WACO fills nursing position through 28E agreement with Washington

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? Taking care of some necessary items before the 2016-17 school term begins next week, the WACO School Board, in its regular meeting Monday night, filled school nursing vacancies, approved two vehicle purchases and awarded school milk and bread contracts.

WACO entered into a 28E agreement with the Washington Community School District to fill the school nursing vacancies. Under terms of the agreement, WACO will pay Washington $47,289 for the nursing services.

WACO Superintendent Jeff Dicks, who also heads the Washington district, told WACO board members that the amount reflected a considerable savings from what WACO paid school nurses last year.

?We were able to find a nurse,? Dicks began. ?This will save you $20,000 from last year.?

Under terms of the agreement, Washington will have the contract for the nurse. Both parties must agree to the specific nurse that will provide program services and the nurse will provide services for the entire school year.

Should either school district desire to change the nurse for the following year, the school district must notify the other district, in writing, by May 15, 2017. The nurse?s actual schedule must be mutually agreed upon by the administration of both districts. Both parties will meet semi-annually to review and evaluate the agreement.

If either district wishes to terminate the agreement for the following year, notification in writing must be done by March 15, 2017.

WACO will purchase two used vehicles from Capper Auto Group of Washington to replace two deteriorating vehicles.

?Woody (Woody Harden, shared transportation director with Washington) started looked for a new Suburban,? Dicks said. ?Capper proposed a used Suburban and Woody thought if we saved enough money, we could buy an (Chevrolet) Impala.?

Capper proposed selling WACO a 2012 Suburban with 68,432 miles for $28,000, and a 2015 Chevrolet Impala with 22,400 miles for $15,700.

The Suburban will replace a 2006 Ford van ?that can no longer be used to transport students due to rust issues,? Harden said. ?The 2006 van?s rust issues are to the point that the cost to fix the rust would exceed the vehicle?s value.?

WACO plans to keep the van for district non-student use.

Meanwhile, the Impala will replace a 2006 Ford Taurus. Like the 2006 van, the Taurus has rust issues where repair costs would exceed the value of the vehicle.

WACO will trade a 2005 Dodge Caravan with 209,535 miles. Capper will give the district $1,200 for the van, making the total cost of the Suburban and Impala $42,500.

Pan-O-Gold received the district?s bread bid for the coming school year. Bimbo also bid on the pact, but Pan-O-Gold will deliver while Bimbo bread would have to be picked up in Washington. Both bids were nearly identical in prices.

Anderson-Erickson received the milk contract over Prairie Farms. Again, the bids were close, but Anderson-Erickson was a tad more reasonable on more milk products.

Dicks briefed the board on the calendar in preparation for the upcoming school year. He said new teacher orientation will be today (Tuesday). The district will have five new faculty members. He also has meetings scheduled with non-certified personnel (cooks, custodians, clerical and para-professionals). The first meeting of all school employees will be this Thursday.

Finally, Dicks said the district saved about $45,000 in energy costs in the past year due to solar-produced energy.

WACO School Board members meet again in regular session Monday, Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m., in the secondary media center in Wayland.