Category Archives: Schools

Fort Scott, Schools

U234 Board of Education Minutes of March 7

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NEWS RELEASE

 

Monday, March 7, 2022

 

Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met at the Board of Education office on Monday, March 7, 2022, for their regular monthly meeting.

President James Wood opened the meeting.  The board approved the official agenda.  The board also approved the consent agenda as follows:

 

A.    Minutes

B.    Bills and Claims

C.    Payroll – February 18, 2022 – $1,430,277.49

D.    Financial Report

E.     Activity fund accounts­­­­­­

 

There was one comment in the public forum section of the meeting.

Written reports were shared by principals.  In addition, the board heard reports from Dalaina Smith, Academics Director; Ted Hessong, Superintendent; and Gina Shelton, Finance Director/Board Clerk.

Superintendent Hessong gave an ESSER III update.

Board members approved the following:

 

·       Contract with HTK Architects for options to expand the preschool center

·       Pre-funding early retirement recommendation

·       Membership in the Greenbush Perkins Consortium

·       Boiler repair with CDL

 

Board members shared comments and then went into executive session to discuss employer-employee negotiations.  The board returned to open meeting and then went into executive session for preliminary discussion relating to the acquisition of real property.  The board returned to open meeting and then went into executive session to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel.  The board returned to open meeting and approved the following employment matters:

 

A.    Resignation of Mary Jo Harper, Eugene Ware music teacher, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year

B.    Resignation of Kristin Duffey, Eugene Ware fifth grade teacher, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year

C.    Resignation of William Hall, high school math teacher, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year

D.    Resignation of Carrie Southwell, Eugene Ware third grade teacher on leave of absence, effective March 3, 2022

E.     Resignation of Jennifer Hartman, high school English teacher, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year

F.     Retirement of Jim Pruitt, central office maintenance, effective May 12, 2022

G.    Resignation of Judy Warren, Eugene Ware paraprofessional, effective February 24, 2022

H.    Resignation of Jennifer Durkin, high school paraprofessional, effective March 11, 2022

I.      Leave of absence for Hayden Travis, Winfield Scott second grade teacher

J.      Addition of a high school counselor position and a middle school counselor position for the 2022-23 school year

K.    Employment of Suzan Durnell as the elementary instructional coach for the 2022-23 school year

L.     Employment of Jonathon Barnes as a high school social studies teacher for the 2022-23 school year

M.   Employment of Lannette Wood as a high school paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year

N.    Employment of Makyah Goldsby as a middle school intramural track coach for the 2021-22 school year

O.    Employment of Kathi Hall as a high school assistant softball coach for the 2021-22 school year; A stipend for Dave Martin as a high school assistant swim coach for the 2021-22 school year

P.     Addition of a high school assistant boys’ tennis coach for the 2021-22 school year

 

The board adjourned.

Fort Scott, Schools

FSHS Talking Tigers: Three National Qualifiers

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Submitted photo.
Submitted by Angella Curran, FSHS Forensic and Debate Teacher
The Fort Scott High School Talking Tigers had five students who broke to the Final House, plus three National Qualifiers!
Competing in Senate:
Lillian Collins – 2nd place National Qualifier!
Kinsley Davis
Finals House:
Shekhar Gugnani-1st
Neil Gugnani -4th
Cadence Tuck
Joy Self
Jase Anderson
Consolation House:
Regen Wells – 4th place
Silvia Moreno
Caroline Barnes (PO House 2 in preliminary round)
2nd Place SWEEPS for the team!!!
Congratulations Talking Tigers!!!
Entertainment, Fort Scott, Schools

4th Grade All-State Musician Performs

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Submitted photo.

Eugene Ware Elementary 4th grader, Charly Gulager, performed on February 24th with 160 of the best elementary
singers in the state of Kansas.

600 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders auditioned in autumn to be a part of this prestigious ensemble, twelve of them from Eugene Ware.

Charly was selected in December and had just two months to
memorize the music for the performance, requiring her to meet each week outside of class with her music teacher, MJ Harper, and to practice on her own at home.

