CLAFLIN — The approval of a onetime $1,000 retention incentive for certified staff members was a major topic at the Central Plains USD 112 Board of Education’s meeting June 25.

Superintendent Bobby Murphy proposed the incentive to the board as a way to increase staff retention.

“One of the items we talked about as one of our goals this past year is to try to find ways to retain our certified teachers throughout the district,” he said. “I think this would be a great way to do that and show that we are invested in our teachers. If the board would so choose to move to where we were able to offer an incentive bonus for certified staff members that are currently staying on next year — that are not resigning or retiring — for just a onetime $1,000 incentive, it would be distributed at the end of this month. I think it would go a long way to show that we’re really invested in these teachers and we really value them in the district. It would be 44 certified staff members.

When we figure everything in it comes to $47,410.

“This would be just a one-time, this-year, incentive, that if the board so chooses in the future we would maybe be able to do that at the end of every year if we can afford it, but it wouldn’t be something that we would have to necessarily have to do at the end of every year. That would be something that would be communicated to our faculty and staff — that we value you coming back next year and we value everything you are bringing to the district. We appreciate everything you did this year. We would hope that maybe we could do this every year, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to do that.”

Board President Tamara Dody supported the idea.

“I think it is a great thing to do to show our appreciation, and it is wonderful we are in a position that we can do that,” she said.

“I agree,” board member Cherilee Ward said. “Every time we have turnover, it costs the district.”

On a motion by Dalton Wirth and seconded by Kayla Cullens, the board unanimously approved the retention incentive.

Following two executive sessions, the board took up staffing issues.

The board unanimously approved a motion by Chad Rogers to approve the base hourly pay to be set at $18 for day care directors and approved a motion by Rogers to increase salaries for classified staff by 5 percent.

The board unanimously approved a contract for Shaelyn Sheehy as principal at Central Plains Elementary School, Holyrood. On a 4-2 vote, the board approved a contract for Karin Mohr as principal at Wilson Elementary School. The board unanimously renewed a contract for Jessica Murphy, principal at Central Plains Jr./Sr. High School, Claflin.

End-of-year invoices presented by Murphy were unanimously approved.

“We tried to get everything as updated as possible for the end-of-theyear board meeting, but I do want to point your attention to a couple of items,” Murphy said. “We do have parent mileage for bringing the students in. We have a graduation alliance of billable credits. Our AC gym controls to get those all updated are on there. We do have a couple of big orders for our custodial supplies for 2025-26. Our custodian crew did a good job of getting all their supplies for next year that they could ordered in this budget period, and the rec court refinishing that you approved last year. Those are some of our big-ticket items at the end of the year.”

“I know I said it at the last meeting, but I really appreciate our custodial staff working ahead trying to get those costs out of this year’s budget,” Dody said. “That will help us next year even more.”

Other items on the agenda:

• The board approved an out-of-state travel request by the FFA for their annual trip to Amarillo and Fort Worth.

• The board approved an increase in fee schedules.

“Basically, our recommendation is a 10 cent raise on meal prices. The cost of food is always going up and we feel like we need to get that increase in,” Murphy said. “That will take adult lunches to $4.55, students pre-K through grade 6 will be $2.80 and students in grades 7-12 will be $3. Breakfast will be pre-K through grade 6, $1.65, students in grades 7-12 will be $1.90 and adults $2.50. Grab-andgo will be $2.”

• The board discussed district-paid health insurance rates. Murphy advised the board that they were waiting on final numbers from the insurance provider. The matter was moved to the July agenda.

• The board approved renewal of district property, casualty and liability insurance.

“We did see a small decrease of about $3,500 in our premiums for this year,” Murphy said. “We felt really good about that moving forward.”

• The board approved capital outlay for new pipes at the high school. Murphy advised that they had Kirmer Electric come in and make a bid.

“It was $21,439.66. This is for a few different items,” he said. “This is for replacing the cold water line down the auditorium hallway. This will include a shut-off valve. This does not include the hot water line down that hallway. They said that was working properly.

“The second part is we do have a couple of pinholes in the hot water circulating line where it comes in. This does also include shut-off valves in the kitchen area to be able to shut if off separate from the rest of the building. I would classify the cold water line down that hallway as an emergency. It’s not on right now.”

• The board approved year-end transfers.

• On open agenda items, the board discussed the increase in bus prices due to tariffs.

“We previously talked about our bus purchase. Since then, a tariff charge of $6,500 has been added to the price of the bus, naturally. This takes the price of the bus to $171,481,” Murphy said. “Just a friendly reminder that a portion of that will be refunded by the grant Transportation Director Jamie Zink was approved for. We just need the consensus of the board to move forward at that price. I recommend moving forward as I think all it’s going to do is get higher from here on out. If we can get it locked in, the better off we’re going to be in the future.”

The board agreed he had a consensus to move forward with the purchase.

The next meeting is at 6 p.m. July 14.