Broken Bow School Board Comes to Table Before Thanksgiving

Broken Bow School Board Comes to Table Before Thanksgiving
The Broken Bow School Board meets before Thanksgiving on Monday night.

BROKEN BOW – The Broken Bow School Board met for its pre-Thanksgiving regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the high school board room on Monday night. All members were in attendance.

The board quickly and unanimously approved the prior meeting’s minutes as well as the treasurer’s report and claims.

District accolades were short this month because, as Superintendent Tobey pointed out, many fall sports and activities are still announcing all-district honors; a more complete list of accolades is expected during the December meeting.

Tobey also distributed as a portion of his administrative comments, the results of two recent staff-specific surveys. The first dealt with the upcoming academic calendar, and the second with facilities, which has become a topic of fevered discussion in recent years. A walloping 86.3% of responders said that Broken Bow Public Schools facilities could use an upgrade, and 60.8% of responders rated the current facilities within the school as “Fair” on a scale of “Poor” to “Excellent.”

The auditorium took center stage as most-voted in need of improvement; 76.5% of those who took the survey voiced concerns with its current state. Second was the ag facility, followed by fine arts classrooms and the HVAC system.

Board president Tom Osmond delivered the results of the superintendent evaluation; Tobey scored an overall 3.62 out of four points, a score which continues to improve, up from 3.4.

Additionally, the board reviewed two letters of resignation, both from its arts faculty; Roberta Barnes tendered her resignation as the 7 through 12 grade art educator, and Ellen Kuhl presented a resignation letter as the K through 5 grade art teacher.

Barnes’ resignation will be effective as of December 22 of 2022, and Kuhl will serve out the remainder of the school year in her role. A replacement for Kuhl is scheduled to be interviewed next week. The board also unanimously approved a contract for Bianca Witt, the new counselor.

The review of the official audit for the previous academic year was tabled; there were no expected surprises, but sufficient documentation was unavailable at the time of the meeting.

Given the continued loss of daylight, the board proposed to alter the starting time of future board meetings, at least for the winter. The consensus was a tentative 6 p.m., which will take effect at the next regular meeting, scheduled for December 19. The meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m.

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