By Katee Underwood, Staff Writer
The USD 300 school board discussed a potential opportunity to fund improvements to its track and field facilities, approved a new social media and online communication policy and reviewed the district’s finances during its Sept. 9 meeting.
High school principal Tyler Bates told the board a community member has registered the district for T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights program, which is aimed at high schools in smaller communities. The program is an application process, with schools competing for funding – $1 million grand prize for one school, $250,000 awards for four division champions and additional $5,000 prizes.
The overall 2026 prize pool is more than $8.4 million. Bates said the district plans to put together its own application and gather photographs and video showing the current condition of the track and field facilities in hopes of strengthening its application. No matching funds are required for the T-Mobile awards.
The board approved a new social media and online communication policy governing interactions between district employees and students. Under the policy, employees are prohibited from privately or directly communicating with students through social media platforms unless specifically permitted by the policy. The prohibition applies both during and outside of the school day.
Employees also may not require students to use social media for assignments or extracurricular activities or use social media for private messages, comment-based conversations or other individualized two-way communication. The policy allows communication through district email accounts, learning management systems and the Band app, although comments must be disabled on the Band app.
Employees are strongly discouraged from creating personal social media accounts to connect with current or future students. Violations of the policy could result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination, depending on the circumstances.
Superintendent Mike Baldwin and principals Matt Jellison and Tyler Bates each reported that the school year has been going well.
Jellison reported positive changes following some staff position changes and said the district has been pleased with the results so far. He also reported that a freezer issue at the the elementary-middle school has been resolved, repairs to the football field water reel have been completed and the roof project completed over the summer has not resulted in any leaks.
Baldwin said administrators and staff have been working well together and the district has completed its required classroom walkthroughs, which are part of the district’s accreditation process. The walkthroughs, conducted electronically through the district’s eWalk system, allow administrators to observe instruction and evaluate areas of strength and weakness.
The board approved the district’s administrative goals for the school year.
Bates also reported on a school safety workshop a few of them attended in Hutchinson last week. Bates said the training included representatives from the FBI, KBI and other organizations. They both mentioned that it was very informative and they have came up with more tools to use to help students when they go to a dark place.
They learned a lot about school shooting prevention and different things to watch for and how to prevent anything from happening. Baldwin said it was the best workshop he’s gone to in a long long long time.
The superintendent said the district plans to bring the trainer to the school Nov. 2 for additional safety training. All district staff will be included in the training in the morning with other activities and training for the whole school that afternoon.
The board also heard an update from Gail Boisseau regarding the Southeast Kansas Cooperative for Special Education board meeting. Boisseau described the meeting as brief and productive.
Finances, Local Budget
The board reviewed monthly expenditures totaling $482,544.26, including $262,230.22 in payroll and $220,314.04 for supplies, utilities and other expenses.
The district’s ending balance was reported at $1,524,921.18 as of Sept. 1, compared with $1,120,746.45 on Sept. 1, 2025.
The board also approved a resolution authorizing a 32.4 percent local option budget for the 2026-27 school year.
The board approved a resolution to increase the Comanche County Recreation Commission mill levy from 1 mill to 2 mills. Publication of the resolution must be published once a week for two consecutive weeks, after which a 30-day period will allow the public an opportunity to protest the proposed increase.
The board then recessed into a 15-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel and adjourned the meeting while in executive session.
The next regular USD 300 Board of Education meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 7.
