Jayhawk school board reorganizes for 2025-26 year

Roger Sims, Journal Staff
Jul 17
2 min read

Updated: Jul 19

By Roger Sims with reporting by Kayla McGrew, board clerk

MOUND CITY – In an agenda that was heavy on beginning-of-the-school-year housekeeping, the Jayhawk USD 346 Board of Education ran through a litany of motions including those reorganizing the board, a consent agenda that appointed a number of school officials as district representatives in a variety of capacities, approving the fee schedule for the 2025-26 school year, and approving student and staff handbooks.

Longtime board member Max Krull had no opposition in being elected board president. Tracy Springer also was unanimously elected board vice president without opposition.

The board approved a consent agenda that included a mileage reimbursement rate of 70 cents per mile, adopted a 1,116-hour calendar, kept the current regular board meeting time and place as 6 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at the district office, and approved paying the Kansas Association of School Boards for its membership fee and its legal assistance fund.

In a nod to the breadth of the district across Linn County, the board’s approved list of depositories for district funds included banks in Prescott, Blue Mound, two in Mound City, and one with branches in La Cygne and Pleasanton along with the Kansas State Municipal Investment Pool.

In his report to the board, Superintendent Shawn Thomas complimented the board and the administrative team for the successful completion of the 2024-25 school year. He noted that work on the district buildings was going well and would be completed by the beginning of school.

He also said that Roy Wade had been awarded the bid for concrete work at the high school and that several community members have offered to collaborate with the district to expand concrete south of the stadium concession stand and add a covered shelter area.

While the STARS program (Southeast Technical Academy for Rural Students in Pleasanton) has not yet completed negotiations with officials at Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) for the amount that trade school will receive per credit hour that students are enrolled there, Thomas said he was hopeful that negotiations will be better now that a new FSCC president has been appointed.

He also invited board members to attend a staff lunch on Aug. 11 and an open house on Aug. 12 from noon to 8 p.m.

In other business, the board:

Learned that the district is expected to exceed the revenue-neutral tax rate again this year.
Approved a plan to sell a 2014 Chevrolet sedan, a 2016 Ford Transit van, a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban, a 2017 Ford Fusion and two buses. The buses will be listed on Purple Wave and the other vehicles will be sold locally.
Approved the transfer of Christine Thomas from JLHS secretary to Jayhawk Elementary hourly instructor for the coming school year. She will also coordinate the JES vocal program.
Approved hiring Chilesa Bruner as food service cook.
Approved hiring Carlene Spillman as district administrative aide.
Approved increasing head cheerleading sponsor pay to 12% of base pay.
Approved the following coaching appointments: Grace Latta, head junior high volleyball; Anna Schneider, assistant junior high volleyball; Jarod Avery, assistant junior high football; John Traul, assistant junior high track; and Shawn Thomas, head junior high and senior high cross country.