Northeast Nodaway BOE

The Northeast Nodaway R-V Board of Education set the tax levy during its regular meeting August 17.

The Northeast Nodaway School Board set the 2017-18 tax levy at $5.8331 per $100 of assessed evaluation, which is the lowest levy the district has seen since 2010 due to an increase in the state railroad and utilities assessment from the new KCP&L plant south of Maryville. The plant’s assessment value is divided between all of the school districts in Nodaway County.

Preschool teacher Heidi Moffat gave the board an overview of her preschool program. She currently has 15 students this year. The district offers a half-day and a full-day option. Last year, she implemented a few strategies she learned from Horace Mann.

She allowed the students to pick their own jobs and then problem solve how they would share the duties. She also started letting students keep out projects they were working on even if they were not finished at clean up time. She stated this allowed the students to continue their thought process and said she has seen good results from these techniques.

Mandy and Shane Adwell, Ravenwood Ball Park Association, asked the board if it would be willing to contribute money toward park renovations. They would like to extend the retaining wall and pour concrete under the bleachers to help keep the area dry and make it easier to pick up trash. They also would like to put new aluminum on the bleacher seats and add new railings and end caps to the sharp metal edges to increase safety.

The board was in agreement that concrete should be poured first so as not to ruin the newly-refurbished bleachers by moving them later. The association will approach the city council to ask for funds and will then check back with the school at a later date.

The Parent Teacher Organization provided all the school supplies for the students again this year. They would like to purchase playground equipment for preschoolers this year. Their first meeting is Tuesday, August 29.

The district has 10 new students and has lost nine students this year.

Washington Roofing and Insulation, Kansas City, will repair hail damage on the roof for $14,350. The board also approved spending an additional $11,656 to have them spray foam insulation around areas that are leaking in hopes of stopping the leaks.

It was approved to purchase a touch screen interactive TV and a searchable database program for an approximately $2,000 start-up cost and an additional $350 annual activation fee. There is also an initial cost of $5 per uploaded photo. The district will research TV prices.

All class composite photos, sports photos, school club photos and more will be loaded onto the TV program. Users will be able to utilize a search engine to find the photo they wish to view.

The school board members worked on potential goals for the upcoming year. Some possible updates are fixing the insulation in the shop building, new lights in the locker rooms, a buzzer entry system for the school, adding a second ball game entrance and lighting near the trailer, adding handicap parking and other items. No action was taken. The board will work on the goals for the next two months before voting to adopt them.

The next school board meeting will be Wednesday, September 20.