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12-8-17 — Board Hears from Student Leaders at OATC

Dec. 8, 2017 ~ Three students from the Olathe Advanced Technical Center who are serving in state leadership roles spoke to the Olathe Board of Education during the regular board meeting on Dec. 7. The students talked about the variety of leadership opportunities they have through the career education programs at the technical center.

Brandon York, Ryan Reidmiller and Ashton Albright presented information about the center’s From Classroom to Community projects from the first semester. Community outreach events included a Trunk or Treat at Halloween, a construction project to help veterans, the Cars 4 Heroes project to refurbish a vehicle for a veteran, and a welded sculpture to celebrate Santa Fe Trail Middle School’s 50th anniversary. Olathe Advanced Technical Center received a grant from the Olathe Public Schools Foundation to renovate a golf cart making it accessible for all so it can be used for district events. Students held a food drive to benefit the National Guard and Salvation Army, and collected blankets for the local Salvation Army. They also made fleece dog toys for the Olathe Humane Society, and donated spare change to the Pennies for Shoes campaign.

Financial Information

Chief Financial and Operations Officer John Hutchison gave a short presentation to help homeowners within the district understand information in their recent Johnson County tax bill.

Hutchison described each line item that appears on resident’s tax bill and explained the line items pertaining to the Olathe School District.

Recognitions:

  • Farmers Insurance was recognized as a longtime business partner with the district.
  • Amy Clement of Olathe North High School was named the 2017 Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher of the Midwest Region.
  • Andrew Heinicke, special services coordinator, was named Emporia State University’s 2017 Outstanding Recent Graduate from the School of Education.
  • Indian Trail Middle School Principal Sarah Guerrero received the Principal Advocate award from the Kansas School Counselor Association.
  • Roberta Roelfs, library clerk at Countryside Elementary School, wrote and published the book “Ana and the Sea Star.”
  • Olathe South High School’s Computer Science Academy team earned first place at the University of Kansas School of Engineering’s High School Design Programming Competition. Team members were Cameron Johnson, Mat Besch, Drake Prebyl and Aron Wiley.
  • The Olathe Northwest High School volleyball team captured the state 6A title.
  • The Olathe Northwest gymnastics team earned the state 6A title.
  • Sydney Weeks of Olathe Northwest was named the individual all-around gymnastics champion in the 6A class.
  • The Olathe North boys cross country team captured the state 6A title.
  • Superintendent John Allison and board members LeEtta Felter, Amy Martin and Brent McCune were recognized for completing the Kansas Association of School Boards Leadership Academy training.
  • Board of Education member Mike Poland was recognized for his more than 12 years of service to Olathe Public Schools.

In other business, the board:

  • Approved a consent agenda including meeting minutes, reports, student trips, purchase of a Response to Interventions module, and setting a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8 to swear in three newly-elected board members.
  • Approved bond resolutions for Series 2017A general obligation school bonds and Series 2017B general obligation refunding bonds.
  • Approved construction change orders in excess of $20,000 for Summit Trail Middle School. (2016 Bond)
  • Approved bids for audio visual equipment at the Millcreek Campus. (2016 Bond)
  • Approved the purchase of a grand piano for the choral music program at Olathe North. (capital outlay)
  • Approved the purchase of kindergarten classroom purposeful play and developmentally appropriate items. (capital outlay)
  • Approved the purchase of audio-visual equipment and installation in the Olathe South gymnasium. (2016 Bond)
  • Accepted the architectural/engineering proposal for 2018 aging facilities projects. (2016 Bond)
  • Accepted the mechanical engineering consultant proposal for summer 2018 HVAC projects. (2016 Bond)
  • Accepted the roofing consultant proposal for summer 2018 roofing projects. (2016 Bond)
  • Approved construction change orders in excess of $20,000 for Millcreek Campus. (2016 Bond)
  • Approved the audit reports for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. (general fund)
  • Approved the legislative platform for the district
  • Received information about future action items including student trips, curriculum, board policy revisions, bids, Head Start documents, bidding schedules, and naming of Elementary #36.
  • Received written reports from the Head Start director, and about fall parent-teacher conferences.
  • Held an executive session to discuss personnel issues.

The complete agenda and supporting documents are available online at https://www.boarddocs.com/ks/olathe/Board.nsf/Public.