Junior High Social Studies, JH Math Positions Approved, Summer Projects Addressed

Junior High Social Studies, JH Math Positions Approved, Summer Projects Addressed
Haven House provided a presentation to the Wayne School Board Monday evening.

WAYNE – From staff resignations to new hires and new business pertaining to summer projects, the regularly scheduled Wayne Community of Schools Board of Education meeting was held Monday evening.

From the Wayne Jr/Sr High School Library, the board first heard a trio of staff resignations.

Matt Schaub (Junior High Social Studies) will be retiring, Nick Curnyn (Junior High Math) will return to Allen to teach and Mallorie Koch (English Language Learner ELL 7-12) will resign and stay home with her younger children. The board approved the resignations. Schaub will be done on June 30, 2022 to complete driver training while Curnyn and Mallorie Koch will be the end of the 2021-22 school year. All three notified administration shortly after the February board meeting which allowed Wayne Community Schools to search for new hires.

New hires will be Hayden DeLano from Cross County for 7th-8th grade Social Studies (head football coach/assistant AD) while Morgan Barner (graduate from Wayne High) recently taught at Homer will take over Junior High Math and will also be the cheerleading sponsor.

The school will also be finalizing their interviews for the ELL position this week.

In old business, the second reading was approved for the Early Learning Center Handbook.

Also, the Agenda Item Management (AIM) Document was addressed for a second reading of a nine-month full-time classified staff benefit sub-group, according to Superintendent Dr. Mark Lenihan.

“Anytime we have something that would be considered real formal,” said Dr. Lenihan. “Staffing, or policy change, if we add a position or something that has a fairly dramatic impact on the budget and the district.”

This would be for para-professionals and cooks as the group needed to be kept at 30 hours or less who are not offered health insurance. The sub-category would for a total of 17 people and can work up to 40 hours along with receiving health insurance.

Dr. Lenihan added this group would work on school days only during the school year and receive employee-only health insurance

“It will help us in a lot of different ways,” Dr. Lenihan added. “I think recruitment and retention of paras. We really needed to clean that up to make sure that those people that we’re brining in and the people we currently we have, to retain them, that we don’t lose them. It’s very competitive now with salaries.”

The nine-month sub-group would also be offered a $200 a month cash in lieu over a 12 month period. This would begin during the fall of 2022 school year.

During new business, the five administrator contactors (not including superintendent) were approved with about a 2.8% increase in salary.

The board then approved an option enrollment policy setting their numbers as the SPED programs are at capacity. All option enrollment students are accepted unless a program or grade is full.

A quote from Jason Sears Flooring from Wayne was also approved for $10,917.44 with a classroom in each of the elementary and Jr/Sr High School buildings as well as the elementary outer office area getting new carpet. The school will use depreciation funds for this project.

Another summer project will be concrete work in the high school parking lot along with a concrete pad being poured outside the commons area where picnic tables from the local public health department will be placed. The quote from Jorgensen Concrete & Construction from Wayne was approved for $22,500. The school will use wellness grant funds and some building funds for this project.

The west high school entrance stairs and stoop area have been patched the past couple of years. BamBam Concrete, INC. from Omaha will remove the stoop and replace it with poured concrete stairs along with a platform. Cost for this work will be $59,857. The school will use building funds for this project.

Another topic that was addressed were priorities being set through the Strategic Planning process.

Dr. Lenihan mentioned enrollment is growing and Wayne Community Schools are at capacity in both the elementary and Jr/Sr High School.

“We have no classrooms not in use right now,” Dr. Lenihan mentioned. “In fact, we’re using hallways and other areas in the elementary. So, we’re really full and we’re still leasing the preschool building; we got a couple years left on that lease.”

K-12 has seen about a 100-student increase in the past 8-9 years.

A special board meeting will be on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. from the high school where the community is invited. An update on facilities will be provided along with the approval of an ELL teacher.

Also, there’ll be a Wayne Area Economic Development Business and Industry committee meeting at noon on Thursday, April 14 in the Wayne High shop.

The next regularly scheduled Wayne Community Schools Board of Education meeting will be on Monday, April 11.

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