By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

The USD 397 board of education approved spending $11,794 at its Monday meeting to install a new scoreboard at the football field in honor of the late Bud Peterson, a longtime football coach at Centre High School. Installation will be an additional cost.

Purchased from Power Ad Company Inc. of Salina, the eight-foot-high, 26-foot-wide, and eight-inch-deep scoreboard will be larger than the current 20-foot-wide scoreboard and will identify the football field as Bud Peterson Field.

Almost $2,000 of the cost will come from the Bud Peterson Memorial Fund. The remainder will come from capital outlay.

Roof repairs approved

The board approved $22,370 in repairs to school roofs. The winning bids were from Wray Roofing. Roofing will be replaced on the elementary side of the school lunchroom area and along the north gym, and flashing will be replaced on the gym roof.

New wall hangings approved

Richard Idleman, director of operations for IServe Inc., received approval for installing a wall-hanging system on the west wall of the main gymnasium to recognize past winners in football, volleyball, basketball, track, wrestling, and scholars bowl. The board approved a bid of $1,796 from Graphic Concepts Inc. for purchase of the metal rectangular signs to be used in the wall hanging.

Idleman reported that the Herington Police Department has accepted an agreement with Marion County Sheriff’s Department to assist in responding to emergencies at the school.

Copiers leased

The board approved a five-year lease on three new copiers from Toshiba for the high school office, elementary school workroom, and business education room.

Kemble’s contract extended

After spending about 30 minutes in executive session, some of that time with Superintendent Jerri Kemble, to discuss their evaluation of her performance, the board extended her contract through June 30, 2016.

The board accepted the resignation of full-time bus driver Troy Peterson, effective Feb. 22. He will continue as a substitute bus driver. Annette Nienstedt was employed as a route bus driver.

Lori Soo Hoo, director of Marion County Parents as Teachers, gave an update on the program. She said the program connects children and parents to the K-12 Common Core Standards set by the state, focusing on mathematics and English language arts and literacy.

Currently, P.A.T. serves 87 families including 102 children in Marion County. It serves nine families including 11 children in the Centre school district.

Superintendent’s report

• Middle school science teacher and coach Deb Wiles was recognized Jan. 28 as “Coach of the Year” by the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce. She is retiring at the end of the year.
• Three middle school students found $80 in a hallway during the Cougar Classic and turned the money in to the office.
• The Kansas State University Dept. of Nutrition is coming to Centre on March 5 to make a video of Centre Perk.
• Science teacher Kara Luce has been recognized as a national workshop leader in two high-level science programs.
• The board viewed a video created at Centre about its student-learning projects that was played Jan. 30 for a joint session of the Kansas House and Senate Education Committees. Kemble distributed a flyer created for the lawmakers.
• The district has saved $11,808 in utility costs since joining the Kansas Joint Utility Management Program. Savings in December alone totaled $1,679. KJUMP is a natural gas purchasing cooperative sponsored by the Kansas Association of School Boards. It pools the natural gas needs of its members to realize savings in energy costs.