said they are working with the families, but ultimately, if the students choose not to make up the attendance they will not receive credit for the semester.
• Struckman said the school will host SPVA music in January and SPVA junior high track in the spring.
• After continued problems with the current phone system, the school received a bid for a new system from Great Plains Communications at nearly $22,000. The board will make a decision on how to move forward after hearing how the change will affect their monthly phone bills.
• New board members, Angela Gloy and Chris Fryzek, will be sworn in at the next meeting, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. They replace members Scott Osler and Ryan Hendricks.