WHEATLAND – The local school district is seeking to fill the void of bus drivers with a novel CDL training program, with the first three-day training class to start July 16.
There have been multiple retirements in the district, and with training required to be in the early mornings and out of town, it has been difficult to recruiting people to complete the required training to obtain Class B commercial driver’s license with passenger and school bus endorsements, Blaine Eppel, Platte County School District No. 1 transportation director, said at a school board meeting earlier this spring.
Since then, PCSD No. 1 administration has devised a plan to fill the bus driver vacancies, jumping the hurdles previously unable to be overcome, by creating a “grow your own” program, spearheaded by Eppel and Superintendent John Weigel.
At last week’s meeting, Superintendent John Weigel announced the dates for the first class and mentioned the ad is on the school website, platte1.org. The course will be free to current district personnel, and anyone willing to drive for the district at least one year immediately following completion of the course. And the pay for the urgently needed drivers is $22.91 per hour.
“We are looking at parents, coaches, sponsors, teachers, or other members of the community,” Weigel said. “We’re trying to recruit folks in our communities so we can continue all the activities.”
He also said there doesn’t have to be a full-time commitment – parents could obtain the license and drive their child’s team to events during specific sports seasons to watch their child play at away games – and get paid at the same time. However, there are bonuses set up for individuals after a specified number of days of driving.
Trustee Diane Haroldson said, “I think this is a great plan. I love the incremental [aspect of the bonus].”
In other business at the board meeting, it was reported summer school is going well, allowing many students to catch up or work ahead in several subjects, and there have been opportunities for STEM activities, physical fitness, art, and music instruction during the morning classes. The principals also reported they are hearing good things about the curriculum materials recently approved by the board for the district. Reportedly, the new curriculums are easy to use, and the kids are enjoying the more responsive learning modules.

The trustees shared progress on creating an “onboarding” help manual for new board members. There are three board positions that will be on the ballot this fall.
The manual will have an easily navigated handbook for board members to understand how the laws dictate what the board does, and straightforward information of what to expect beginning at your first meeting. Trustee Dustin Kafka emphasized there is a “mountain of information” new board members must be able to navigate, and this onboarding manual will help them be able to hit the ground running as soon as they are sworn in. Several board members mentioned they would have benefitted from a manual such as this when they were first elected to the board.
“I can guarantee you things look different from this side of the table than from the other side,” Kafka said.
Filing dates for anyone interested in running for school board are August 7 – 26. A booklet put together by the board for prospective board members, introducing them to the position, its requirements, and basic data about the district, will be available at the courthouse or at the administration office for anyone wanting to have a copy.
Business manager Jamie Wilson gave a report coming up to the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year for the district. Final numbers can still change before the cutoff date of June 30, but overall, the district is in good shape with some revenue higher than what predicted. She said the 2023-2024 projected revenue was $18.5 million, but the actual revenue will be higher ($19.7 million) because local and county revenue is higher than anticipated, the funding model has changed in this last year, and expenses aren’t as high as anticipated.
“A lot of that ‘savings’ is also due to not being able to hire open positions,” Wilson said.
The end result of the surplus - after following state statute allowing a maximum 30 percent of the prior year’s guarantee of revenue - Wilson told the board, is it may be possible to transfer $5.7 million into a capital reserve. The funds would only be able to be used for capital expenses, a list that includes expenses for vehicles or other district equipment or property.
“At this point in time, I feel we will be at the point we will be able to transfer funds into a capital reserve. That’s a great thing for our district. As long as I’ve been a business manager, we haven’t been able to do this,” Wilson said.
The board authorized the establishment of a depreciation reserve fund for the purchasing and replacement of district assets. This is a separate reserve fund from the revenue carry-over previously discussed.
‘“It is in a separate fund to keep funds at the ready for things we need to take care of as we need to,” Chairman Lu Lay explained.
Superintendent Weigel explained the policies evaluation committee has recommended replacing the “Shared vision for PCSD1” with the strategic plan placemat that has been developed over the last few months; clarifying professional staff fringe benefits policy to ensure it is clear how the benefits are paid out for sick leave; and changing the wording of the expense reimbursement policy to make things simpler for all involved by calculating in advance the costs for food, hotel rooms, etc., and the sponsor will receive a check for the calculated amount prior to leaving for the authorized activity.
The board approved the hiring of new personnel, including Gavin Knowles as 6-12 band teacher, Eric Jones as head girls’ basketball coach, Sally Nichols and Peter Fenster as assistant girls’ basketball coaches, Jennifer Eller as WMS head volleyball coach and Glendo track coach, Peter Fenster as FBLA – extra duty. There are still two open positions for WHS volleyball assistants.
They approved the property tax resolution; Piccadilly Daycare lease agreement; contract with North Platte Physical Therapy; and the revision, repeal and adoption of policies as recommended by the policy review committee to combine, clarify and repeal redundant or obsolete policies on the district’s books; an amended 2024-2025 school calendar to change a teacher in-service date from Oct. 18, 2024 to May 28, 2025; and the installation of a Donaldson Airflow System for the high school woodshop.
The board began the meeting with a 60-minute executive session to discuss attorney-client privilege and employee matters.
The next meeting of the school board will be a work session beginning at 6 p.m. July 8 to discuss the budget, with the next regular board meeting at 6 p.m. July 15.