By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board will discuss a board vacancy at its meeting on Monday.
The board has received four applications for the seat.
Tina Zimmerman, Greg Schwartz, Kevin Daniels and Lori Hertel submitted applications by the deadline.
Zimmerman is a patient financial representative at HaysMed. She has a daughter at Thomas More Prep-Marian and a son who attends Hays High School. She has been a past volunteer for the Catholic schools, and she and her family have been active volunteers with their church, St. Nicholas of Myra.
Zimmerman said she saw there was a need for someone to serve on the board and was willing to volunteer her time.
“I am a parent of a child at USD 489, and I and just want to be involved from a parent perspective,” she said.
Schwartz is an attorney with Schwartz & Park and was elected to the Hays school board in 2007, serving three terms. He was defeated in his last run for a board seat. He has also served as president of the USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence. He was not available for comment for this story.
Daniels is a pastor at Hays Christian Church. He is a past president and current secretary of the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance.
His wife, Lori, is a substitute para-educator for the district. He has a son entering sixth grade at Hays Middle School, and a daughter who will be starting fourth grade at Roosevelt. He is the president of the Home & School Association at Roosevelt Elementary.
“I have really enjoyed interacting with the teachers, staff, parents and students on a regular day-to-day basis,” he said of his experience on the Home & School Association. “I have worked hard in that position to develop a positive relationship between Home & School and the staff, and I feel that I could bring that trust and collaborative mindset to the board.”
Daniels said he would support the decision of the current board to move forward with a $78.5 million bond issue. He said he thought American with Disabilities Act compliance is a significant reason why the bond is needed.
“The other glaring issue I see that is addressed by the bond is the fact that not all schools have an adequate storm shelter,” he said. “That seems like a common-sense change that we can all agree on.”
Hertel is a mental health therapist with a contract with Community Corrections of Northwest Kansas.
Both her children attended public schools in Hays. She was a site council member. Hertel said she has long wanted to be on the board and finally has the time to do it.
“I think I would be good at working together. I am a good person with a history of gathering information to make good decisions based on that information,” she said.
In memory of her daughter, she helped start the Imagination Library program in Ellis County, has worked to implement prevention programs for at-risk students in schools. She also has been a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She was awarded the Woman of Distinction Award from the local chapter of Soroptimists International.
In terms of the bond issue, as a site council member, Hertel said she saw many of the needs of the schools. She said she had mixed feelings on the bond but was leaning favorably to it.
The seat was vacated in July by Sarah Rankin when she moved out of state. There are two and half years left on Rankin’s term.
Other items on the board’s agenda include:
• Review of board goals and objectives.
• Approval of a copy paper bid for the 2017-2018 school year for $21,627 from Contract Paper Group.
• A presentation from Jessica Younker, director of Nutrition Services, on the CACFP program renewal for nutrition services for the 2017-2018 school year.
• Review of centralized enrollment
• Review of Kansas Association of School Boards Association policy recommendations.
The board is also scheduled to have executive sessions to discuss employer-employee negotiations and personnel matters.