The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Parents of Letcher students can buy meals on-line





Parents of students who attend school in the Letcher County school system will soon be able to log onto the Internet and pay their child’s lunch fees.

The Letcher County Board of Education approved an agreement with Lunch Byte Systems Inc. which will allow parents to make deposits, view lunchroom balances and prepay for their meal program on a secured website. Cora Sturgill, food service director for the district, said parents will be able to find the website by going to the district’s website at www.letcher.k12.ky.us.

“The parents can go online and put money in their children’s accounts,” said Sturgill.

She said there will be a transaction fee of $1.75 each time a parent adds money to an account. There is a $10 minimum that a parent can add to an account.

Sturgill hopes this new program will decrease the amount of money students charge to their accounts.

“Keep in mind there are a lot of children that do not have computers,” said Attwell Turner, a board member.

Kelly Hall, director of curriculum and instruction for the district, said the Letcher County school district met all 13 of its goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

“The high school math is a concern and we have already started addressing that. In everything else we had some gains,” said Hall.

Gerald Frazier, a bus driver who has worked in the school district for 40 years, was recognized as the employee of the month.

Terry Sturgill, assistant supertober intendent for the district, said the district has an enrollment of 3,253. The district enrollment totaled 3,282 at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. The district attendance rate for the first month of school was 95.1 percent. The district’s attendance rate was 91.76 percent at the end of the 2006-2007 school year.

During a special-called meeting on September 19, the board approved awarding the bid for the construction of the baseball field at Letcher County Central High School to Elliott Contracting in the base bid amount of $964,000. Elliott Contracting was also awarded a bid for the alternate plan including a concession building in the amount of $281,000. This approval is contingent upon approval from the Division of Facilities Management of the Kentucky Department of Education.

At the meeting held September 24, the board also:

• approved contributing $2,000 to blacktop a 50 foot by 90 foot area where children play basketball outside at Beckham Bates Elementary School. The Letcher County Fiscal Court will contribute $1,520 and will provide the equipment to blacktop the area.

• approved award of bids for gasoline and diesel fuel, lubricants and antifreeze to Childers Oil Company.

• approved a multiple award for tires and tubes and tire retreading to Perry County Tire and Appalachian Tire.

• approved the award of bid for maintenance service on alarm systems, intercoms and clocks for the 2007-2008 school year to Fire Alarm Pros LLC in the amount of $8,300. Hourly rate of pay for services not bid in the contract is $85.

• approved an agreement with the Kentucky River Area Development District for implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program in the Letcher County schools to train and support older workers.

• approved partner agreements with Save the Children Federation Inc. for Arlie Boggs, Beckham Bates, Cowan and Letcher elementary schools.

• approved a supplemental agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to provide an additional $90,060 in reimbursable funds to the board for providing a turn lane at the entrance of Letcher County Central High School.

• signed an agreement with Jenkins Independent Schools for the Letcher County school district to provide alternative educational services to students of Jenkins Independent Schools.

• approved the financial report, payment of bills and transfers, and payment of salaries for September 2007. Roger Martin, finance officer for the district, reported $4,238,768.30 in the general ledger.

• approved the working budget for the 2007-2008 school year which includes about $30.1 million.


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