SCHOOL BOARD GETS AN EXTRA HISTORY LESSON

JACKSON -- Board members and administrators received several after-hours history lessons during a Jackson Board of Education meeting held Tuesday night.

Three presentations were made by 12 students who participated in regional and state History Day competitions recently. Students represented the school district with two dramatic performances and a table top display during the state competitions. The two dramatic performances, which relayed information about Irish immigration to America following the great potato famine and the lives of indentured servants, placed third and fourth at the state level, narrowly missing the opportunity to compete nationally.

Board members approved a request from administers to table action on bids to supply furniture for the school district. Extenuating circumstances caused a delay in receiving at least one bid, while other bids weren't written according to district specifications, said Dr. Terry Gibbons, assistant superintendent for finance and support services.

Because of the need to receive furniture prior to the start of the next school year, board members approved Gibbons' request to submit written bid information and approve a bid by telephone poll within the next week.

A set of guidelines was also adopted to ease administration of payroll deductions from staff paychecks. In the past, no policy existed regarding payroll deductions and administrators handled numerous employee deductions for annuities, insurance premiums, dependent care, unreimbursed medical expenses and other expenses.

Gibbons said a policy was needed because the increasing number of district employees and their individual deductions are becoming difficult to manage. In addition, a new Internal Revenue Service policy places compliance with deduction requirements on the employer, increasing the school district's potential liability, he said.

"We want to adopt these nine guidelines so we can better manage the existing as well as future payroll deductions," said Gibbons. "This would allow us to grandfather in the current employees and leave their deductions as they are, but new employees or companies wanting payroll deductions would have to meet these guidelines first."

In other business, Superintendent Dr. Howard Jones was given the go-ahead to begin the paperwork necessary for a German foreign exchange student to attend school within the district during the next school year. Because the student is not being sponsored by Rotary International, which regularly sponsors exchange students within the school district, board members questioned whether the student would have the support system needed to assist him socially, academically and with other needs.

Board of Education Meeting

Tuesday, May 12, 1998

7:30 p.m.

Jackson Board of Education office

Agenda

-- Adoption of agenda

-- Approval of minutes

-- Payment of bills

-- Presentation to retiree Doris Baker.

-- Junior high History Day performances.

-- Tabled consideration of furniture bids.

-- Approved acceptance of foreign exchange student pending confirmation of an official sponsor.

-- Approved guidelines for admitting and/or continuing companies to write tax-deferred annuities and supplemental plans for payroll deduction.

-- Executive session -- Employment, Personnel Evaluation and Real Estate. Authority is Section 610.021, Paragraphs 2, 3 and 13, Revised Statutes of Missouri, as amended.