Wabaunsee High School's Student Newspaper
USD 329 started streaming board meetings along with other school events in spring of 2020, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this practice began because of COVID-19, we are very thankful that it has continued and hope that it stays that way into the future.
At the USD 329 board of education meeting Monday night, the board accepted the resignation of Alma Elementary School and Maple Hill Elementary School principal Galen Craghead.
USD 329 superintendent Brad Starnes announced his retirement in an email to district staff on Thursday morning.
The Wabaunsee school board will be unchanged after citizens voted on three open positions Tuesday, with Jerome Hess, Justin Frank and Tony Conrad retaining their seats.
This week the Charger interviewed each of the school board candidates about issues facing USD 329. Here's how students and faculty answered some of the same questions.
As Wabaunsee County prepares to vote for three spots on the USD 329 school board, the Charger asked each candidate about issues facing the district. Three candidates are vying for the district 4 seat, and one candidate is up for district 6.
The USD 329 board made changes that will affect next year’s elementary students at its meeting Monday night. The board voted to change the variance line between Alma and Maple Hill Elementary schools to send McFarland students to Maple Hill. The vote went 4-2 with Jim Vapita, Jerom Hess, Tony Conrad and Kelly Oliver voting to change the line whereas Justin Frank, and Callie Meinhart voted against it. At the start of next school year, McFarland students will be included in the Maple Hill Elementary classes. The board hopes this will help even out the class sizes between the two schools.
USD 329 board hired ASA Strategic Funding to help develop and promote a new plan to address facilities issues. At the April 12 board meeting, ASA Strategic Funding was hired for $12,200 to help promote and develop a new bond. They have worked on over 200 research projects and have a 94 percent success rate. They plan to work with the community to develop a plan that everyone can agree on.
The USD 329 board received new information on lessening masks restrictions at its monthly meeting Monday night.
There was a discussion about masks due to Wabaunsee County lessening its restrictions. Wabaunsee Health Department administrator Ray Finley advised against making masks no longer necessary in USD 329 buildings for now and instead advised the board to wait thirty days and see how surrounding areas lessening their restrictions affect us. So far USD 329 has had very little transmission of the virus through school.
The USD 329 board met January 11, and focused on the closing of Paxico Middle School and the results of the bond survey giving to community members. Here are some highlights from the meeting.
The Charger 