By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
The USD 489 Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, at the Rockwell Administration Center to discuss fees for the 2016-2017 school year, increasing internet speeds and two contract non-renewals during their regular work-session and meeting.
The fee schedule recommended by the administration includes a $135 material fee, $150 kindergarten fee and an increase of $0.10 for lunch programs across the district.
The administration is also suggesting a $25 technology fee for Hays Middle School students that would allow students to take district-issued iPads home with them at the end of the school day.
The Board discussed the technology fee in February.
“We’re not getting our money’s worth by leaving them in the building at three o’clock every day,” said HMS principal Craig Pallister, during the earlier discussion with the board.
Other than the technology fee at HMS and the increase in the lunch fees, student fees will remain at the same level as this year if approved as recommended.
The board will also discuss increasing internet speeds to 400 Mbps at an additional cost of $4,000 per month.
After discounts, the district will pay $22,320 for internet for the current year. The increase would hike that cost to $36,720.
“We’re hitting our cap of 200 Mbps this year. We’ve looked at adding additional bandwidth to avoid bottlenecks and continue to allow the technology integration of the classrooms to grow,” according to the material that will be presented at the meeting.
If the board chooses to increase the speed it would take effect on July 1.
Eagle Communications, the parent company of Hays Post is the current internet provider for the district. The Eagle contract ends on June 30, 2017.
The district plans to re-evaluate speeds and the provider when the contract ends.
The board is also set to discuss the contract non-renewal of two staff members during the meeting.
While the board meeting is a work-session, earlier this year the board changed the meeting structure to classify the work-session as a meeting as well, in order to have the ability to take action on items that need immediate attention.
Actionable items for Monday’s meeting include the approval of bills and personnel transactions.
Video of the meeting will be available on Hays Post via the USD 489 News team.