BY ALICIA FEYERHERM
Superintendent Ron Wilson gave updates on the upcoming Bond vote during his report.
Parent informational meetings at Lincoln and Roosevelt have been taking place to give parents an opportunity to ask questions. Informational displays have been put up in all the schools.
“Any patron that comes into any of our activities or events have seen those big kiosk boards and hopefully starting some conversations,” Wilson said.
Informational meetings are also being hosted with the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs. On April 22, there will be a bond presentation during Chamber Chat.
“Lots of great things are going on with the bond as we continue to push forward,” Wilson said.
Early voting starts on April 25. Election Day is May 10.
The Hays High Chess team was recognized for being back-to-back 5A State Champions.
The program started four years ago with help from the TMP Chess Team.
“Randy Brull (the TMP Chess Sponsor) was a huge advocate for me getting this started at Hays High and [he] and I worked very closely over the last four years getting it to where it is,” Hays High Chess Sponsor Erin Holder said.
Noah Bruggeman placed sixth overall and went on to compete at nationals in Memphis where he took 11th overall in the K-12 division.
The Hays High wrestling teams were also recognized.
The girls wrestling team qualified four girls for state – Sarah Zimmerman, Addison Ottie, Katie Gutierrez and Lexi Burton.
The team placed 2nd in the 5A/6A tournament with Zimmerman earning state runner up and Burton finishing 6th. This is the third time Zimmerman has placed at state.
The boys wrestling team qualified eight boys for the state tournament – Elijah McCullough, Brayden Hines, Cyrus Vajnar, Harley Zimmerman, Aaron Weigel, Dalton Dale, Gavin Meyers and Gavin Nutting.
The eight qualifiers are the most by Hays High in 10 years. Meyers was state champion and finished an undefeated 37-0 season. Zimmerman finished as state runner-up.
“It was a great year, a fun time, and as a still fresh coach, it was an amazing year for me to start out with,” Head Coach Heath Meder said.
For the past year, students have received free lunches through state grants. Paid lunches will resume next school year at the previous rate. While the cost for producing lunches has gone up, the district is utilizing carryover from the past year to keep prices down for students.
Tree Top Security Consultant Dallas Haselhorst presented to the board his services following the recent cybersecurity event in the district.
“Cybersecurity becomes commonplace in every single decision, every single thing that you do from an IT perspective,” Haselhorst said.
Haselhorst has been working with the district to improve their security defenses and says he has seen significant improvements.
“Obviously, there was a lot of urgency to it which is not ever easy to deal with,” Haselhorst said.
After Hasehorst’s presentation, the board reviewed and approved a bid for new Driver’s Education cars.
The next board meeting will be held on April 25.