Additional days will be added to the end of the school year due to all of the recent snow days after approval by the School Board at Wednesday night’s meeting.
The last day of school will move from May 20 to May 22. If there are no additional inclement weather days, students will get out at 11:15 a.m. on May 22.
The seniors’ last day will move from May 14 to May 15. Graduation will still be May 17.
The district will also convert April 18 from a professional development day to a student attendance day.
These changes are necessary to meet the state-mandated 1,116 instruction hours, Superintendent Stu Moeckel said.
In other business, Moeckel updated the board on the most recent free breakfast data before the board makes a final decision on continuing the program at a future meeting.
From January 2024 to January 2025, there was a 43% increase in the number of breakfasts served. In January 2024, there were 6,135. This went up to 8,760 in January 2025.
There were 17,057 breakfasts served in 2024, for a total reimbursement of $21,635. With each meal costing $1.25, it cost the district $21,321. In other words, the district received around $313 more than it paid for free breakfast. The goal when the program started was for the district to break even to make free breakfast economical.
There is still a need to spread information about this program to build habits for families, Moeckel said. Moeckel said the board will have a more in-depth conversation about free breakfast in May with a final decision in June.
During a middle school update, Principal Jeremy Thomas said students had shared in the classroom that they feel safer due to the new secure entrance paid for by the bond.
Thomas said the sense of belonging is a strength at the middle school. They’re still working on getting 100% of students involved with an extracurricular club or activity, Thomas said. Most every student, except for a couple in each grade level, are involved with something now, he said.
Assistant Principal Ty Pattison said he and Thomas have brought back classroom walk-throughs to get a better understanding of what’s going on in classrooms and to connect better with teachers. Administration has done 276 walk-throughs this year.
The walk-throughs help the administration provide teachers with feedback and have become a regular part of teachers’ and students’ days, Thomas said.
Moeckel also presented a projection on in-district enrollment and a proposed capacity to allow enrollment of out-of-district students.
The enrollment projections for 2025-2026 are shown in this chart:
The proposed nonresident student enrollment capacities are shown in this chart:
Moeckel does not think the capacities for nonresident enrollment will be hit. It would be unlikely that 49 new high schoolers join the district, he said.
This is an item that has to be approved each year. If there are more applications than can fit into the capacity for a certain grade level, it goes to a lottery system.
This will be an action item in April.
Moeckel also shared new photos of some bond construction updates as more projects near completion. The weight room and new gym will be used after spring break.
Following the meeting, Moeckel addresses recent news that USDA has canceled around $1 billion in funding for schools that help buy foods from local suppliers. The Eudora district does not use either program: Local Foods for Schools or the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, he said. So this funding cut will not affect the district’s lunch program, Moeckel said.
