In a light meeting March 25, the West Prairie School Board appointed members to the Co-op committee, approved funding for door replacements and approved engagements with an audit firm.
Two members of the West Prairie Board, Mitchell Reed and Jake Kreps, were appointed to a Superintendent Athletic Co-op Committee to oversee ongoing cooperative arrangements with the Southeastern School District #332. Southeastern appointed board members Jeremy Stephens and Jordan Henry to the committee along with Southeastern Superintendent Tecia Lantz and West Prairie Superintendent Paula Markey and with athletic directors Megan Pittman from West Prairie and Cyle Rigg from Southeastern to round out the eight-person committee.
Board members approved installation of entrance doors by Doors N More from Quincy, at the North Elementary School in Good Hope for $26,658 and at the South Elementary School in Colchester for $28,443. The funding is part of a long-range plan to replace most other doors at the two sites.
The Board tabled action on entering a purchase agreement with Ameren for a plot of ground near Ameren's facilities northwest of the West Prairie High School-Junior High School campus. The Board will act at the next meeting once financial considerations are worked out. The arrangement will not interfere with other plans for construction of an athletic field.
The Board approved a letter of engagement with Wipfli for both a general audit, for $25,000, and for a single audit required because of receipt of federal funds, for $6,500. Few audit firms are providing services for the single audit mandates, thus requiring the district to move to the new audit firm. Costs for required audits have substantially increased in the last few years.
Three Board members, David Taulbee, Scott Vogler and Honey Zimmerman, attended the Advocacy Day March 24 in Springfield. They reported the most productive part of the participation came in meeting with local elected officials and with the ISBE lobbyists. Items of concern were numerous new mandates (unfunded requirements for classroom instruction) and state officials lamenting state finances.
In other business after executive session, the Board accepted the retirement letter of North Elementary Secretary Nancy Calvert. Board President Scott Vogler stated that the acceptance was 'with thanks for her 27 years of service to the students at Northwestern and West Prairie' school district. The board also approved the employment of Aubrey Brumbaugh as an elementary teacher.
Both elementary principals were pleased with the attendance of parents at the recent parent teacher conferences. High school principal announced March 25 was the first day Logan Lommel began serving as the Learning, Educating, and Partnering in Schools (L.E.A.P.) facilitator.
