School Board to set superintendent salary

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Board of Education will be asked to ratify the superintendent’s salary, to increase school meal prices and approve a new teaching contract, at the regular meeting Monday, 6:30 p.m. at the Junior High conference room.

The board will also be asked to approve three monetary donations to the district and 2022-23 school handbooks for McCook Elementary/Central Elementary and the Junior/Senior High.

Superintendent Grant Norgaard’s current salary for the 2021-22 year is $172,300, according to the Nebraska Department of Education Superintendent ESU Administrator Transparency Pay Act. In years past, the board looked at an average of superintendent’s salaries in comparable school districts in the state to set his salary.

For increased lunch prices, the board will be asked to approve a 10-cent increase for meals served at the school. If approved, meal prices will be Breakfast, reduced price, .30 cents; Elementary/Central students, $2; Junior/Senior High, $2.10; adults, $2.70. Lunch prices: reduced price, .40 cents; McCook Elementary, $3; Central Elementary, $3.10; Junior-Senior High, $3.25; adults, $4.14.

The teaching contract the board will be asked to approve is for Troy Barger for first grade at McCook Elementary. Barger started teaching in 2000 as a sixth-grade teacher in Schuyler, Neb., and his most recent employment was at North Platte from 2021-22 as a K-5 guidance teacher and first-grade teacher.

Three donations have been given to the school district, two for the high school tennis program and one for the extended school day program. These donations are $5,000 from the Graff Charitable Foundation and an anonymous donation of $2,000, both to the Bison Tennis program and $1,268.12 from the McCook Optimist Club to pay for snacks at the Bison Kids Club extended school day program, fourth quarter.

Superintendent Grant Norgaard will give several reports to the board Monday night, concerning:

-The assessment of the long-term structural viability of the junior high if it’s remodeled; the concept of a mostly new junior high, that includes some remodeling of the existing high school and junior high buildings; and the direction the superintendent intends to give W Design on how to proceed with the next steps of the design process.

-An interlocal agreement with the City of McCook: the school district has been asked by the City of McCook to enter into an interlocal agreement so the city can apply for specific types of funds, some of which will focus on health and wellness and would provide funding for the construction of a city swimming pool. The agreement doesn’t require the school district to provide any funding or obligate the district to any service or operational expectation. Rather, it would serve as a public display of support for the pool and the role it would play in giving patrons and students a place to be active during the summers, according to the agenda for Monday night. The board will be asked to approve the agreement at the July meeting.

-Staff update: substitute teacher training will begin next fall when new teachers report; K-5 math materials training took place May 23, with McCook Public Schools technology director, Tina Williams, helping out due to the technology component for teachers.

A technology event will be scheduled next year for parents to learn how to use the online content.