McPHERSON, Kan. — McPherson USD 418 and its teachers have finally reached a contract agreement for the 2025-26 school year. Teachers are currently voting on the agreement, and the Board of Education has set a special meeting for Friday morning at 11 a.m. to ratify the contract.
During Monday night’s meeting, the Board received the 2024-25 audit report from Scot Loyd with the Loyd Group, who told board USD 418 received an unmodified or clean opinion as it relates to standards set out in the Kansas Municipal Audit and Accounting Guide, which nearly all local governments in Kansas use rather than Generally Accepted Accounting Principles which includes a number of things a KMAAG audit does not.
The audit report also includes a single audit related to federal funds, which USD 418 has to do because of the amount of funds received, in particular for the McPherson County Special Education Cooperative, which USD 418 serves as the sponsoring district.
The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education Monday agreed to contract with RSG Group to assist in a boundary study. The $35,000 agreement comes as USD 418 is preparing to reduce the number of elementary schools from four to three.
RSG will have an initial meeting with the Board at their January 12th meeting, with a current expectation a new boundary map will come to the Board for approval in March. Superintendent Shiloh Vincent said there will be opportunities for public input on the changes, including meetings to take place during February. The district will utilize data from an enrollment study done earlier this year as part of the process.
The Board approved a restated agreement for the health insurance pool it’s part of as ESSDACK. This restatement is part of the pool’s plan to move to a self-funded insurance program, which will be handled through an entity to be known as EdVantage. This will require a three-year commitment on the part of member districts, Board member Rebecca Pankratz, who works for ESSDACK, recused herself from voting on the agreement.
