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School board talks buses, business

Transportation was the primary topic of conversation at the Carrington School Board meeting on Tuesday, March 14.

District buses have experienced electrical issues that are expensive to fix, board member Kevin Wolsky said. This is mostly due to the cost of labor to diagnose the actual problem each time, which in some cases has taken eight hours or more. Then the bus needs to be taken to Bismarck to repair and left there for a period of time. Also the company requires damaged or defective parts to be sent back for warranty coverage, which is also an expense to the district.

“I don’t think there is a solution, and it isn’t just one bus,” Wolsky noted.

The challenge of getting new buses is also weighing on board members. The timeline for a new route bus from order to delivery is 15-7 months. One is needed now, board members said, so they plan to include the cost in the 2023-24 budget and get the wheels rolling. The committee recommended trading in Bus 10 for the new route bus.

As for the new activity bus the district set aside funds in the current budget to purchase, the quest to get bids continues. Supt. Janelle Helm has received a bid from I State Truck Center and awaits a second from Harlows. A special meeting will likely be needed to review the two bids once the second one is received.

The build date for the new mini bus is Sept. 2023, and it was ordered last July. When the board approved the $99,000 bid with a $15,000 trade-in allowance on July 11, 2022, they were told they could expect a spring delivery.

The board also considered a request from the Legion and Babe Ruth baseball teams for use of a district-owned bus to transport players and coaches to games this summer. Helm researched the practice with other districts, and found that they do allow buses to be used in this way.

The school district has the authority to give “permissive use” to any entity for buses, Helm said. If Carrington wants to continue growing their baseball program and encourage increased participation by youth, it makes sense to allow summer use by those same students, she reasoned.

She recommended drawing up a Memorandum of Use, which explains that the organization using the bus would be responsible for the costs of fuel and must hire their own driver.

The caveat is that liability for the people occupying the bus is not covered by the school district’s insurance policy. The school’s insurance would only cover damage to the bus itself if an accident occurred while in use by an outside entity. Therefore, the baseball program must ensure that they have adequate liability coverage in place for this use and indemnify the school district in the event of an accident.

Business Manager Kimary Edland asked about use of seat belts and how that would be handled. Helm replied that the baseball program should recommend seat belt use, as they will be liable if students get hurt while riding.

Board members discussed that the alternative is to have teenagers driving themselves to sporting events, or have parents transporting their kids with their personal vehicles.

Helm concluded, “I would rather have these kids traveling on a bus.” The district will draw up a Memorandum of Use for review and approval by both entities.

Reading Month activities are well underway in the elementary, principal Jenna Helseth reported.

Graphic novels are popular right now, and Librarian Claudia Park wrote a grant to get more in the library. The month’s event will culminate with Black out Reading on March 30 and the final assembly on the 31st, where she may get a pie to the face again if students meet their reading goal.

Helseth is closely watching the kindergarten enrollment numbers. Kindergarten Roundup is set for Monday, March 20, and her best guess is that there will be somewhere between 47 and 54 in next year’s class. When/if the number hits 51 enrolled students, Helseth will advertise for a third teacher. This year there are two kindergarten classrooms, each with a full-time teacher and para.

The sound system for the stadium is expected to come in on Wednesday, March 22, and the end of the third quarter is Friday, March 24.

High school principal Connor Weber reported that all the new weight room equipment would be arriving later in the week. The room got a new coat of paint, and a mural was painted by the students.

“The kids are super excited,” Weber said. The school will offer a zero hour weight lifting class.

There are 13 students in grades 9-12 interested in the six-week trial program in April and May.

President Joel Lemer led the board through the Superintendent Helm’s Summative Evaluation. Helm was harder on herself than the board was on her, Lemer noted.

The board gave her particularly high marks in human resources and public relations. Among the recommendations for improvement was a plan to take a deep dive into school district policies and get them up to date, which Helm has committed to do this summer. He also encouraged her to visit the elementary school more often and resume the monthly on-air time with KDAK radio after each board meeting.

“We had high expectations when we hired you

. . . to me you’ve blown those out of the water” Lemer concluded.

In other business, the board approved a $24,400 purchase of new furniture for the administrative offices at the high school. Rough Rider Industries will build, deliver and install the new furniture, with installation expected in June. Since the purchase was not in the 2022-23 budget, the cost will come from the building fund, Helm said.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 at 4 p.m., due to a conflict with the regular Tuesday afternoon time slot.