School board selects architect
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Hays USD 489 has an architect on board, and the Board of Education has a new vice president.
At Monday's regular meeting, the board unanimously voted to approve a contract with Horst, Terrill & Karst Architects, P.A., for use on an "as-need basis" for consulting purposes. That architectural firm also will be used for pre-bond and post-bond planning for capital improvement projects.
The contract with Horst, Terrill & Karst will cost the district $60,000 at the time the Board of Education authorizes a study. But up to 50 percent of that pre-bond fee would be credited to the post-bond fee at the end of the Design Development Phase.
The board voted in Karie Younger as interim vice president through the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Younger -- who will step in in any absence of President Alan Moore -- replaces Bob Kuhn, who died April 8 after a nine-year bout with cancer.
A new officers election will be on the first meeting in July, which is scheduled for July 7.
Also at Monday's meeting, the board approved:
* An agreement with North Central Kansas Technical College, where Hays High students attend auto mechanics and allied health classes as part of its vocational education program;
* Member dues of $10,746 for the Kansas Association of School Boards for 2008-09;
* The KASB legal assistance fund membership of $1,100 for 2008-09;
* Publishing a list of surplus items for sale by the district.
* Superintendent Fred Kaufman presented a letter from the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association thanking Hays High School for the use of its facilities for the organization's mid-year meeting in April. As a token of appreciation, KIOGA gave HHS a check for $2,000 to use for its academy program.
* Bills of $473,589 were approved, as were personnel transactions, and the meeting was adjourned in less than an hour's time.