Great Bend USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton was reassuring his board of education on Wednesday that a freeze on federal financial aid would not have an immediate impact on district programs when one board member, Randy Wetzel, said he’d just seen a Tweet that the White House budget office had rescinded the controversial action.

Wetzel was correct; the Office of Management and Budget put a hold on thousands of agency accounts with a memo set to go into effect at 5 p.m. Jan. 28, but a federal judge put a stay on that action until Feb. 3. The OMB then rescinded its call for a pause on payments for federal grants and other programs. However, it still plans to review federal spending.

Thexton was speaking at a luncheon school board meeting at Lincoln Elementary School on Wednesday, where he had just announced a $700 donation to the Food Service office to help families that can’t afford school meals. That led to talk about federal funding for school lunches, which prompted a comment about the funding freeze.

“We’re supposed to know more on Thursday ...” Thexton began.

“They just rescinded it,” Wetzel said.

“We do get a big chunk of our dollars from federal funds,” the superintendent said, adding it may make sense for the OMB to review some federal spending. For now, he assured the board, “We’ll continue as is.”

Contributions approved

The $700 donation to the General School Lunch Fund was one of several donations approved at the board meeting Wednesday. This grant came from the Golden Belt Community Foundation. Food Service Director Kristy Alvord will be in charge of deciding how the funds are used to make sure all students in the district can eat.

Another donation approved was $2,150 to the Great Bend High School Athletics Department from Marmie Motors Auto Group. Its Touchdown Incentives program awards money every time the Panthers score a touchdown, Thexton said. “It was a very successful year.”

GBHS Athletics - Boys Basketball also received a $511.56 incentive contribution from Factory 233, a company that specializes in custom apparel for schools and other customers.

Personnel

The school board also approved the latest personnel report. Thexton said they’ve already placed three teachers for the next school year. They are:

• Anne Davison, Special Education teacher at GBHS

• Lucas Hall, Grade 6 teacher at Eisenhower Elementary

• Avery Gates, Grade 4 teacher at Eisenhower Elementary

The board approved the resignation of GBMS band instructor Kimberli Simms, who is moving from the district, and the retirement of Judy Sneath, assistant director of Barton County Special Services.