July 15, 2024 ~ Dr. Stacey Yurkovich was elected as the 2024-25 president of the Olathe Board of Education during the group’s July 11 meeting. Julie Steele was elected vice president for the upcoming year.

The first meeting of the near fiscal year is also when the board appoints its clerk (Barbara Behm), deputy clerk (Heather Choate) and treasurer (Cassy Osborn). The board reappointed Michael Norris of Norris Keplinger Hicks & Welder LLC as the district’s general counsel.

Open Enrollment Overview

Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Dr. Jill Smith updated the board on the open enrollment process. The process was utilized by parents of students at all grade levels, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Families from a dozen surrounding districts applied to have 78 children attend Olathe Public Schools this fall. The next steps in the open enrollment process are the non-resident lottery selection process (July 1-15) and the in-district transfer window reopening (July 16-30).

In other business, the board:

• Approved a consent agenda including meeting minutes, financial and accounts payable reports, human resources report, 1,116-hour policy for the upcoming school year, inclement weather days for 2024-25, official newspaper for publication of school notices, various appointment and designations, three curriculum updates, one standards update, one student trip, resolution for disposal of surplus, resolution for destruction of outdated records, depository and investment institutions, resolution for use of district petty cash, resolution for use of student activity funds, and authorization of advance payment of claims.
• Approved instructional resource materials for the high school Programming and Software Development Pathway. (capital outlay and textbook funds)
• Approved the Introduction to Psychology resource. (textbook and capital outlay)
• Approved the AP Psychology resource. (textbook and capital outlay)
• Approved the Sports Psychology resource. (textbook and capital outlay)
• Approved renewing the district’s assessment monitoring and tracking software. (capital outlay)
• Approved renewal of the district’s cash receipting and online payment system. (capital outlay)
• Accepted the special inspection and testing services proposal for the new Operations Service Center and Career and Technical Education Center project. (Bond 2022)
• Accepted a proposal to renovate the long jump pit at Olathe District Activity Complex. (Bond 2022)
• Approved change orders in excess of $20,000 for the new Operations Service Center and Career and Technical Education Center project. (Bond 2022)
• Approved renewal of the enterprise monitoring software maintenance. (capital outlay)
• Approved the purchase of network monitoring software for security issues and device failures. (capital outlay)
• Approved updates to board policy JBCA (homeless students).
• Approved regular board meeting dates, times and locations. The board will meet at 5:45 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month (exceptions being September 2024 and January and July 2025) in the Education Center, 14160 S. Black Bob Road, Olathe. Meeting dates will be Aug. 1 (Instructional Resource Center, 14090 S. Black Bob Road), Sept. 4, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, Jan. 9, 2025, Feb. 6, March 6, April 3, May 1, and June 5. The 2025-26 organizational meeting will be on July 10. The board will also reserve the third Thursday of each month for possible special meetings.
• Appointed Claire Reagan to serve on the Head Start Policy Council and Dr. Stacey Yurkovich to serve on the Olathe Public Schools Foundation Board for the 2024-25 school year.
• Received information on future action items including a student trip, renewal of an interactive science simulation resource for high school students, replacement restroom stall partitions at Chisholm Trail Middle School, instructional resource materials for the middle school computer course, renewal of YouScience industry certification licenses for career and technical education pathways, Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and licensing support, renewal of the Turnitin online plagiarism prevention and originality checking service, renewal of the reading intervention program, renewal of the behavior assessment program, and board policy update.
• Received the monthly Bond 2022 written update.
• Held an executive session to consult with the district’s attorney.
• Held an executive session to discuss matters involving a student. 

The complete agenda is available by visiting the BoardDocs website.