Students who made All-State Elementary Choir rehearsed from 10 AM until the performance at 6 PM on Thursday, February 24th at the Century II Performance Hall in Wichita, KS.

Of the five pieces of repertoire, Charly said “Dust in the Wind is my favorite, but I also really like Oye!” Charly Gulager also performs with Eugene Ware Youth Choir.

Fort Scott, Schools

Fort Scott High School Talking Tigers Place 2nd at Coffeyville

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The Talking Tigers competed at Cherryvale in Congress and PFD on Friday.
Then on Saturday, they competed at Independence. Six entries qualified for state and placed 2nd in sweeps!!

Congratulations

to the following students for placing in their events!!

Jase Anderson 1st in Novice House
Cadence Tuck 6th and Joy Self 2nd in JV House
Neil Gugnani 2nd in Varsity House
Poetry
Regen Wells 5th
Hi
Joy self 4th
Duo
Jaden Garcia and chad Stell 4th
Regen wells and Anna Laubenstein 2nd*
Oo
Jase Anderson 3rd
Info
Anna Laubenstein 3rd
Neil Gugnani 2nd*
Shekhar Gugnani 1st*
Poi
Lillian Collins 4th
Dx
Jase Anderson 6th
Neil Gugnani 1st*
Fx
Joy Self 5th
Shekhar Gugnani 1st*
Poetry
Regen Wells 5th
Impromptu
Shekhar Gugnani 1st*
*Denotes state qualifier
Go Tigers!
Fort Scott, Schools

FSHS Talking Tigers Take 2nd Place

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On February 18 & 19, Fort Scott High School Talking Tigers competed at Field Kindley Forensics Invitational.
As a team, FSHS placed 2nd in sweepstakes!
In Congress Novice House Joy Self placed 1st and Jase Anderson placed 2nd!
In Congress Varsity House Kinsley Davis placed 5th.
On Saturday in interprertation and speech events the following students placed:
Prose: Kinsley Davis – 2nd (state qualifier)
Poetry: Anna Laubenstein – 6th
HI: Joy Self – 1st, Caroline Barnes – 2nd (BOTH state qualify)
DUO: Joy Self and Caroline Barnes -1st ( state qualify)
Informative: Thade Yates – 6th
POI: Kinsley Davis – 4th, Lillian Collins – 5th
US Extemp: Thade Yates – 2nd (state qualifier)
Foreign Extemp: Joy Self – 3rd
Impromptu: Kinsley Davis – 5th, Lillian Collins – 6th
GO TIGERS!!
Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, Schools

High School Career Exploration Program Needs More Mentors

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Lewis Dunkeson, Communities in Schools Site Coordinator, speaks to the group on Feb. 8. Submitted photo.
The Fort Scott High School Career Exploration Mentoring Program needs a few more volunteers.
The program is a partnership of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, the City of Fort Scott and the school district, USD234, according to the Chamber website.
Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lindsay Madison told the weekly Chamber Coffee attendees on Thursday that two more female mentors are needed for the students.

“The Chamber’s motivation for organizing the program is related to Workforce Development,” Madison told fortscott.biz. “Our goal is to help the students be on a path to success, but also develop a funnel of employees for our manufacturers and other businesses by exposing students to local career opportunities available.”

“Students may be ready to start working directly after high school or college, or may move away for several years and return to Bourbon County in the future,” she said. “By being part of the mentor program they will be more aware that Fort Scott truly is a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Working at a local manufacturer does not exclusively involve assembly line work as students may perceive, there are many great positions to be held in accounting, sales, engineering, welding and other areas that we try to expose them to,” she said.

“Some students are more interested in health care, law enforcement or other fields and mentors will work to set up job shadows or question/answer sessions with people in those careers” Madison said. “Each student’s needs are differently related to their educational goals or career exploration and while we bring the mentors and students together monthly as a group, the mentors work individually with the students they are paired with to build connections and make a positive impact towards their success.”

