BROKEN BOW— The Broken Bow School Board held their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, November 19 in a packed board room. There were a few comments from board members about the conference that was attended this past week and what was learned from the conference and what Broken Bow could use in the future. Comments from the staff included mention of having to “step up their game” throughout the district to match the new standards. Other comments included congratulations to the Broken Bow Math Bowl team that placed 4th out of 20 teams in Lincoln on Wednesday, November 14. Rusty Kluender told the board that this was the highest Broken Bow has ever placed.
The board did have a few actionable items on the agenda that included leaving the Sandhills Educational Services Cooperative. According to the Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce website, Broken Bow Schools are a member and school district of record for the Sandhills Educational Services Cooperative. Approximately seventeen districts in Custer and Blaine Counties have joined together in a joint effort to provide services for the handicapped children. The discussion at the board meeting was while there is a possibility of more expenses, it will help the school in the long run, but it may not see the positive effects for a couple of years.
Also approved, was the Broken Bow School District joining the Nebraska based Alicap Insurance program. This program is a share program which allows schools to share the burden of insurance. All board members, with the exception of Pam Holcomb, voted to move forward with Alicap. Pam did vote “no” with her concerns centered on the premium cost of Alicap and leaving local business.
Other approvals included approving the strategic plans which the board has been working on for over a month as well as approving the $10,000 bid to fix the sound system in the high school gym. The upgrades for the sound system are a necessity as the current system is muffled and also outdated.
The final two approvals was the approval for the school safety deposit box to have three board members and two staff to have access to the box as well as the purchase of an enclosed cargo trailer priced at $8,709. The school does not currently have a cargo trailer and had been borrowing from those in the community for transporting One-Act equipment. The new cargo trailer will now be used to not only transport One-Act equipment, but Band instruments as well.
The next regular board meeting will be held on Monday, December 17 at 4 P.M.
