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Two of the modular buildings from Morton Elementary were sold during their July meeting.

LEXINGTON — The Lexington school board approved the sale of two modular buildings located at Morton Elementary during their meeting on Monday, July 11.

Superintendent John Hakonson said the district had wanted to sell three modular buildings, two from Morton and one from Sandoz, but there was one bidder who only wanted two of the buildings.

Jon Sullivan’s bid was for $1,000 for both buildings, but he will be responsible for moving the buildings away from Morton in time to allow for the planned renovations to occur, Hakonson said.

During the superintendent’s comments, Hakonson noted there had been a water leak at Sandoz that resulted in an inch of standing water throughout the building. Service Master helped to clean out the space.

Hakonson relayed that Bo Berry, Director of Buildings, Grounds and Transportation, did not think that any drywall needed to be replaced. The source of the leak was thought to be a pipe that decoupled.

During the buildings and grounds discussion, the board approved the operations agreement between the Lexington Recreation Management Company, LLC and the Lexington Community Facilities Agency (LCFA).

Hakonson said the agreement was reviewed at the annual joint administrators meeting with the school district and Orthman Community YMCA representatives present.

It was noted the cleaning costs for the YMCA have increased around $10,000 due to the labor shortage.

A purchase the board approved was for a convection oven from Buller Fixture Company for $12,395.00. Hakonson said this was a food service purchase and the funds came from that account.

The board reviewed several different items during the policy section; the first was to consider the district’s updated Plan for Safe Return with associated protocols under the American Rescue Plan.

Hakonson said this deals with their COVID-19 policy and has to be reviewed every six months, per federal guidelines. He said he spoke with the Lexington Regional Health Center who recommended no substantive changes. The board approved the plan.

There were several annual policy updates that were approved that included the parental involvement policy, the bullying policy, student fees policy and the Americanism statute.

The board also voted to rescind the contracts offered to Romario Salano and Karla Barrios. Hakonson said it was no fault of the individuals that these contract offers were withdrawn.

He said Salano, a native Columbian, was approved to teach but was required to get a visa, but it was denied.

Barrios was going to be hired to teach Spanish to a kindergarten class and would be hired through the University of Nebraska – Kearney’s Transitional Certification Program (TCP). However, the TCP grants endorsements in world language areas, but not broader elementary teaching.

The district lobbied that Barrios would be a Spanish instructor, teaching an elementary class, but UNK ruled that it was an elementary position.

Haksonson said they have found alternate candidates for the two positions.

During the approval of employment contracts, Betsy Dueland was recommended to replace Cindy Flint as a preschool teacher. Flint retired at the end of the last school year.

It was noted that the board will not need to amend the current 2021-22 budget as construction costs won't be billed as early as previously thought. Hakonson had announced the possibility during the June meeting.

The board also decided to wait until August to decide on a planning session date and time.

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Two of the modular buildings from Morton Elementary were sold during their July meeting.