The Fort Scott Splash Pad and Sensory Park was a grassroots project that opened in 2023, according to its Facebook page. This year a new handicapped-accessible restroom and two shading devices were installed on the north side of the park.
Unified School District 234
424 South Main
Fort Scott, KS 66701-2697
www.usd234.org
620-223-0800 Fax 620-223-2760
DESTRY BROWN
Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING
June 13, 2025 – 7:30 A.M.
AGENDA SUMMARY
1.0 Call Meeting to Order David Stewart, President
2.0 Flag Salute
3.0 Approval of the Official Agenda (Action Item)
4.0 Other Business – Personnel Matters – Time __________
4.1 Enter Executive Session – Personnel Matters (Action Item)
4.2 Exit Executive Session – _______ (Time)
4.3 Approval of Personnel Report (Action Item)
5.0 Adjourn Meeting _____ (Time) David Stewart, President
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
Unified School District 234 424 South Main
Fort Scott, KS 66701-2697
www.usd234.org
620-223-0800 Fax 620-223-2760
DESTRY BROWN
Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING
NEWS RELEASE
Monday, June 9, 2025
Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 9, 2025, for their
regular monthly meeting at 424 S Main.
President David Stewart opened the meeting.
The board approved the official agenda, and the consent agenda as follows:
Board Minutes
05-12-25
Financials – Cash Flow Report
Check Register
Payroll – May 15, 2025 – $1,707,170.52
Activity Funds Accounts
USD 234 Gifts
Superintendent Destry Brown reported on the mental health grant that has been approved for the
district.
Assistant Superintendent Terry Mayfield provided the Board with an update of summer facilities,
budget closing for the fiscal year, and an update to the Preschool building.
Special Education Director Tonya Barnes updated the board on Extended School Year and the
various summer projects that are being completed.
The Board Approved the following items:
• Purchase of 385 Student Chrome Books
• Purchase of 90 Staff Laptops
• Purchase of 10 Passenger Van
• Purchase of two 71 Passenger Buses
• Purchase of Passenger Car
• Continued participation in the National School Lunch Program
• Revision to the Policy EE – Food Service Management for “unpaid meal charges”
• E-Rate Category 2 Funding – Purchase of Wireless Access Points
• Renewal of Kansas Insurance Cooperative for Schools Property and Casualty
Insurance
There were none present for public forum.
The Board went into an executive session for negotiations review.
The Board went into an executive session for personnel matters.
President David Stewart adjourned the meeting.
PERSONNEL REPORT – APPROVED
June 09, 2025
RESIGNATIONS/TERMINATIONS/RETIREMENTS:
Altic, Doug – Retirement – Counselor – High School
Hendrickson, Ela – Resignation – Special Education Teacher – High School
Hunsaker – Josseline – Resignation – Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Karleskint, Amanda – Resignation – Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Stepps, Abby – Resignation – 5th Grade Teacher – Eugene Ware
EMPLOYMENT:
Certified Recommendations
Brown, Trey – 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher – Middle School
Campbell, Marjorie – Special Education Teacher – High School
Ellis, Christina – Special Education Teacher – KRI
Johnson, Amanda – Music Teacher – Winfield Scott
Kemmerer, Angie – 8th Grade Science/Social Studies Teacher – Middle School
Mena, Kati – SLP Tele-therapy
Stanley, Tammy – 6th Grade Science Teacher – Middle School
Turner, Jesse – Special Education Teacher – High School
Classified Recommendations for 2025-26 School year
Bradbury, Luke – Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Bruner, Genea – MIS Tech Support
Clayton, Emily – Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Dawson, Jamie – Behavioral Analyst
Hill, Landon – IT Help Desk
Hill, Katherine – Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Montojo, Anthea – Cook – Winfield Scott
Prine, Aubrey – Part Time Paraprofessional – Winfield Scott
Reichard, Besty – MIS Tech Support
Stephens, Emily – MIS Tech Support
Supplemental Recommendations for the 2025-26 school year:
Barner, Alex – Assistant Football Coach – High School
Brown, Trey – Assistant Boys Basketball Coach – Middle School
Coen, Jessica – Special Education Teacher – Extended School Year
Coen, Serenity – Paraprofessional – Extended School Year
Davenport, Heather – Summer School Teacher
Durossette, Jake – Assistant Wrestling Coach – Middle School
Durrosette, Jake – Girl’s Summer Conditioning – High School
Eugene Ware Site Council
Eugene Ware Supplemental
Hall, Addisyn – Paraprofessional – Extended School Year
Kegler, Terra – Paraprofessional – Extended School Year
Merriman, Virginia – Paraprofessional – Extended School Year
Middle School Supplemental
Need a blade upgraded? Charley McKay can do it.
About two years ago, McKay moved to Fort Scott from Hutchinson and found he needed something to do with his time.
His son-in-law, Kale Nelson, had some chainsaw blades that needed sharpening, so McKay worked on them.
Nelson then told some of his friends about the service, and this turned into a new business, called Sharpen It.
He can sharpen “about anything with a blade”, McKay said. “Knives, chainsaws, lawnmowers, Dado… about anything, I have a sharpener for it.”
Before he retired in 2001, he was a refrigeration and air conditioning serviceman in Hutchinson. “Then I worked as a bus driver for Nickerson School District for 14 years before I moved here.”
Most people bring the items that need to be sharpened to his workshop at 738 Osbun, on Fort Scott’s northwest side of town.
“If I have to pick it up, I charge about $1, depending on how far I have to go,” he said.
His sharpening prices: $4-12 for knives, $6-12 for chainsaws, and $5 a piece for lawnmower blades.
“I always make sure that I charge a little cheaper than what’s normal,” he said.
