BROKEN BOW – The Broken Bow School Board held their regular meeting on Monday night in the high school board room. Board member Tim Chancellor’s absence was excused.
The minutes of the previous board meeting were approved unanimously, and Treasurer J.B. Atkins delivered the treasurer’s report. Atkins said that so far, the district’s expenditures and revenue are on par with, and could be seen as healthier, than last year’s numbers.
“Last month we had about $871,000 in expenditures, which in our budget is actually down from the year before. Revenue is up, and expenses are down, which is always a good thing.”
Superintendent Darren Tobey delivered the district accolades, which included lauding the Broken Bow wrestling team’s state championship from the past weekend.
“Nine of the eleven wrestlers are underclassmen,” Tobey said, “So we have a chance to keep that rolling in the right direction.”
Tobey touted the achievements of Broken Bow’s cheerleading squad as well; the girls earned runner-up honors in traditional and game-day cheer at the state level.
In his administrative comments, Tobey presented possible minor changes to the academic calendar for the 2023-2024 year, citing the results of a recent staff survey.
“We kind of changed our spring break a little bit to get the best of both worlds,” Tobey said, “So the people that wanted spring break the same weekend as Easter for an extended break, and the people who wanted that Thursday and Friday off. So instead of taking the 14th and 15th off, we moved it to the 21st and 22nd.”
Tobey also touched on abuse of the weight room facilities; having found recent evidence of drug paraphernalia during the weight room’s overnight hours, Tobey said that precautionary measures must be taken to ensure the safety of all.
“We’ve had kids hanging out there late at night who don’t have access to the facility that are getting key fobs from somebody, so we’re going to try to clean that up in the next week. We’re going to shut off access to all fobs that get into the weight room; anybody who has a fob that wants to continue to use the weight room will have to come in and redo their agreement.”
Tobey mentioned that part of the weight room’s reset could be a price increase from $30 to $45 a month. He concluded his comments by floating the potential purchase of a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica in an effort to update the district’s fleet, though no decision was made.
The district unanimously hired two more staff: Haley Savala will be the district’s new Life Skills teacher, and Josh Cyboron made his special education assignment within the district official. The board also accepted Carolyn Troxel’s resignation.
The board then evaluated its report card; Tobey pointed to the general upward trend in test scores over the past few years, crediting the faculty for the district’s growth, particularly at the elementary level.
“There’s not a single person in the building that hasn’t bought in wholeheartedly to what we’re trying to do. When we have meetings, they’re always talking about getting better and setting higher goals. Some of the things you look at and think they’re crazy, but they’ll get there. We have a chance to test at 90% as a school this year.”
The negotiations for teacher contracts were presented before the board; nothing was finalized, though the school board anticipates a resolution at its next board meeting, which is scheduled for March 20 at 6 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 6:38.
