After years of deferring maintenance on some high cost projects to manage a slew of others, Parsons USD 503 is faced with no longer being able to delay repairing/replacing roofs.
Garfield School has the oldest roof in the district. It is in bad shape and it has leaks. It has been on the list of items to get done for several years, but has not gotten squeezed into the budget amid other emergency matters like boiler replacements. Now it is a must. The guttering on the roof has also been non-functional for some time.
Superintendent Lori Ray told the USD 503 Board of Education Monday she is proposing the district redo a roof each year for the next couple of years, with Lincoln following Garfield in the 2026-2027 school year.
The older a building roof gets, the higher the insurance premiums.
“If we don't budget for replacement of the elementary roofs in the next three years, our insurance rates will go up, or we may have a school building uninsurable. We don’t want to get back into the cycle of delayed maintenance,” she told the board.
Maintenance Director Keaton Nolting presented bids to the board Monday ranging up to $1,022,000 and his recommendation was for SIC Midwest to be given the job reroofing Garfield for $348,800. He said SIC will fix all the issues the modified roof currently has before going over it with the two part 80 mil seamless polyurea coating. It has a 25 year warranty. Nolting said once it reaches its life span, unlike a TPO system, they can go over the existing polyurea layer with another layer for around $200,000 and it is guaranteed for another 25 years. Polyurea roofing is known for greater durability than TPO and it does not have the ponding issues TPO has.
Nolting also recommended they go with Clear Cut Gutter’s bid of $33,640.
He said SIC can actually begin the work in two to three weeks. The work can be done while students are in school.
The board approved the bids by SIC and Clear Cut.
Vikingfest
Parsons Middle School Principal Olivia Nolting, Assistant Superintendent Jeff Pegues and Community Health Worker Jaran Dixon spoke to the board about the tremendous success of Vikingfest, a project that began as an effort by the Chronic Absenteeism Task Force to increase family engagement. Increasing family engagement is also a focal point of the district’s Strategic Plan.
Pegues said early intervention and engagement is key to helping students have a successful year. Parsons USD 503 and Telehealth Rocks created Vikingfest, and with tremendous help and support from businesses and organizations in the community the first year was an incredible success. Businesses donated loads of wonderful prizes to give away to students who visited at least 10 of the 35 booths set up that shared with them valuable school and community resources that are available for them and their families. Families also enjoyed a free dinner.
Nolting said over 500 people attended and 280 cards were turned in by students who visited the booths.
“I was ecstatic,” Nolting said.
Everyone was shocked to see how many middle school and high school age students showed up, so next year, they said they are going to plan a lot more events geared for those age groups, in addition to offering haircuts, different resources, presentations, and more.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:
Heard enrollment numbers are fluctuating daily as families are moving, but at last count stood at 1170.
Heard there will be a new substitute teacher training offered Wednesday Aug. 13, to help familiarize teachers with things they need to know..
Heard there will be an All teacher professional development day Thursday at Parsons High School and professional developments Friday, Aug. 18 and 19.
Heard Open House will be Aug. 18 at the Middle School and High School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Heard Aug. 19 will be Sneak Peak at All Elementaries from 5 to 7 p.m.
Heard Aug. 20 will be the first day of school all day, for all grades.
Accepted donations to school.
Approved a special meeting to exceed the revenue neutral rate and hold a budget hearing.
Appointed Kayla Green as the delegate for the KASB Convention.
Approved the 2025-2026 Classified Staff Handbook.
Approved the 2025-2026 Staff Handbook,
Approved Participation in Greenbush Parents As Teachers.
Approved two added vacation days for administrators and directors or the 2025-2025 contract year.
Approved action on memorandum of understanding with city of Parsons to provide two School Resource Officers with annual billing.
Accepted the resignations of Garfield ESOL Aide Gisselle Hernandez and High School financial clerk Shealyn Wilds, Mike Ramsey, High School Assistant Baseball Coach, and Josh Robertson, High School Head Baseball Coach .
Terminated from employment Curtis Arnold, part-time custodian.
Accepted the transfers of Joe Campmier from middle school FACS to middle school communications/tech and Jamie Willey from middle school communications/yearbook to high school English Language Arts.
Hired Kierstyn Houk as high school volleyball coach, Barbara McCoy as middle school FACS and Sherman Shaver as middle school custodian, Janai Bailey, High School Sports Club Co-Sponsor, Riley Beard, Garfield Behavior Support Aide, James Cowger, Part-Time Custodian at Guthridge, Kylie Lucas, High School Sports Club Co-Sponsor, and Shenita Oaks, Sub Bus Monitor.