The Dexter School Board approved the purchase of two buses and the therapy contracts for the 2021-22 school year at its February meeting.
Assistant Superintendent Gavin Miller presented the bids for the buses to the board. Miller said the district reached out to five companies and two submitted bids for a proposed purchase. The two were International and Blue Bird. The bid for the Blue Bird buses was $100,267 plus a $3,270 five-year unlimited mile body-and-chassis warranty for a total of $103,537 per bus. The bid for the International buses was $97,680 plus a five-year 100,000-mile body-and-chassis warranty for a total of $99,980 per bus. The board accepted the bid for the International buses. The new buses will feature Michelin 16-ply XZE2 and XDN2 tires, a 17K BYU heater with timer, three fuel, oil and air filters, a 247 Zeus 1TB hard drive with Wi-Fi, GPS, seven internal cameras and one stop arm with thumb drive.
Therapy Service
Contracts
Special Services Director Jessica Lambert presented the contract to the board. Lambert said the district has contracts with Sheila Alsup, Jana Moore and Miranda Bates. The district coordinates for both physical and occupational therapy. The contract with Alsup is for physical therapy and occupational therapy for Bates and Moore.
Other Business
Superintendent Amy James informed the board that the honor banquet will not take place this year. An honors program will still proceed on March 8. James said 60 students at Dexter High School will be recognized for being in the top 10% of their class. James said the students will be given swag bags and a gift card to a local establishment to have dinner with their families.
James reported that at the time of the meeting the district had 13 individuals in quarantine with one positive for COVID-19.
Executive Session
The Dexter School Board made several staff moves during the executive session. The board approved Madison Appleton, Abigail Dorton and Michaela Gard as substitutes for the 2020-21 school year.
Brittany Navarro was hired as the Special Services Paraprofessional at Southwest Elementary for the 2020-21 school year.
The board approved hiring of the following individuals for the 2021-22 school year: Kelly Nation, special services instructor at Southwest; Holly Pippins, SLP at Southwest, middle school, and high school; Shawn Guethle, personal finance/business teacher at high school, Tiffany Terrell, math teacher at high schoo; Misty Kaufman, special services instructor at middle school/Central and James Deberry, head boys and girls cross country coach at high school.
The board approved the following staff transfers: Tammy Eifert from special services at middle school/high school to special services high school, Kristopher Chamberlain from middle school ELA to high school social studies and Brittany Becker from eighth grade overflow to seventh grade science.
The board approved letters of resignation or retirement from the following staff members: Kyle Clay, effective at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year; Rachel Elder, effective at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year and Mindy Thurmon (retirement), effective at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year.
The board extended the contract of Assistant Superintendent Gavin Miller through the 2022-23 school year. The board also approved the employment of all other administrators for the 2021-22 school year.