By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board approved almost $1 million in furniture purchases for the new high school at its meeting on April 7.
The purchases from Circadia are being made with bond funds.
The new school is scheduled to open in August.
HHS Principal Shawn Henderson said staff members had extensive discussions about what furniture should be transferred to the new school and what should be purchased new.
The staff reviewed the budget and the number of rooms that needed to be outfitted, and then determined a budget for each room, Henderson said.
He said you will see some changes in furniture based on the new design of the school.
The science rooms were designed to allow the lab stations to be mobile, rather than built into the wall.
The lab desks could not be moved to the new high school because the ones in the current high school are bolted in place. Those tables will be left in the current high school, which is being remodeled into a middle school.
The science teachers will have built-in lab stations at the front of their classrooms. Other teachers have requested portable, adjustbale lecterns.
Other areas of the school will be outfitted with more furniture from the current high school. Henderson said all of the furniture from the cafeteria, which is two years old, is being transferred to the new school.
New cafeteria seating will be purchased with capital outlay funds for the new middle school.
Soft seating areas where students can meet and collaborate have been added to the new school. Henderson said this is a theme in the school. At the current high school, students often have to sit on the floor in the halls when working on collaborative projects.
The school also features small group rooms throughout its premises.
"It's that constant conversation on how we maximize space with what we have and what we need to purchase," Henderson said.
Board member Derek Yarmer said he wished he had been able to see the agenda item earlier.
Henderson said he and other staff have put extensive time and effort into reviewing the furniture choices to get the most for the dollars spent.
Circadia sells all types of furniture and brands and worked with the school district to select the best furniture for the school at the best price, Henderson said.
"I know you don't have all of that, but from the bottom of my heart, we have dove into this totally and wholistically, brought you this podium that's there. I promise that we were looking through trying to find the best option to put in that bowl," Henderson said.
Yarmer said, "I don't have any reason to doubt you. At the end of the day, we're supposed to look over this stuff to make an informed decision, and I don't think we can actually make an informed decision without just blindly trusting."
Henderson said timing is important, so the items can be ordered, received and placed in time for the school to open in August.
Board President Curt Vajnar said he would also like more time to absorb the purchase of this amount, but he said he understood the timeline.
"Big purchases, I would like to hear about them so we have time to digest them before we have to make that vote," he said.
Vajnar thanked Henderson for all his work and said he thought the bid looked good.
The purchases were approved on a vote of 6-1, with board member Allen Park voting against.
Classroom displays
The school board approved $127,812 for 103 flat-panel displays and mounts for the new Hays High building from Kansas City Audio-Visual of Kansas City, Missouri.
The displays will be purchased with bond funds.
Scott Summers said he was trying to lock in the price of the devices as soon as possible to avoid price increases related to tariffs, which could be 10 to 28%.
The screens are wifi compatible and can mirror computer screens, Summers said. The devices will be under warranty.