USD 333 board approves hiring of administrators

The hiring of an assistant principal and an athletic and activities director was among the classified staff changes approved by the Unified School District 333 board of education during its regular meeting on Monday night.
Chad Kenworthy, currently the principal at Valley Heights Junior-Senior High School, was hired as the assistant principal of instruction for USD 333, which is a newly created position.
The hiring of former Cloud County Community College men’s basketball coach Chad Eshbaugh as the Concordia Junior-Senior High School and Concordia Middle School assistant principal and director of athletics was also approved.
Kenworthy earned his bachelor of arts degree from Doane College in 2000 and his master’s degree in education administration from Grand Canyon University in 2008. He has been an administrator in the Valley Heights school district since 2016.
Eshbaugh coached at Cloud County Community College for 11 years, including seven years as the head coach. He spent the last four years as an assistant coach at Jacksonville University.
A graduate of Washburn University with a bachelor of science degree in history and secondary education, Eshbaugh taught at Eudora High School and Topeka West High School before taking the job at Cloud County Community College.
The board of education met in two separate executive sessions, totaling 90 minutes, for the purpose of discussing non-elected personnel prior to approving the classified staff changes.
Jordan Champlin was hired as the USD 333 social worker, a new position. She resigned as the JAG-K specialist.
The board approved the hiring of Shawn Hood as the Concordia Elementary School art teacher and Rachel Lord as the Concordia Junior-Senior High School art teacher.
The other hire approved was Brandy Rose-McCubbin as an interrelated teacher at Washington County.
Resignations approved include Paul Gladbach, vo ag instructor; Fallon Craig and Robert Smith, interrelated teachers at Washington County; and Deanna Brown, interrelated teacher at USD 109.
The retirement of Tami Peltier, Concordia Junior-Senior High School art teacher, effective June 1, was approved.
Also approved was the transfer of Rio Brown from Concordia Elementary School counselor to Concordia Junior-Senior High School physical education teacher.
Included in the certified staff new hires for the school district include:
Amy Eshbaugh, regular ed para educator; Shannon James, assistant cross country coach; Lora Watson, substitute teacher; Carly Bloomfield, head high school girls’ basketball coach; John Turner, head high school boys’ and girls’ tennis coach; Rio Brown, head high school volleyball coach; Scott Coppoc, substitute teacher; Mariah Blazek, assistant high school volleyball coach; and Amanda Huff, food service substitute.
Resignations approved include:
Chris Stiles, high school drama director; Tristen Leiszler, assistant high school girls’ basketball coach; and Ashley Carlgren, assistant high school volleyball coach.
In other action taken during the meeting, the board approved a resolution to fill a vacant position on the board of education.
Tim Beims, who currently holds the District 2, Position 5 seat on the board, has announced he is stepping down. That position is up for election in November.
A public notice will be published in the newspaper and then the board can fill the vacancy no sooner than 15 days following the publication.
The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with JAG-K for the 2021-2022 school year.
A proposal for starting a junior high school cheer program was presented to the board by Bobbi McWhorter.
If approved, the participants in the cheer program would cheer during the junior high school boys’ basketball season.
The board members agreed to having the district administration finalize a plan for the cheer program to be presented as an action item during the May meeting.
Kelly Struebing, director of operations and technology director, presented the board information on the impact of the extremely cold weather in February on the district’s utility bills.
Struebing said that Prairie Land Electric will add a power charge adjustment based on usage that will be spread out over 36 months.
The electrical bill was up slightly for the month to about $19,000 because of the cold weather.
Struebing said that the district will receive the power charge adjustment of about $43,000, which brings the total bill to over $62,000.
“What those adjustments are is Prairie Land had to purchase energy that they couldn’t produce,” Struebing said.
If the district chose to pay the entire bill it would receive interest savings from Prairie Land of $1,100.
Struebing also provided information on the natural gas charge to the district.
USD 333 in part of a group of schools and businesses that partner with Symmetry, a company that purchases natural gas on the open market.
“Symmetry has been a great company for Kansas schools for a long time,” Struebing said.
During the cold snap in February the allotment of natural gas purchased by Symmetry for Kansas schools was used up.
Symmetry then had to go to the open market to provide gas for the districts it serves.
Struebing said that the typical cost of a unit of natural gas is about $3.
USD 333 was charged $17.75 per unit during the extreme cold.
Struebing said that the district could pay the entire bill of $38,000, which is about five of six times the normal bill.
If the district would pay in full it would receive a five percent discount.
The Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) is recommending that school districts join a legal action.
Struebing said that during an emergency the legal limit the price can be raised is 25 percent. That would be $4.57 per unit for natural gas.
It would cost USD 333 $650 to join the legal action.
Should USD 333 join the legal action it would write Symmetry a check for the statutory legal limit of $4.57.
KASB will assure that the natural gas will stay on for those districts joining the legal action.
“They (KSAB) feel that they can come to an agreement with Symmetry before it ever goes to phase three which would be a class action lawsuit,” Struebing said.
Members of the district's food service staff were presented a Certificate of Appreciation from the Kansas Department of Education in recognition of their heroic efforts since March 2020 ensuring Kansas kids receive healthy and safe meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As most of you know, food service is a crucial part of the educational process,” superintendent of schools Quentin Breese sai., “When many people didn't want to get out, our food service folks were the first to jump in and get our kids fed.”