WAYNE – With the 2017-18 school year coming to a close this Friday for Wayne Community Schools, the regularly scheduled May Board of Education meeting was held Monday evening.
From the Jr/Sr High School Library, board members approved the resignation, with regrets, of Lindsay McLaughlin who is the Executive Director for Wayne Community Schools Foundation. McLaughlin will still hold the position until June 20 as she as accepted a job at Wayne State College. The Foundation will meet next week and will talk about moving forward before hiring another person.
The board then made a slight change to a resolution for the kindergarten class which is above capacity (81). Wayne Community Schools will not be accepting any option enrollment students for kindergarten.
The Board of Education also approved for the administrative staff to pursue a fourth section of kindergarten by recruiting a qualified teacher and beginning the process of planning for the new classroom. Superintendent, Mark Lenihan stated they have identified a room that is over 600 sq./feet which would move the counseling and one of the SPED office rooms upstairs at the elementary building. Kindergarten and first grade classrooms must be on the main floor for fire safety.
With the additional position, the estimated cost for a new teacher with a MA degree would be $44,000 for salary and $28,000 for benefits. This wouldn’t stress the 2018-19 school budget as they are projecting a 1.1% increase ($116,035) as of the May meeting.
School board members approved Eakes Office Solutions out of Norfolk with a five-year lease for copying and printing. Marco out of Iowa was the low bid by roughly $100, but with incentives through Eakes, the school could select the more local preference. Wayne Community Schools had six quotes and during the evaluation the criteria was based on customer service, equipment proposed, vendor qualifications including service within four hours as well as location of how close to Wayne.
On the high end, WCS is paying roughly $3,100 per month, not including overages. The Eakes equipment will be installed this summer as Wayne Community Schools will pay on their current lease through October.
The remainder of Wayne Community Schools students will conclude the year at Noon on Friday, May 18. Teachers will report through next Thursday, May 24 for some end of year work.
Board of Education members will next meet on Monday, June 11 at 5 p.m.
