By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board approved the purchase of iPads for elementary and middle school teachers at its meeting Monday night.
The cost of purchasing 175 devices is estimated at $51,000. The devices will be purchased with federal COVID relief funds.
Last year the iPads for elementary students were replaced. The newer devices have updated operating systems that are not compatible with the older system on the teachers' devices.
The teachers have also had difficultly using Zoom on their older devices.
"This is really a need, and this is the best use of the funds at this time," Shanna Dinkel, assistant superintendent, said.
The new iPads will be ordered immediately.
The old iPads will be sold.
HHS parking lot
The board also approved the next phase of concrete replacement for the Hays High School parking lot. The contract was awarded to the low bidder, Brian's Concrete of Hays for $185,625.
Activity bus purchase
The board also discussed two other capital purchases.
The board heard a report from Russ Henningsen, director of transportation, on the purchase of a new activity bus.
The five-year transportation plan includes the purchase of an activity bus from funds in the 2021-22 budget. If the board approves of the purchase, the bus would be ordered this spring for delivery later this year.
The 2021-22 transportation budget includes no other vehicle purchases. The bid for the bus came in at $265,800.
The board took no action on the bus purchase Monday, but will likely vote on the item at its next meeting.
Tractor purchase
The board also heard a report from Henningsen on the purposed purchase of a new tractor for the buildings and grounds department.
The low bid of $44,500 came from Lang Diesel for a Massey Ferguson. The bid includes a cab, loader and blade.
Board members Craig Pallister and Allen Park asked Henningsen if he had researched the possible purchase of a used tractor.
Henningsen said he had and none of the three bidders had any used tractors that were the size the district is seeking to purchase.
He said he would check back with the dealers about the availability of used tractors before the next board meeting, at which time the board is scheduled to vote on the purchase.
Local bid policy change
The board also approved a board policy change on local bids to make it the same as state statute.
Correction: Tuesday, March 9 at 9:08 a.m., corrected to reflect the iPad purchase also includes devices for middle school teachers.