Board of Education meeting recap

by Cole Arndorfer, Grain Valley News
 
The Grain Valley Schools Board of Education met on Thursday, October 16 for its monthly business meeting.
 
After opening the meeting, the board recognized three students from Prairie Branch Elementary, Oliver, Landon, and Logan, for organizing the Galaxy Glow 5k Run. The students planned the event themselves, gathering over 100 participants, 30 donors, and three event sponsors and raised nearly $3,800 for the classroom grant program.
 
The board also recognized Grain Valley High School student Zac Blees, who has been named a National Merit semi-finalist.
 
Superintendent Dr. Brad Welle reported on the lunch debt reduction plan. Welle stated that for K-12 students whose family completes and qualifies for the free or reduced lunch program, the district will eliminate any outstanding balance for that student. Welle also said that the district has employed the services of a debt collection service. When a student’s negative balance exceeds $400, the family’s information will be sent to CSR Debt Collection and once the debt has been collected, the funds will be sent to the district to pay off the student’s balance. The district’s goal is to keep the overall student debt amount to less than five percent of the department’s annual revenue.
 
Welle discussed current enrollment trends for the district with the board. Welle said that growth has remained relatively slow since 2017 across K-12, with a current total of 4,467 students in the district. In grades K-5, the district is at 93 percent of its current capacity with Matthews being the highest at 96 percent capacity. High school enrollment has also reached a new high with 1,523 students in grades 9-12.
 
Welle said that the greatest need for more space would be at the elementary level, and the plan is to present ballot language to the board in the coming months for a bond issue for an addition at Matthews and improvements district wide to address capacity issues.
 
Next, the board moved into new business, approving an amendment to the budget to reflect a 95 percent collection rate as opposed to the estimated 97 percent rate.
 
The next Board of Education meeting will take place at 6:00pm on November 20 at the Leadership Center.