HOLYROOD — The former Central Plains Middle School building in Bushton will be put up for sale by sealed bids. That was unanimous decision members of the Central Plains USD 112 board of education approved during an Aug. 25 special meeting in Holyrood.

The bids are to be submitted by 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, to the district office in Holyrood. The sale will be made by quick claim deed, with the property as is and where is. The district will retain ownership of such personal properties as the administration determines should be retained. The district also reserves the right to retain and move the football bleachers, and any property subject to a lease-purchase agreement. The district reserves the right to reject all bids.

The bids will be opened at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at the law office of Sherman, Hoffman and Hoffman in downtown Ellsworth. All bidders are welcome to attend. (See ad on Page A5.)

Before the vote was taken, John Sherman, board attorney, said the board has the absolute discretion to determine the disposition of school property.

“You can sell it, you can give it away, you can do with it as you please,” he said.

Sherman said the board would need to adopt a resolution to sell the building at a regular school board meeting.

In other business:

• Superintendent Greg Clark reviewed “Gating Criteria” from the Kansas State Department of Education and how it applies to USD 112 schools as they conduct class amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We will be looking at gating criteria each week,” he said. “Gating criteria will help guide us on are we are all on-site.”

Among the information to be considered from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website will be that week’s student absent rates, the two week county positive case rates, the two week county cumulative incident rate per 100,000, trends in county incident rates and hospital capacity.

Clark said he will visit the KDHE website once a week and gather the numbers in each category for both Ellsworth and Barton Counties. He will add up all that information and determine how classes will be conducted that particular week based on those numbers.

Clark said he is working with both the Ellsworth and Barton County Health Departments to determine what is the safest and best way forward for schools as they open to students.

“My biggest fear is we get back in, go a few days, and pop another positive,” he said. “It’s just going to be an ongoing thing. Pray for us and we’ll do our best.”

On Aug. 21, the Barton County Health Department notified Clark that one student athlete who attended that week’s high school football practice as well as one student athlete who attended that week’s high school volleyball practice had tested positive for COVID-19. The two student athletes and their parents have been quarantined for 14 days.

As a result, Clark said both the Central Plains High School football team and the Central Plains High School volleyball team have also been quarantined until Sept. 5.

“We’re working with parents,” he said. “We’re going to provide lunch for those students who are quarantined if they want it. But they are going to have to have somebody come to school and get it.”

Clark said the quarantined students are getting the technology to learn and teachers have things set up Zoom meetings every hour on the hour with them.

“It’s going to be just like regular school, but they will be at home,” he said. “Teachers that are home quarantined are going to teach from home. It’s going to be a little herky jerky but we’ll get there.”