South Barber school board hires for daycare, considers changing school hours

South Barber's Board of Education conducted their Nov. 12 business in just over one hour. All members were present as President Mark Pollock called the meeting to order: Emily Lohmann, Karen Watts, Mike Miller, Brett Mott, Jarrod Inman and Bryan Quick. Superintendent Dr. Mylo Miller and Board Clerk Alyssa Gonzales also sat at the table.

Shortly after the meeting began Dr. Miller recognized Nikki Brattin, fourth-grade teacher, as South Barber's Teacher of the Year.

"She's always positive. The kids love her. Mrs. Brattin is respected and liked among her peers. She is so deserving of this honor," Miller said. The superintendent told her, "You represent effort and hard work. It's hard to be a great teacher! We are blessed to have you. Thank you." The superintendent presented her with a gift.

Brattin and her family moved to Kiowa in August 2020 and she has taught nearly four years in various capacities. An accomplished pianist, she also served as accompanist.

Mike Miller thanked the administration and teachers for organizing such a meaningful Veterans Day program – the "younger students for being so well-behaved and the older kids for such good presentations." Miller, a veteran himself, said the vets attending the VFW Veterans Day dinner and program Monday night discussed how much they appreciated South Barber's program for the community.

Dr. Miller said that South Barber USD 255 is now an official Entry Level Driver Training Center for Commercial Drivers License and School Bus Endorsements. He said the Kansas Supervised Driving requires 12 hours of driving. He said the district is in need of bus drivers in the most likely near future. The new activity bus arrived on Oct. 29.

South Barber School Board Action

Payment of monthly expenditures totaling $612,700 received board approval.

Discussing Christmas bonuses for all staff, the board voted to give $100 stipends to all. Miller said the district will pay the bill including the taxes. This will cost the district about $80,000 he estimates.

Some coaching changes were board-approved: to flip Michael Shklar from head coach of junior boys basketball to assistant coach, and Casey Kersten from assistant coach to head coach.

The board discussed a divided issue concerning the 2025-2026 school calendar with proposing the school starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. School now starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. Miller said school would go on 10 days longer to make up for shorter days.

"The idea is to give some time back to families," Dr. Miller said. After surveying parents, students, teachers, staff, etc., he said they've found opinions to be split about 50/50. Lohmann said she had more parents against it. Miller said, "overtime concern is a daily issue." The issue was tabled as the board wants more input.

Raising the pay for substitute secretaries from $10.30 an hour to $11.30 received board approval.

The board approved the use of the high school auditorium by the Hometown Market for their annual meeting on Dec. 2.

John Roberts was hired as a substitute teacher for preK–12th grades. Regarding South Barber's daycare, the board approved the following: hiring of Mandy Lacy as the assistant daycare director; hiring of Halli Meairs (NWOSU student) as a substitute for the daycare; hiring of Heather Cumbie as a substitute for the daycare.

The walkway/gated fence area between the Agricultural Science Building and Main Building was again discussed. School personnel are working with Berton Walz on the fence, so the project is not yet ready for approval.

The board approved the Kansas Accreditation System action plan for structured literacy with LETRS training.

4-H Club Days received approval to use the high school from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.

The board held a 10-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel, with no action taken afterwards.

The board discussed the Bermuda grass seeding and sprinkler system briefly, although it was not on the agenda. Some of the board members are not happy with the different types of Bermuda grass and more.

Principals Comment on Students

Elementary Principal Kaynette Scheck said, "We had a wonderful turnout for the Fall Parent Teacher Conferences with 91% of our families in attendance."

Scheck said the elementary STUCO is doing a great job. SBE Student Council visited first- through sixth-grade classrooms this week to share with students some of the things they are working on and gather feedback from the student body.

Project Playground – STUCO voted to purchase a portable 9-Square in the Air game for the playground. This piece can be used outside or inside. It can also adjust to a 5, 6 or 7-foot height. They are planning a sandbox clean-out day to clear the sandbox of weeds and purchase some new sand and sand toys.

Litter on the playground was a large problem last year. STUCO is brainstorming ways to make all students more accountable for how they treat the playground and school.

Scheck said AVID teachers are doing an outstanding job incorporating AVID collaboration strategies into their lesson plans. She said it is really exciting to walk through classrooms and see the high engagement and hear how students are learning to converse with each other, listen to one another's ideas, and add on to an idea. This school year, teachers are learning several new strategies or structures each month to experiment with and discover where they can be most effective. The new iReady reading curriculum has many WICOR strategies built into the lessons already.

Grade 7-12 Principal Steve Neal said student eligibility was pulled, and "we have five on the list for the week of Nov. 11. We are close to beginning after-school school and offering tutoring help to those on the list. I spoke with our local EMS supervisor Mike Loreg and we have nine students that will be involved and will receive the certifications listed. These students will also take the Incident Command System courses ICS 100, 200, and possibly 700 courses." Four certifications are available: CPR, First Aid, Control the Bleeding, and Search and Rescue, and the ICS 100, 200 and 700. Parent-teacher conferences went very well with about 82% of parents participating.

Upcoming events:

Pratt Tech Day (Avid 9/10) Interested Juniors and Seniors, Thursday, Nov. 14, 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Junior high basketball – Cherokee Tournament, Thursday, Nov. 14,

Sectional football at Rexford-Golden Plains, Friday, Nov. 15, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Junior high basketball – Cherokee Tournament, Saturday, Nov. 16,

High school basketball practice may begin Nov. 18

Thanksgiving Break will run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1.