Kris Miller
Hiawatha World
The USD 415 Board of Education met on Monday evening to meet with a representative from investment bank and financial services company Piper Sandler about bond options and information for the Hiawatha school system and what financial information would look like in the school district’s near future.
Piper Sandler in Kansas City representative Dustin Avery met with the board and gave a presentation about bond options and information available. Avery stated that regarding the school district’s current mills in bond and interest–which is 6.322–there would not be any drastic financial fluctuation for Hiawatha’s schools compared to other school districts, as there are more stability and valuations than at other places. He did recommend taking a conservative approach to valuation assessments or valuation growth projections.
“I think we got to take a more modest approach,” Avery said. “And if we end up growing more than what we’re evaluating or predicting in a financial model obviously just puts the district in a better position to be able to provide more mill levy management in future years.”
Avery also added that regarding state aid, there have been some districts that never qualified for state aid and it is based on valuation per pupil being higher than most school districts, so the state would not provide any financial assistance related to making payments on outstanding bonds. However, Avery said that the board had been diligent with mill levy management.
Avery also gave information over the school district’s current financial assessment and how much the district could finance in 2026. Board member Ian Schuetz asked how funds would enter at what time to maintain continuity of the mill levy, so there was no gap or overlap, and if 2026 was the year to have the most even rate. Avery confirmed that that was the case and said that if there were things with the mill levy needed to be handled, the November 2025 election would be the ideal time. Schuetz said that a downtime to waiting longer is that there would not be a streamlined mill levy.
“It would end up dropping off because the bond interest can’t go for anything else,” Schuetz elaborated. “So that would theoretically go to zero and then we’d have to start back up.”
Avery agreed and said that most likely by the 2026 budget, there would be enough money in the bond fund where the mill levy would be forced to go to zero but also added that there was a window between the November 2025 and the spring 2027. Avery also elaborated that elections act like surveys regarding possible projects to be funded.
“You can put together the best plan that the board thinks needs to be put together based upon community feedback, but you really don’t know until you ask voters to decide whether they would be supportive of that project.”
After going over more hypothetical mill levy scenarios and other financial information, members of the board thanked Avery for his time and the information before he left.
The board went to the topic of an officer election resolution, where the resolution was to move the officer elections and board meeting dates and times to the June board meeting. All seven board members voted to approve this resolution.
BoardDocs/Diligent system upgrade discussion
Director of Finance and Clerk of the Board Levi Thompson discussed that the school software program BoardDocs was doing an overhaul of its system and featuring upgrades, such as making notes on the side and highlighting items. He explained that the district currently pays $2,700 for BoardDocs currently, and it is projected to go up by $2,000. Thompson was pointed out, however, that by staying with BoardDocs that everything would roll over in terms of log in and password information. He also added that keeping BoardDocs would also mean policies would be more organized and easier to put into the system than previously, among other features. Thompon said that it would take three months to integrate into the new system, with training being available.
Other items of discussion:
• All seven board members voted to approve a Kansas Education Systems Accreditation Plan, which involves quality instruction, professional learning and professional collaboration.
• All seven board members voted to approve the 2025-2026 school year calendar.
• The school board also spoke about snow still being present on the sidewalks; it was discussed a public safety announcement was needed.
• All seven members voted to approve the annual Kansas Association of School Boards policy updates.
• All seven members voted to approve using $34,925 for a new backup generator for Hiawatha Middle School.
• Industrial Arts and Applied Technology teacher Darrin Arment came in to discuss about RealityU, which will take place on Feb. 28 at Hiawatha High School; RealityU presents students a simulation to help students prepare for life after high school.
• All seven members voted to approve using $142,459 for a new school bus.
• All seven members voted to approve the resignation of Title 1 teacher Emily Chandler
• All seven members voted to approve hiring Ryan Smith as the fourth HMS basketball coach and Matt Morton as the head HHS boys and girls track and field coach.
