NSD picks up four students for coming year

By Staff, 05/28/21 9:37 AM

ROSSTON – Four students will be transferring into the Nevada School District for the 2021-22 school year.

One of the students will be coming from Hope, while the other three are from Blevins. The Nevada School Board, in its May meeting Thursday night, accepted the transfers under the school choice act.

The board also approved using ESSER money to purchase two new buses with air conditioning and having air conditioning installed on three buses currently in the district’s fleet so all buses will be air conditioned. The two buses will be purchased from Midway Bus Sales at a price of $75,800 each. Both have 20,000 miles, all highway, and will save the district $30,000 over the cost of a new bus.

Superintendent Rick McAfee said he’s been looking for a 15 passenger bus, but none are to be had with a diesel engine and the waiting list is roughly two years.

McAfee informed the board the district’s tech department will have its work cut out for it during the summer break as all of the chromebooks will need software upgrades, and the new desktop computers for teachers have to be installed.

He talked about the district needing a new floor waxer, a walk-behind model, that will run $8,300, to keep the floors waxed. He said there’s a computerized model on the market that uses GPS markers and can wax floors without human assistance, but these run $60,000.

Plumbing problems have reared their ugly head at Nevada as the gym showers and bathrooms have developed leaks. McAfee told the board the walls will need to be chipped out, pipes replaced with PVC, and walls repaired. The plumbing will run $16,000, the board was informed with Southwest Plumbing handling the job.

McAfee said the ESSER 3 money has been slowed down because the state has to make some changes, but when it’s available the board will need to find projects to use and spend the $900,000, such as installing new air conditioning units throughout the facility, but urged the panel to use federal funds instead of the district’s bond money.

The board approved the removal of two buses and outdated computer equipment from the district’s fixed assets, and accepted the new salary schedule, which was adopted in 2019 but had to be approved again to match the website. Changes to the student handbook were also approved.

Josh Baldwin, the district’s biology, chemistry and softball coach resigned. McAfee said Baldwin’s contract ran out and he let it be known he wasn’t interested in a new one. Therefore, the district will have to find a new biology and chemistry teacher, as the coaching position will be filled by an existing staffer. The board also hired Jody Rouse as the new art teacher and Wendy McCoy as the literacy intervention specialist.

As the meeting wound down, McAfee reminded the board it needed to appoint someone to replace Jerry Bishop, who was killed in an auto accident recently, or the Nevada County Quorum Court will make the appointment. The problem, he said, is no one from that zone is interested in the post.

He continued saying the district will have to redistrict all five zones by September to be in time for the November election. Federal law, he added, requires the districts to be contiguous, whereas some of the districts for Nevada have been gerrymandered to provide for a minority majority district and insure at least one minority member on the board. McAfee said someone will have to be hired to redraw the maps, and this will cost between $12,000 and $18,000 and could result in a lawsuit as there will be no minority majority districts.

The current zones are based on the old school districts. McAfee said the new zoning changes will be changing the district’s history.