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Ava R-1 School Board Notes

by Michael Boyink / mike@douglascountyherald.com

A couple of updates/additions to our recent Ava R-1 School Board coverage.

School Auditor

The March 19th meeting of the Ava R-1 School Board was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the meeting, the board was asked to choose between two bids for the school’s yearly audit. 

One bid was from local firm Thomas and Douglas, the other from  KPM in Springfield. The bids were described by Dr. Jason Dial as  being “less than $5,000 apart.”

The Herald has since obtained copies of each bid, and while the costs are within $5000 of each other on a yearly level, the contract was for five years. The total costs over the five year contract were $87,550 from Thomas and Douglas, and $108,050 from KPM for a difference of $20,500.

The board approved the KPM bid 5-2, with Ellison, Stewart, Stanifer, Henry, and Fleetwood voting for, Johnson and Parsick against.

Director of Instruction and Intervention Contract

At the February 20th meeting, during closed session the Ava R-1 School Board approved a one year, 10 1/2 month contract for Marcella Swatosh to continue in the position of Director of Instruction and Intervention. 

The salary for the position will be set when the budget is approved at the June 20th, 2020 meeting. 

The vote was 6-1, with board member Dan Johnson voting against.