NSD receives clean audit

ROSSTON – The Nevada School District received a clean audit from the state in its 2023 audit report.

This is what the Nevada School Board was told at its July meeting Thursday night. Four small issues were found and have all been corrected. Two were human error with numbers getting juxtaposed. The district’s bank account getting hacked goes on record as a formal finding, though it isn’t one because the district was following proper protocol when the hack occurred.

In other business, Carol Foster, new principal for Nevada High School, said everyone’s working getting ready for the new school year. Seventh graders new to the district can undergo an orientation on Aug. 3 from 9-10 a.m. so the students will know what to expect when school starts on Aug. 14.

Tonda Pennington, Nevada Elementary principal, said kindergarten students will have the opportunity to meet their teachers on Aug. 7 at 9 a.m. She added this doesn’t replace open house, which is Aug. 8 from 4-7 p.m. Teachers return on Aug. 2.

Pennington said the district is using safety grant funds to install more keyless entries on doors. She added the preliminary ACT Aspire scores showed three areas of growth: 28 percent in the third grade, 55 percent in math and an astounding 300 percent in the sixth grade. She credited this to the daily interventions held, adding they will be continued with grades 4-6 getting more intervention time.

Superintendent Roy McCoy informed the board proceeds from an All Star and Old Timer basketball game recently raised enough money to buy new uniforms for the boys basketball team. He said crews did a lot of painting over the summer and the building is mostly ready. Bulbs are being replaced with LED bulbs and new flower beds were planted outside. He thanked those who helped with the landscaping, saying the next project will be to landscape around the sign near the highway.

The board approved bids for the sale of two finishing mowers, one sold for $300 and the other for $200. It also approved the revisions for teacher recruitment and retention plan and minority teacher recruitment and retention. Board to board transfers were also accepted. McCoy said depending on how many transfer into the district, the school could have as many as 430 students to start the year. He pointed out more students have transferred into the district than out of it.

After an executive session, the board voted to hire two paraprofessionals, hired Melissa Martin as the new Human Resources director with a 215 day contract and will provide a $2,500 stipend for the assistant HR director.