March 28, 2024

NVS reducing paper use through new equipment lease

Counsel Copiers recommends Paper Cut system

The Nodaway Valley School Board approved a measure at their regular meeting Thursday in the high school media center that will ensure going forward that the school isn't printing unnecessary amounts of paper anymore.

Jeremy Nielsen, representative of Counsel Copiers in Harlan, was on hand to discuss with the school board new copier/printers and the cost savings the school district would see if it would go to using a print monitoring software called Paper Cut MF Print Management.

The software links each print job to a specific student or staff member's identity and makes sure that each print job is what each individual planned to print before it is actually printed.

The school board also discussed, at the advisement of Superintendent Paul Croghan, the possibilities of reducing the amount of printer/copiers in the district to four.

Through this reduction in machines, which was approved on a five-year lease term, the school district will save approximately $1,000 in its PPEL and SAVE funds and will save approximately $37,000 in its general fund. Projections show the district might have as much as a 25% reduction in copier usage by switching to Paper Cut.

"We did a study at AHSTW and put a recycling bin right next to the copier before we put in Paper Cut. In one week's time, it was 1,200 pieces of paper that were just straight out of the copier and straight into the recycling bin," Nielsen said. "They had eight machines in that district and went down to three machines. That was 1,200 sheets of paper that were a complete waste. That's a cost of paper plus toner every time. It is a good thing and it gets the students ready for the next level. They're going to need to be ready for Paper Cut [in college] because that's what all these universities are going to."

Administrative Reports

As part of her monthly report to the board, elementary principal Connie Lundy said that the State Department of Education has requested that Nodaway Valley pilot a Conditions for Learning Survey for parents and staff.

A letter explaining the process was sent to parents recently and the survey will be done this week. There are five areas the survey will cover, including physical safety, emotional safety, adult-student relationships, student-to-student relationships, expectations and boundaries.

"We're doing it as a pilot. We won't have to do it in the spring but all the other districts will have to do it in the spring," Lundy said.

Lundy also reported that Deb Hall is helping the school apply for the Shared Visions grant, which helps low-income preschool-aged students attend preschool. Right now, the State-Wide Voluntary Preschool Program pays for Nodaway Valley's morning preschoolers while students in the afternoon pay $150 per month in tuition.

High school principal Lanny Kliefoth reported that the school's academic lettering system has been defined in greater detail. Students who carry a full class load will be the ones eligible to be rewarded with an academic letter going forward. The same distinction was made going forward for valedictorian and salutatorian honors, meaning those eligible for these awards will be students who carry a full class load their senior year. Administration will carry the right to make exceptions.

In other business

- The board approved a request for a modified supplemental amount that equaled $68,485. Croghan pointed out that the school carried over approximately $99,000 in that fund from last year and is projected to carry over approximately $120,000 this year, hence the smaller ask this year.

- A School Improvement Advisory Committee met earlier Thursday night with Croghan. The group went through a variety of data from assessments and other sources. Their recommendation academically was to make sure that test scores and other data is compared with previous years whenever possible so that information can be shared with the community on the progress of the district's students as a whole. In terms of social and emotional well-being, the group advised the school to continue to try to educate patrons on such topics relating to mental health, etc. In facilities recommendations, the group advised the school to make sure they're being thorough when assessing the needs of each building while discussing facilities updates with building professionals.

- The next school board meeting will be a work session this Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m. The board will hear from potential construction managers on their take on the district's facilities that need updating. Each construction manager will have 30 minutes to share with the board what they would do if they were hired to take on any projects NV might have in the near future.