USD 480 Board Reorganizes

The USD 480 school board met Monday night and reorganized. The board elected Delvin Kinser president for a second consecutive year while Chris Jewell was elected vice president. Matt Friederich and Crystal Clemens served on the board for their first meetings. The board includes Kinser, Jewell, Friederich, Clemens, Nick Hatcher, Steve Helm, and Tami Southerland-Abbott.

The school board made changes to the district’s bus policy. In the past, anyone a mile or more away from school was offered bus service. That has now changed after last night’s board meeting. Kids 4-8th grades must be at least 1.5 miles away from the school and high school students must be at least two miles away from the school to ride the bus. Kids in k-3rd grades will still be offered bus service from one mile away. The district has had trouble hiring bus drivers and this will reduce the number of kids who ride on the bus. This will also allow kids who live in rural areas to arrive home earlier on the bus due to a lower number of other kids on the bus. The state of Kansas requires busing for students 2.5 miles away from their school.