Currently, there are 14 students enrolled in the program, Madison said.
Once per month a group activity, speaker or tour is organized by the Chamber.
On February 8 at Fort Scott High School, Assistant Principal Alex Specht was the keynote speaker. Submitted photo.
At least one other time per month the student meets with their mentor one-on-one to talk about personal goals, pertinent topics or other issues that the student might have.
Attendees at the Feb. 8 mentoring program at Fort Scott High School. Submitted photo.

The program is funded in part by the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation, she said.

Bill Michaud, the owner of Sleep Inn Hotel and Chamber member,  helps with the program, working with the mentors. Lewis Dunkeson, Communities in Schools Site Coordinator, helps recruit high school students and keeps them informed of meetings, Madison said.

It is an extra-curricular activity, and the high school staff are “very supportive” by allowing extra time at lunch for the meetings, Madison said.

Community members interested in being mentors, and students interested in the program, may contact the Chamber of Commerce at 620-223-3566 or email [email protected].

If you are interested in being a mentor to a high school student please complete the following, which is found on the Chamber website:

Background check authorization.

Mentor Profile Form.

Email: [email protected]; or fax 620-223-3574.

Here are several of the education modules used by mentors for discussion topic ideas for one-on-one visits with the students: basic vehicle maintenance, cooking, driver’s license information, household financing, jobs, and personal health.

The modules listed above were developed by the 2017-18 LEAD Bourbon County class, a leadership program organized by the Chamber.

 

Fort Scott, Government, Schools

Third USD234 School Funding Community Conversation Tomorrow

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Sent on behalf of Chamber member USD 234
Join the ESSER III FUNDING CONVERSATION
Saturday (Tomorrow), February 19th, 8am at
Fort Scott Middle School Community Room
1105 E. 12th St.
(Community Room entrance is on the south side of building)
Please fill out the community survey below.
If you would prefer a hard copy paper survey,
please contact Ted Hessong or Gina Shelton at
USD 234 Board Office
424 S. Main St.
Fort Scott, KS. 66701
620-223-0800
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members for all of their support
Fort Scott, Government, Schools

News Release From USD234

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NEWS RELEASE

 

Monday, February 14, 2022

 

Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met in the Fort Scott Middle School Commons on Monday, February 14, 2022, for their regular monthly meeting.

President James Wood opened the meeting.  The board approved the official agenda.  The board also approved the consent agenda as follows:

 

A.    Minutes

B.    Bills and Claims

C.    Payroll – January 20, 2022 – $1,629,877.81

D.    Financial Report

E.     Activity fund accounts­­­­­­

F.     Fundraiser application

G.    Extended trip application

H.    Sale of old middle school uniforms, bottoms, and warm-ups

 

The board recognized teachers who received U-Benefit Grants from OFG Financial, Security Benefit, and KNEA.  Brenda Hill, Fort Scott KNEA President, presented the grant awards to Sydney Cullison, Jennifer Hartman, Jamie Rogers, Becky Tinker, and Trisha Whitehead.

Kellye Barrows, Vice-President, presented a report on the Summit on Professional Learning Community at Work in Phoenix, AZ.  Written reports were shared by principals.  In addition, the board heard reports from Dalaina Smith, Academics Director; Ted Hessong, Superintendent; and Gina Shelton, Business Manager/Board Clerk.

The board approved contracts for Provision of Educational Services – Low Incidence and Audiology and a Memorandum of Understanding with Communities in Schools.

The board approved Gary Billionis, board member, to sit in on legal mediation claims.

Superintendent Hessong gave an ESSER III update.

