SMSD Board Meeting Recap: Jan. 11

The Shawnee Mission School Board of Education (BOE) met on Monday, Jan. 11 to vote on school board officers, discuss plans for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the district and provide an update to their bond proposal for 2021. 

The meeting began by electing officers to serve on the BOE. Current BOE President Heather Ousley was nominated as president, and Dr. Mary Sinclair was nominated as vice president. Jamie Borgman was nominated to continue her role as the Shawnee Mission Area Council PTA representative. No additional nominations were presented at the meeting, and since all three women ran unopposed, they were elected unanimously. 

Next, Superintendent Dr. Mike Fulton announced an update on expanding COVID-19 testing availability to staff and students. Dr. Fulton reminded board members that every SMSD school is currently offering free COVID-19 testing for all staff, students and their household members. 

“We just want to continue to encourage staff, students and their family members to take advantage of this opportunity,” Dr. Fulton said during the meeting. “It helps us to keep school open.”

Dr. Fulton also announced that SMSD is currently working with the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment to form a plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccine to all 3,500 staff members once they become available. 

At the moment, the vaccine is only available for people aged 16 and older. However, because  the only people who are being vaccinated right now are those categorized as health professionals, eligible students will not be able to receive the vaccine until phase five of Kansas’s Vaccination Plan. 

As middle and high schoolers move to hybrid learning on Jan. 26, SMSD will continue to follow the current mitigating strategies outlined in the district COVID-19 dashboard.

Dr. Fulton also presented an update on the SMSD Board’s $264 million bond proposal. This bond proposes updates to all buildings across the district — including rebuilding five elementary schools. Dr. Fulton explained that because the facilities will be covered by bond money, the district will have the resources to hire additional secondary teachers. Ballots have been mailed to SMSD residents so they can vote on the issue.