Maintenance director Larry Easter told the board there are minor leak issues in the high school east campus roof, which is 30 years old, that will need to be addressed in the interim.

Greg Leslie of Garland Roofing was conducting an assessment of the high school east roof when two leaks were discovered. The leaks were repaired at no charge, but Easter said the repair work needs to be done near the heating and cooling units.

Board member Leana Leslie said the location of equipment that could be damaged by leaks, such as technology equipment, needed to be assessed.

Superintendent Kyle Hayden said it’s his recommendation that the roof be replaced in two phases, the first taking place in summer 2012.

Phone support agreement purchased

The phone system at Tonganoxie Elementary School has had numerous issues, but technology director David Milhon said he is hoping some changes will be for the better with the district’s phone systems.

The district has Nortel phone systems, which were rebuilt during spring break of 2010 to bring software up to date. However, Nortel has been bought out by Avaya and is offering a hardware support agreement, which the district has purchased for about $1,300.

“We’ve chosen this for the elementary school,” Milhon said. “It’s considerably less expensive than replacing the phone system … it at least gets us by. It’s a Band-Aid for another year.”

Milhon said Avaya also expected to roll out hardware that allows existing systems to function on a new system, which could be later this month.

Preliminary state assessment numbers look good, school administrator says

State assessment testing has finished up in certain areas in the district, and there are “very good preliminary scores,” Tonya Phillips, director of educational programs and student services, told the board at Monday’s meeting. Reading testing has finished and math testing is in the process of being completed, Phillips said. She also said preliminary scores for sixth and seventh grades were “excellent.”

She said that because of illness in the district with the flu season, some students are making up their testing.

Course list set for 2011-12

Course lists for 2011-12 at the middle and high schools have been approved. The board approved the next school year’s course lists. Some new classes proposed for this year: elements of algebra, intermediate college algebra, Tongie Ink and Tongie Ink masters. New courses that were proposed in 2010 were lifetime sports, team sports, cardio experience and Spanish V.

Teacher, secretary retire

The board accepted retirement letters from Lyn Smith and Debby Kay Altman. In her retirement letter, Smith, who teaches fifth grade, said it’s been a privilege to be a part of the school district for 23 years. Altman is a secretary at the middle school.

The board also accepted resignations from another fifth-grade teacher, Cheta Mark, and Tonganoxie High School east cafeteria employee Carwyn Johnson.

Mark retired the previous year and then applied for the same position, a move several USD 464 teachers have made that allows them to begin receiving retirement benefits and also continue teaching, but at a lower pay if hired back.

In her resignation letter, Mark said she “thoroughly enjoyed” her teaching career in Tonganoxie and would like to continue to assist and support the school district however she can in the future, she said.

Assistant coach, custodian approved

The board approved the hires of Michelle Lighton as assistant girls soccer coach at the high school and Jim Dearman as a district custodian.

School year extended one day because of snow day

The school calendar has been amended to make up for another snow day. The board approved making May 24 a full day and May 25 a half day of school. Previously, May 24 was to be the last day of school and was a half day.

Executive session

The board met for 15 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel. No action was taken after the executive session.

Goal-setting session to take place in August

The board is looking to meet Aug. 1 to discuss setting goals. The board plans to have a Kansas Association of School Boards representative at the meeting as well. A meeting had been planned previously, but inclement weather postponed it.