The Platte County Commission and North Platte School District are working together to alleviate the cost of a budget increase item.
Starting next school year, North Platte will have to pay for the service of having a school resource officer that has been provided free of charge in the past by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.
This past school year, the district welcomed Andy Servaes as the new SRO.
The cost to have him back at all of the North Platte campuses will be $46,500.
North Platte superintendent Karl Matt noted there has been an agreement reached between the district and commissioners/sheriff’s office to pay for the steps over the course of the next few years.
North Platte will pay $11,625 this year and the cost will increase each year for the next three years by that total until reaching the $46,500.
“We may look at other options, but we need a SRO and we want to make sure we have a SRO. It has worked well,” Matt said.
County commissioner John Elliott noted the district is working with North Platte to get them in line with the pay that will be provided to the county by the West Platte and Park Hill school districts.
Those districts are part of an 80/20 split, with the schools paying for 80 percent of the salary, while the county will pay for the other part as the deputies work the weekends or summer when school isn’t in session.
Elliott noted one of the issues for the county is to get deputies trained to become SROs fast enough to keep up with the requests.
LUNCH PRICE INCREASE
There will be a small increase of school lunches prices next year to fall in line with the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program.
There will be a 10 cent increase for lunch prices for students, going to $2.40, while the adult lunch price goes up 40 cents to $3.60. Breakfast prices will see a small bump as well. The price for students will be $1.85, 10 cents higher than last year and adult breakfast price goes to $2.45, an increase of 25 cents.
SUMMER WORK
There are a handful of projects throughout the district.
The junior high school gymnasium floor is getting refinished, the high school gymnasium wall is being repainted and the weight room renovated.
Roof repairs are being done at the high school gymnasium and choir room and tile is being fixed in one of the high school hallways.
At the elementary school, there is an extra early childhood special education classroom being added.
OTHER NEWS
The district approved the hiring of three substitute teachers: Chelsi Sams, Mike Goodlet and Marlyn Goodlet.
The 2019-2020 budget was approved and Matt said with the end of the fiscal year coming the district came out with about $260,000 ahead of projections from last year.
Summer school attendance average was 130 students per day for K-8.