BY ALICIA FEYERHERM
USD 489 Board of Education met on Monday, where Superintendent Ron Wilson updated the board on school safety in the district in the wake of the school shooting in Nashville.
Wilson said he has been in communications with Hays PD and expects to bring forward a proposal to add one or two school resource officers once funding has been sorted out.
“Having someone on-campus, immediate, from our administrator’s standpoint, that would be really appreciated,” Wilson said.
Wilson also updated the board on current bills in the state legislature that would impact public education.
“We’re still in that place where we’re seeing education has become the political football,” Wilson said.
Wilson went on to say there is work being done to combine bills.
“It makes it really difficult, though, when you see some really good things coupled with some things that we know are not good,” Wilson said.
Gov. Laura Kelly recommended adding $3 million to mental health grants. The Senate has pulled both the mental health grants and school safety grants, saying they’ll discuss those topics at the end.
Wilson also addressed the school voucher bill. If passed, parents could choose to take the funds typically spent by a school district and instead allocate them towards tuition for a child’s private education.
“We all know that’s a bad bill for our situation in public schools,” Wilson said.
Board President Craig Pallister further commented on the bill, saying he’s been to several forums advocating for public schools.
“Public education is a large portion of the state budget, so it’s an important part of the state budget, don’t be playing games with it right now,” Pallister said.
Nothing has been voted on yet, so the district will have to wait and see how the bills end up.
Other items addressed at the meeting:
- Progress has been made toward the school bond with the City Council passing the annexation of the new high school property into city limits as well as rezoning the property to make it a public and institutional district.
- A resolution was passed to make Russell part of the Special Education Cooperative effective July 1, 2024
- The board approved a motion for $36,000 in turf improvements for the Early Childhood Connections Infant-Toddler playground
- The board also approved a motion for $28,994.60 for improvements to the Wilson Elementary playground.
The next board meeting will be on April 10.