“It might be a day or two out before I get to it,” he said.
However, he said he provides the added service of cleaning the blades before sharpening.
This week is McKay’s vacation, but you can text him at 620.960.6059 and leave a message with your phone number for him to call back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Scott’s new baseball franchise will reveal the teams name and the inning submitter of that game on July 11.
The wait is almost over.
Fort Scott’s new Mid-America League baseball franchise is ready to take the next big step — and the fans are about to find out what it will be called.
Following a month’s-long “Name the Team” contest that brought in hundreds of creative and passionate submissions from the Fort Scott community, the franchise will officially unveil its
name, logo, and identity at the opening night of the “Summer Series” on Friday, July 11th.
One lucky fan — whose submission was selected as the winning entry — will be publicly honored during a pre-game ceremony and awarded two (2) season tickets for life.
“This team is built for and by the Fort Scott community, and it was only fitting that our fans had a hand in shaping its identity,” said Mike Marek, Vice President of the Fort Scott franchise.
“The name we’ve chosen tells a powerful story about the city and the spirit we aim to bring to the ballpark.”
The “Summer Series” a three-game series from July 11-13 between the Texarkana Rhinos and the Joplin Outlaws will feature a family-friendly experience and a sneak peek into the franchise’s future.
Official team merchandise will be available following the announcement
Friday evening game times will be 7:05 pm on Friday and 6:05 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Unified School District 234
424 South Main
Fort Scott, KS 66701-2697
www.usd234.org
620-223-0800 Fax 620-223-2760
DESTRY BROWN
Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING
June 09, 2025 – 5:30 P.M.
AGENDA SUMMARY WITH COMMENTARY
1.0 Call Meeting to Order David Stewart, President
2.0 Flag Salute
3.0 Approval of the Official Agenda (Action Item)
4.0 Approval of the Consent Agenda (Action Item)
4.1 Board Minutes
05-12-25
4.2 Financials – Cash Flow Report
4.3 Check Register
4.4 Payroll – May 15, 2025 – $1,707,170.52
4.5 Activity Funds Accounts
4.6 USD 234 Gifts
5.0 Leadership Reports (Information/Discussion Item)
6.0 New Business
6.1 Student Chromebook Purchase (Action)
6.2 Staff Laptop Purchase (Action)
6.3 10 Passenger Van Purchase (Action)
6.4 71 Passenger Buses Purchase (Action)
6.5 Passenger Car Purchase (Action)
6.6 Participation in the National School Lunch Program (Action)
6.7 Revision to Policy EE – Food Services Management (Action)
6.8 E-Rate Category 2 Funding – Wireless Access Point (Action)
6.9 Kansas Insurance Cooperative for Schools Property and Casualty Insurance Renewal
7.0 Public Forum
8.0 Other Business –Negotiations _____(Time)
9.0 Other Business – Personnel Matters – Time __________
10.0 Adjourn Meeting _____ (Time) David Stewart, President
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Katy Shead, Fort Scott, has been selected as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Katy homeschooled through Veritas Scholars Academy (VSA), which is an online school based in Lancaster, PA. On May 30th, she graduated as valedictorian in her class of 115 other students from all over the world.
Her most difficult class was chemistry, she said. “But it was also the most interesting.”
Despite it not being easy, she has chosen it as a major.
Katy will major in chemistry at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan (student population 1400-1800 students) beginning this fall. She will minor in Greek and Classical Education, she said.
Her goal with this education plan:
“I want to read the Greek Bible on my own, and I want to teach chemistry, or something, science or math at a classical school, especially online.”
“I want to study the Greeks and Romans and the original texts, not just the stuff that people wrote about them,” she said.
Katy has had a classical education.
Classical education has three different stages of learning, she said.
“First is grammar and lots of memorization, foundational knowledge. Second is logic, around middle school age, which is how you make a coherent argument with clear and logical thinking, recognizing fallacies. To connect ‘Oh, this happened in this year and it did affect this.’ The third stage is taking the connections in the logic stage, and using information you already have, and communicating it.”
Katy used this education, this past year, to come up with her own research statement and defended it in a paper and a presentation.
A person in Scotland with expertise in the field and a PhD read her paper and asked questions. A professor guided the process and graded it.
Her research statement was Imago Dei Impact on the Church’s Perception of Autism.
“It was about the inherent value that God gave humans when He created them in His image. The paper argues that if the church recognizes autistic people’s intrinsic value, then they’ll be empowered to love them as they should,” she said. “The point of the paper is that sometimes the autistic members are viewed as charity cases.”
Other awards she has received during her high school years: Dean’s List at VSA from 2021 to 2024, a national award at the 2023 Classical Learning Test, Summa Cum Laude on the 2023 National Latin Exam, inducted into the 202Highest Honors Class at VSA, and Cum Honore Maximo Egregio in 2021, a National Latin Exam she took, earning a perfect score.
During high school, Katy has been a student mentor, an independent tutor of maths and sciences, a literature club co-chair, and a volunteer at K-7 Kanakuk Camp, Missouri. She also worked with special needs people at Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Kansas, and Camp Barnabas, Missouri. She also volunteered at her grandparents’ annual Shead Farm Festival near Garland.
She is the daughter of Haley and Mark Shead.
About National Merit Scholars
16,000 semifinalists competed in the 70th annual National Merit
Scholarship Program, according to an NMS press release. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award,
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a scholarship application, providing information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received, according to the press release. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
“It’s to house our out-of-town artists,” she said. “Our artist’s respite, while here teaching a workshop and doing art shows. It will help our artists have a space close to stay (near their business) and hopefully attract more artists to Fort Scott with a place to stay as well as show their work.”
