BOE South Nodaway

At the South Nodaway Board of Education meeting on January 17, the board accepted the retirement of Principal Darbi Bauman and approved the promotions of Dustin Skoglund to junior high/high school principal and Aaron Murphy to elementary principal in open session rather than in closed as previously reported.

The South Nodaway R-IV Board of Education met in open and closed session on February 21 to handle the following school district business:

Superintendent Johnnie Silkett announced the Guilford Sports Complex ball field will be the site of the first SN baseball game, even though not all work will be completed. For the first game, the scoreboard will be up, and the parking lot, bleachers, batting cage, poly cap, padded backstop and bathrooms will be ready.

Silkett is recommending a short, simple acknowledgement before the first pitch. When the lights are up and the facilities are complete, he suggests having a dedication of the sports complex. Lights and poles will be shipped out on March 13.

The board approved a 2018-19 salary increase for certified staff. Silkett recommended the increase because of a natural reduction of staff. The base was increased from $31,200 to $32,000. Non-certified personnel will receive a flat amount increase, which correlates to $1,000 for each non-certified per full-time equivalency. The projected increase over last year’s budget is estimated to be between $16,000 to $18,000.

The 2018-19 school calendar was approved.

A seven percent transfer of $162,321 to fund four was made to pay for the projects in Guilford. The school has received extra funds from railroad and utilities taxes, plus the local taxes have been received.

Four policies were adopted covering the following areas: all students will be required to take a civics exam before graduation; suicide awareness; creating personal plans of study for all eighth graders heading into high school; and an at-risk student policy identifying students who are not on track to graduate.

In closed session, the board discussed the hiring of new personnel and the extension of Silkett’s contract. The board moved back to open session at the end of the meeting and approved two new hires.

The first hire is Melinda Claycomb as the physical education teacher. She is certified in PE and health and has 12 years of teaching experience in those fields.

The second hire is Shayne Talmadge for first grade. She did her student teaching with SN during the 2016-17 school year.

Silkett’s contract was extended through the 2019-20 school year with salary approved at $95,000.