USD 333 board appoints new member, discusses facilities plan

The Concordia Unified School District 333 board of education approved appointing Jenny Parker to a vacant position on the board during its regular meeting on Monday night.
Parker, who is expected to sworn in during the April board of education meeting, will fill the Position No. 2, Sub-District No. 2 seat that became vacant when Mark Nordell resigned in January.
The board interviewed two candidates for the position, including Parker and Bryan Cleveland, during the meeting.
Following the interviews, board member Kevin Pounds made the motion to appoint Parker to the position. It was seconded by Tony Miller and passed 4-1.
Board member Nancy Owen was not in attendance.
Pounds, Miller, Bryan Bombardier and John Culley voted to appoint Parker to the board Brad Berk cast the opposing vote.
Parker, a longtime Concordia resident, is a foster care administrator for the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
“Obviously, being a social worker for 21 years I have a passion kids and family,” Parker said of why she wanted to serve on the board of education, “I do have a passion for Concordia and a passion for learning and giving kids every opportunity we can.”
During the meeting, the board continued its discussion on a possible bond issue to fund improvements to the Concordia Junior-Senior High School building.
Tucker Peddicord, Lighthouse Construction Guidance, presented the board with and updated plan for upgrades to the junior-senior high school that has a estimated cost of $23,128.522.
Peddicord also presented an option to that plan for the construction of a gymnasium with three courts that could also be utilized by the public. It carries an additional estimated cost of $6,885,269.
In November of 2021, the voters in USD 333 rejected a $48.5 bond proposal that would have paid the costs to construct, equip and furnish renovations and additions to district facilities.
Also voted down was a proposed one-percent citywide general purpose sales tax that would have gone toward helping fund the facilities improvements.
If the sales tax had passed, 90 percent of the revenue generated would have gone toward paying down the bond and 10 percent would have been available to the city of Concordia for infrastructure improvements.
With USD 333 still facing facilities issues, the board of education revisited conversations about possible upgrades during a special meeting last October.
Peddicord and the development team presented a renovation plan to the board last December that had an estimated cost of $33.6 million.
The proposed plan addressed five areas including building infrastructure upgrades, $13,492,035; renovations - accessibility, $3,689,830; renovations - program enhancements, $6,616,255; renovations - misc. upgrades, $4,648,320; and an auxiliary gymnasium,$5,164,800.
I”I think at the end of the day we had a 33 and a half million dollar project, that when we came back reviewed last time we had discussed reductions to get it down to $30 million,” Peddicord said.
The updated plan presented to the board by Peddicord reduces the scope of the building infrastructure upgrades and lowers the cost to $8,300,000.
By removing a proposed classroom bar elevator, the cost of the accessibility upgrades are lowered to $3,141,070.
The cost of the program enhancement upgrades remains at $6,616,255.
The proposed renovations - misc. upgrades were removed and the cost of the school side auxiliary gymnasium, with one regulation size court, was reduced to $5,071,198.
Peddicord also presented the option to the updated plan that includes the construction of a new auxiliary gymnasium with three regulation size courts that would be utilized by both the school district and the public. The additional cost of the option is $6,885,269.
“This is mutually beneficial for the city and the school in that during the day, ideally the school would have access to two gyms for practices and for PE and then the city would have full access to one gym. And in off hours, the city would have full access to three gyms,” Peddicord said.
Superintendent of schools Quentin Breese said that the option presented for the construction of the gymnasium with three courts is a “win-win.”
“The city needs space as well. And we also need space. And this covers both sides of the coin, so to speak,” Breese said. “We felt that this would be a great opportunity to give the city designated space all that they could use, with access to an extra two gyms on a day if they decided to host a Concordia Rec volleyball tournament or basketball tournament or pickleball tournament.”
In moving forward, school district representatives and Peddicord will meet with the Concordia city commissioners to discuss a possible partnership on the plan presented.
Included in the certified staff changes approved by the board was the resignation of Chandra Lambert, a second grade teacher at the Concordia Elementary School and the hiring of Michalea Wetter and Bailey Blackwood as early childhood special education itinerant teachers.
Kelly Struebing, district director of operations and technology director, reported to the board that the district is applying to replace two school buses through the Kansas Clean Diesel Program.
The Kansas Clean Diesel Program was established in 2008 by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to help reduce diesel emissions and provide partial funding to school districts for fleet upgrades.
Diesel Emissions Reduction Act State Grant Program funds from the Environmental Protection Agency are used to provide project assistance for diesel fleet improvements.
“This program allows school districts, if they are approved, the ability to decommission school buses that qualify.”
A district can decommission up to two of its buses that are at least 10 years old and receive 25 percent of the cost of replacing those buses.
The two buses the district are looking to replace are the 47-passenger preschool bus and a 53-passenger route bus.
Through the Kansas Bus Purchasing Program, the district is looking to purchase a 47-passenger Blue Bird bus at a price of $113,692 and a 53-passenger Blue Bird bus at a cost of $121,180, for a total cost of $234,872.
Struebing said that the 25-percent rebate the district would receive through the Clean Diesel Program amounts to $58,718, lowering the total cost of the two buses to $176,154.
The administration will present the purchase of the buses to the board as an action item during the April meeting.
The board met in two executive sessions, that included Breese, for a total of 15 minutes, for the purpose of discussing non-elected personnel.