Board members shared comments and then went into executive session to discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations.  The board returned to open meeting and then went into executive session to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel and returned to open meeting.   The board approved the following employment items:

A.    Resignation of Shelly Sanborn, middle school special education teacher, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year

B.    Resignation of Eileen Strakel, Eugene Ware cook, effective February 11, 2022

C.    Leave of absence request from Elizabeth Rose, preschool paraprofessional

D.    Employment of Cole Claypool as a middle school paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year

E.     Employment of Dylan Goucher as a Eugene Ware/Fort Scott Preschool Center custodian for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year

F.     Employment of Angie Kemmerer for middle school PDC chairperson

G.    Employment of Angie Bin as the high school fine arts team leader for the 2021-22 school year

H.    Employment of administrators for the 2022-23 school year

I.      Employment of district directors for the 2022-23 school year

J.      Employment of Gina Shelton, Business Manager/Board Clerk, for the 2022-23 school year with a change in title from Business Manager to School Finance Director/Board Clerk

K.    Stipend for Bryce Daly, Technology Coordinator/Technician, to video board meetings

L.     Employment of Katren Rienbolt and Josh Hudiburg as high school assistant track coaches for the 2021-22 school year

M.   Retirement of Debbie West, high school secretary, effective June 30, 2022

N.    Termination of Brooke Senkevech, Eugene Ware paraprofessional and middle school intramural coach, effective February 14, 2022

O.    Employment of Connie Harper as a Eugene Ware paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year

 

The board adjourned.

Entertainment, Fort Scott, Schools

Fort Scott High School Thespians Perform Comedy Murder Mystery

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The FSHS Thespians perform “An Audition for a Murder,” a comedy murder mystery by Lee Mueller, at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18  and 19 in the FSHS Auditorium.

 

The production features a community theatre troupe holding auditions for a Murder Mystery called “Death of A Disco Dancer.” All of the typical actors show up to audition, but as they get underway, there’s a bit of a problem with the “script,” it isn’t finished. The playwright arrives in the nick of time with a few more finished pages just as one of the actors mysteriously dies. As luck would have it, an inspector arrives to give advice on the play. Perhaps the investigation into this “mysterious death” will inspire the playwright and help him finish the play. After all, there is a read-through on Monday!

 

Audience members even get to play a role as they interrogate the suspects and vote on who they think the murderer is.

 

The production involves a cast of 14 including seniors Christina King and Zaria Byrd; juniors Israel Carreno and  Luke Majors; sophomores Casey Gomez, Regen Wells, Jaedyn Lewis, Jericho Jones, and Lizzy Moore; and freshmen Emma Guns, Mykael Lewis, Kaiden Clary, Piper Weeks, and Madison (River) Smith. The play is directed by Thespian sponsor Angie Bin.

 

“This show is a fun way for our students to interact with the audience and really give our community an immersive theatre experience,” Bin said. “We have had such an enjoyable time rehearsing and I am especially proud of our freshmen making their stage debut in this production.”

 

Reserved seating tickets are available for $5 from fortscotthighschool.ludus.com or at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Fort Scott, Government, Schools

USD234 Board of Ed Meeting Agenda For Feb. 14

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USD 234 Board Meeting

February 14, 2022 – 5:30 p.m.

Fort Scott Middle School

  1. Open the meeting
  2. Flag Salute
  3. Consider official agenda
  4. Consider consent agenda
  5. Recognize U-Benefit Grant Recipients from OFT Financial, Security Benefit, and KNEA
  6. Public Forum
  7. PLC Summit Report
  8. Principals’ Reports
  9. Director of Academics Report
  10. Superintendent’s Report
  11. Business Manager’s Report
  12. Consider contracts for Provision of Educational Services
  13. Consider Memorandum of Understanding with Communities in Schools
  14. Appoint board member to sit on legal medication claims
  15. ESSER III Update
  16. Board member comments
  17. Executive session – to discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations
  18. Executive session – to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel
  19. Consider employment
  20. Adjourn
COVID-19, Fort Scott, Government, Schools

Community Input Sought On U234 District Needs

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It’s been a rough two years for education in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Because of the pandemic, the U.S. Government has given money to school districts to support kindergarten through grade 12 schools to open and sustain their safe operations.

USD 234 will receive over $4 million in school funding and is seeking input to identify needs for the school district from the community.

The district is offering meetings to the community to gain ideas in moving forward in the education of their students.

