BEATRICE – The adult price for a school lunch in Beatrice Public Schools will go up slightly, as the new school year starts. Just a few weeks ago, the District 15 Board had approved a $4 cost for the coming year. However, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Nielsen says a State Education Department recommendation now suggests a price at $4.25. 


"If a district chooses not to follow the state recommendation, they must use non-federal dollars....our general fund....to offset the cost. So, that 25-cents would become the district's responsibility if we do not increase the cost from $4 to $4.25".  The board approved upping the price by a quarter.


District 15 Board members also approved a rate adjustment of three percent for First Student, the company that provides bus service for the district. Beatrice Public Schools and First Student are in the second year of a four-year contract. The three-percent figure was contained in the contract, but the bus company had asked for a six-point-nine percent increase…as bus companies faced a hiring shortage.


Superintendent Jason Alexander says there was a greater budget impact at the higher figure. "The three percent increase would be an overall cost of $18,436 to the district....6.9 (percent) would be $42,401 to the district. Essentially, it's your choice as a board of education if you'd like to go higher than the 3%, but you don't have to".


A contract for services from Nebraska Mental Health was approved by the board, along with the hiring of Logan Spilker as a Speech Language Pathologist for the coming school year.  Special Education Director Beth Cordry-Hookstra says the district was coming down to the wire filling that position…following a late resignation.


"The next option was going to have to be tele-services and utilize a para to kind of organize and set it up....and that could be done....but we much rather prefer to have an in-person S-L-P on staff....so we're fortunate to get that filled."  Alexander says the district is still short one needed staff position. Schools across the U.S. have been facing staff shortages or difficulty finding enough teachers to hire.


The school board approved two components of the district’s parental and family involvement policy…something Elementary Principal Betty Replogle says are state law requirements.  "All of the elementary buildings hold a variety of activities throughout the year, in which not only the parents but all family members are invited to come. We hold a meeting every year and share with parents our program, how we include children in our program...and they are very instrumental in making any changes in our program."


Approval of the parental community involvement and family engagement policies followed a short public hearing before Monday night’s main board meeting.
Thursday is the opening of the new school year, with a partial day. Friday is the first full day of the new year.


Beatrice Public Schools is getting a two-year grant for Family Literacy Advocacy.  Superintendent Alexander says the grant totals $65,000 and the district learned it was awarded the money in late July. About two-thirds of the funding is received in the first year. Alexander says two upcoming training sessions will be held on the grant program.  "We've never had this before...this Family Literacy Program. It's new to us. We're hoping to be able to use it to expand our English language program."


The district formerly had a handful of students whose primary language is not English and the number has grown to 30 to 40 students.  The funding will help hire personnel to work with students who have English as a second language.