Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs School Board will meet Monday night with a heavy agenda.

Board members will decide whether to extend Superintendent Brad Meeks’ contract, which is set to expire June 30, and they also will vote on an endorsement of their district’s bid to become the food service provider for Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus.

School Board President Brian Kelly said Meeks, who started with the district in July, was evaluated by the board during two executive sessions. He added that Meeks’ review was based on his management of the budget and his communication with staff members during his first six months in the district.

“It was a satisfactory mid-year review,” Kelly said, adding that he thought Meeks has successfully managed the budget and provided staff with weekly updates on developments in the district.

He said a contract extension likely would be for two years, and a salary would be negotiated within the next two months.

“The vote for a contract extension (Monday) will not involve money at this stage,” Kelly said.

He said the district was waiting to receive and compare salary data from similar school districts in Aspen, Telluride and Eagle County to be used during the negotiations.

Meeks will make $158,654 as superintendent through the end of his original contract. During his half -year tenure, he has added a curriculum director back to the district, worked with the Hayden and South Routt school districts to apply for a $300,000 literacy grant from Mile High United Way, and most recently, he worked with Nutritional Services Director Max Huppert on the district’s bid to provide food service to the Alpine Campus.

Food service

The School Board will decide the fate of that bid Monday night, two weeks after three of the district’s five board members expressed concerns about the proposal that would move most of the district’s cooking operations into the college’s forthcoming 60,000-square-foot academic facility.

The proposal indicates the service could provide additional revenues for the school district of which the Nutritional Services Department, led by Huppert, serves 800 to 1,000 meals each school day to Steamboat’s K-12 students. The department sustains itself financially with the exception of $15,000 the district supplies to the program annually from its capital reserve fund.

At the last board meeting, Kelly and board member Robin Crossan praised the proposal as a potential win-win for the school district, while members Denise Connelly, Wayne Lemley and Rebecca Williams questioned whether it was a sustainable plan and whether it was in the district’s best interest to expand food service to the college. The dissenting voices also said the plan might rely too much on Huppert to be successful.

“My concern is our mission is to really do the best we can for our 2,300 kids, and we know we have 800 to 1,000 meals to serve a day in our schools,” Connelly said at the meeting. “I just have concerns that this is the best move for our school district.”

Under the proposal, Huppert would increase his food service staff from 10 to 25 employees, and food prices at the public schools would remain the same, while prices at the college would be lowered to $18 per day for a meal plan. Kelly said he supports the proposal because it likely would generate revenue that would allow the district not to raise its meal prices in the future.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting vote,” Kelly said. “It’s something new, and anytime you try something new, it can be a little controversial.”

Also at Monday’s meeting:

Steamboat Springs School District technology director Tim Miles will brief the board on the district’s broadband needs.

The School Board will discuss its district’s potential grant requests to the Steamboat Springs Education Fund Board for the 2012-13 school year. The district’s list includes $2.1 million to $2.6 million worth of requests. The deadline for applications to the EFB is Feb. 1.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com