With the summer break in full swing, the Hampton School Board took several actions at its June meeting on the 10th that will impact the new school term this fall. The board moved to set new school lunch rates, considered new policies and changes to existing policies and learned about new course offerings at the high school level.
In regard to new courses to be offered this fall, High School Principal Carson Klute said the school would be adding a probability and statistics class in place of pre-calculus as one of its advanced math class. He also said the Educators Rising program that began in the 2023-24 school year as an extra-curricular program will be offered as a college credit class this year taught by Business Teacher Jereme Jones, who is able to teach the college level course because he has a master’s degree in an applicable subject. He said two students who were in the program last year will continue with the course but he said he hopes more students will be added. Educators Rising is a program that offers free college credit to high school students who are considering becoming teachers.
School breakfast and lunch rates for next year went up a dime with K-6 lunches rising from $2.90 each to $3 and lunches for grades 7-12 going up from $3.15 to $3.25. The price for breakfast for all grades will increase to $2.10.
The board also gave a first reading to a new school policy (1113.00) which has to do with public access to school records. Supt. Holly Herzberg told the board the school receives three to four records requests every year and said while the school is mandated by law to provide access to the records, looking up and compiling the information can be time consuming for staff members. She said the policy defines the amount of time that can be put in by staff in complying with such requests and outlines the procedures for making the requests. The second measure on first reading was No. 8550.00 which states that membership dues and other fees paid by the district to various organizations must be posted on the district’s website.
New laws were also the reason for changes being made to 15 district policies at the June meeting. In reviewing the policy updates, Herzberg discussed new regulations dealing with firearms on school property, option enrollment policies, pre-school age requirements, documentation of physical and mental illnesses, the public comment time at school board meetings and specifying which world maps can and cannot be used in the classroom.
The board also moved to increase substitute teacher pay for the 2024-25 school year. Herzberg reported that Aurora schools are remaining at the rate of $140 per day and that Giltner was raising its sub pay to the same amount to remain competitive, so Hampton is raising its daily substitute pay to $140 as well.
A matter of much discussion by the board but no formal action was the physical therapy contract for the new school year. Herzberg reported that Henderson Healthcare had contacted the district two years ago offering to provide the service to Hampton Schools, and this year offered a one-year contract at no cost. For the past several years the district has had a contract with Memorial Health Clinic in Aurora at a cost of $850 a year. However, she said MHC has now offered a no-cost contract as well. After several minutes of discussion on the bids, the board decided to table the matter until the July meeting.
In the administration reports section of the meeting Herzberg reported the district is advertising for a new head custodian, and said a part-time custodian probably needs to be hired as well. She suggested the job could be paired with part-time paraprofessional position. Klute reported that Andrew Johnson will be taking over as head boys basketball coach this fall. He said Johnson has experience as a head coach in Kansas and an assistant coach in York.
