Murray, NEB.- The monthly school board meeting was held on Tuesday, March 14. Board members Allison Welch, Candace Kelley, Tracy Priefert, Jeremy Stone, Greg Page and Seth Arens were all in attendance. Student member Jayden S was also present.

To begin, Jayden gave a legislative report. Notable pieces of legislation affecting schools include a proposed grant program for school security and mental health aid and the governors education package. The fifth grade teachers then came and demonstrated some of the activities that are being used in their classrooms to prepare students for high school and life.

The building and grounds committee gave a brief report. They stated that they had recently had a meeting where they decided upon several necessary renovations to the school. Firstly, the salt used during the winter to melt ice has taken a toll on the concrete entrance to the school. The committee has decided to tear it all out and replace it. They also would like to address the potholes in the highschool parking lot as well as create a handicap accessible entrance to the stadium. The building project committee will begin meeting on a weekly basis again over Zoom. This is to address the pressing space issues that are faced at both buildings.

The board then approved the consent agenda. This in addition to the usual financial items included the transfer of $9 million to the Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund, which will provide better interest revenue. This is for the project to be underway which will, among other things, replace windows at the elementary and the HVAC at the high school.

The board then entered into an Americanism hearing. The purpose of this hearing was to give an opportunity for any community members to comment on Americanism in the school district. No community members spoke.

They then returned to the regular meeting and began administrative reports. It was stated that the high school is interviewing for the open technology director position. Superintendent Mike Apple also mentioned that in August, representatives from the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) will give a presentation to students regarding safe use of the RCUT which will be constructed at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 75. This presentation was delayed from May due to expectations about the completion date for the project being pushed back.

The board then moved on to the action items for the meeting. The first was to replace the now defunct Plattsmouth Journal with the Sarpy County Times as one of the newspapers of record for the district. They also voted to join the Nebraska School Board Association (NSBA) for the 2022-2023 school year. They tabled the purchase of a new English curriculum for the time being as not all companies have sent in their bids. Finally, they approved the removal of Candace Kelley and Dean Nickels as well as the addition of Jeremy Stone to the First State Bank Nebraska checking and savings accounts. These would be accounts related to the foundation.

The meeting then entered executive session at 6:04 and adjourned following the conclusion of this session.