“The expected outcome of these meetings is to gather information from our community stakeholders that will be used to compile our ESSER  III  (Elementary and Secondary School Relief) plan and application,” USD234 Business Manager and Board Clerk Gina Shelton said. “Part of the ESSER III plan calls for informed decisions based upon a variety of stakeholder input.”

“We have surveyed and held several meetings with our staff to gather their input,” she said. “Our community is another key factor in the success of our schools. We seek information from our parents on needs they see to help their child(ren) be successful with their education.”

“We seek information from our community members even if they do not currently or previously have had students in our district,” Shelton said. “Education is all about providing opportunities for kids. I firmly believe our future as a community is impacted greatly by our students. They are our future workforce, our future community leaders, and our future parents. These conversations will allow us to develop a plan to hopefully address as many needs as we can.”

The first batch of ESSER funds allowed them to continue providing education during the shutdown, she said.

“The second batch was a key part of us being able to remain in person,” Shelton said.

“This last batch is all about providing services to help provide a quality education for our students,” she said. “Ten years down the road, we want to be able to say that those funds made a big impact on our students’ successes.”

Five Sessions for the Community Input

The info gathering sessions will be in the different buildings in the school district, for the community to see where the learning happens, she said. And the different time sessions are to give parents options to attend.

There are evening sessions and a Saturday morning session for parents to find one time period that fits with the family’s schedule.

“One is scheduled at the high school during parent/teacher conferences, we hope they find this convenient for them,” she said

Another of the meetings is at the school board meeting.

“We’ve had ESSER III funds as a recurring item at our board meetings for several months now, but we know sometimes it is hard for people to attend,” Shelton said. “Our hope is that even if they can’t attend in person, they are able to watch the streamed board meeting. Then if they have questions or ideas, they can reach out to us if they would like more information.”

“We really want this to be an active conversation that leads to some very positive results,” she said.

The district encourages the community to take it feedback survey:

Community ESSER Survey

More information can be found at this website,

https://www.usd234.org/o/USD%20234/page/esser-funds

The district has divided the input sessions into groups at five different scheduled times: the Fort Scott Preschool is the first session on Thursday, Feb. 10 starting at  5:30 p.m. at the preschool center at 409 S. Judson.

Taken from the district’s Facebook page.

The next is at Winfield Scott Elementary School, 316 W. 10th, on Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 19 is the next one at 8 a.m. at the Fort Scott Middle School, 1105 E. 12th as is the next one on  Monday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the middle school as well.

The last session is on Tuesday,  March 8 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Fort Scott High School Auditorium, 1005 S. Main.

 

 

 

Fort Scott, Schools

USD 234 School District Seeks Community Input

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On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act was signed into law. The ARP ESSER III funding from the ARP Act provides support for K-12 schools to help safely open and sustain the safe operations of schools and address the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s students. The ARP Act also allocates funds to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Although the ARP ESSER III uses of funds are similar to those for ESSER I and II, there are important distinctions between ARP ESSER III, ESSER II, and ESSER programs, including the period of funds availability, equitable services to non-public schools, maintenance of effort, and a report on efforts to measure and address learning loss.

USD 234 Fort Scott will receive $4,080,503 in ESSER III funding. We are seeking input from our community to help us identify needs for our district and community. Together we can accomplish great things for our kids and future.

Thursday, February 10th – 5:30 PM – Fort Scott Preschool Center

Wednesday, February 16th – 5:30 PM – Winfield Scott Elementary

Saturday, February 19th – 8:00 AM – Fort Scott Middle School Community Space

Monday, March 7th – 5:30 PM – Fort Scott Middle School Commons (regularly scheduled board meeting)

Tuesday, March 8th – 5:30 – 8 PM – Fort Scott High School Auditorium – same night as parent/teacher conferences

We also encourage our community to take our community feedback survey to provide insight:

Community ESSER Survey

More information can be found at our website,

https://www.usd234.org/o/USD%20234/page/esser-funds