By Lucky Kidd
McPHERSON, Kan. — After casting a total of five ballots, and one person being voted on twice, Sherrie Rickerson and Perry McCabe were appointed to fill vacancies on the McPherson USD 418 Board of Education Monday night.
Rickerson, a lead coach at STEP MC and the first person for which a motion was made, was appointed on a unanimous vote. The board then voted 3-2 on motions regarding McCabe, Anna Lyon, and Jacob Perryman, however each of those motions failed because it takes four votes to pass any motion.
A second motion to appoint McCabe, a retired school administrator who worked for USD 418 in the 1990’s and most recently was business manager for Buhler USD 313, was approved on a 4-1 vote.
Board member Lara Vanderhoof voted against McCabe both times, while Jeff Johnson, who originally expressed concern about appointing someone on the ballot next month for the Board, switched his vote the second time around.
McCabe, and Rickerson will take their seats at a study session on Oct. 23.
The Board set a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 13 on a non-resident student admission policy. This policy is mandated by state law and requires school districts to admit non-resident students if they have available capacity.
Following an hour of executive sessions, the Board of Education set the base salary of Superintendent Shiloh Vincent at $160,000 for the 2023-24 school year. As part of that approval, the Board also authorized a five percent retention bonus, or $8,000 if Vincent is still employed with the district at the end of the current school year, to be paid on the June payroll.
