USD 457 Board names Rude President, hears budget and coffee shop update

Garden City, KS(westernkansasnews.com) The USD 457 Board of Education held their first meeting of the 2018-19 school year on Monday night. One of the boards first orders of business was to select the new President and Vice President.

Board member Jean Clifford nominated Vice President Mark Rude for President and he was approved on a unanimous vote. After his selection Rude took the time to thank Tim Cruz for his service as President.

Dana Nanninga was selected as the new Vice President on a unanimous vote.

The board also heard a budget update from Chief Financial Officer KJ Knoll. She explained that because they had to wait for the Supreme Court to make a determination on school funding before they could work on the budget.

Usually the finance office receives the budget forms in early June, but this year they won’t receive them until mid-July. The school board hopes to have the budget in front of them for the July 23 meeting.

The Board also heard a report on the Buffalo Coffee Shop at Garden City High School and the trip they want to take in May 2019. Students who participate in the coffee shop are in the Life Skills class at the high school.

The shop has been open for two years and sells students coffee, hot chocolate, cereal bars and pre-packaged snacks. They also have special days where they make burritos and pancakes.

The shop has been a big success, in its first year they donated nearly $5,500 to community foundations and this past donated over $12,000. The shop has also funded their classroom activities and still has nearly $32,000 in their account. Teacher Paul Lappin says money was never really the objective.

With the amount of money the class has made Lappin has proposed taking 15 students on a trip to Tampa, FL. They initially considered trips to Kansas City or Denver, but decided if they were going to do an overnight trip they might as well make it a big experience. An example of some of the activities on the trip would include taking the students to Sea World and the beach. The board will vote on the trip on July 23.