Seat Open on USD 333 Concordia Board of Education After Tony Miller Resigns Position
The USD 333 Concordia Board of Education will have a seat open as a member of the board submitted his letter of resignation last month.
Board member Tony Miller formally resigned from his seat on the school board. Miller chose to step down after accepting a position as a Concordia High School Assistant Football Coach, replacing John Hake.
In a letter submitted July 13, 2023, Miller said he was glad to have had the opportunity to express his thoughts and concerns over the years to make the school district a better place.
"Keep striving for excellence and always put the kids first," Miller wrote in his resignation letter. "Always remember the amount of effort you put into something is the amount of success you will have."
Miller, a two-term board member, was elected to his first term on the board in April 2015. He won a second term in November 2019. He officially filed for a third term in May 2023 and will appear on the November general election ballot where he will be challenged for his Position 3, Sub-District 3 seat on the board of education by Mike Cleveland of Concordia and Jerlynn Johnston of Concordia.
During their regular meeting on Monday, August 14th, the school board discussed leaving the seat vacant until after the November 7th election.
In other personnel moves, Mariah Blazek resigned as an Assistant High School Volleyball Coach. Sofia Gallup will take Blazek's place on the volleyball staff.
Megan Pearson has been hired as an Assistant High School Girls Basketball Coach, replacing Kevin Muff.
The board voted to approve the 2023-2024 Negotiated Agreement. The base salary scheduled will be $41,250 for the 2023-2024 school year. This is an increase of $250 to the base. The supplemental salary schedule base will increase from $37,700 to $38,700 and steps honored.
The board has also agreed to engage monthly in preparation for a 403(b) matching retirement fund to launch in January 2024. This matching fund is specifically designed for younger teachers on KPERS II or KPERS III that do not have a defined benefit upon retirement. However, all employees will be allowed to participate.
USD 333 Concordia Superintendent Quentin Breese presented a 2023-2024 Enrollment Report. To start the year, the district has 1,078 students enrolled in pre-K through 12th grade, which is slightly up from 1,076 students a year ago.
The board has set Monday, September 11th at 6 pm as the date for their 2023-2024 Revenue Neutral Rate Public Hearing and 2023-2024 Budget Hearing. The hearings will take place in the Board of Education Meeting Room during the board's next monthly regular meeting.
Kansas Statute now requires all taxing authorities to host a public hearing and send notification to property owners if proposed budgets will exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR). Revenue neutral is when a taxing entity budgets the exact same amount of property tax revenue, in dollars, for the upcoming budget year as they did for the current year.
The school district's budget, which is scheduled to be published later this week, proposes to increase the district's property tax rate by 0.499 mills, from 46.481 mills to 46.980 mills.