Bert Moore knew that Monday night’s USD 282 school board meeting would be a tough one for him. The board was being urged by many district patrons and teachers to revisit a decision he recommended to the board at its June 9 meeting — the one which resulted in a vote to split the elementary schools in Moline and Severy.

The revisiting did happen. Board members discussed the issue at length during Monday night’s meeting where several teachers and community patrons were in attendance. And, by the end of the evening, a motion was made which would keep both Moline and Severy elementary schools in full operation — with some immediate changes to be made.

Those changes would be:

• Severy Elementary School and Moline Elementary School will operate K-5 classes, moving all sixth graders to the West Elk Junior High School on the Howard campus.

• The third and fourth grades will be combined at both Severy and Moline.

• The original names of the elementary schools will remain intact.

Several teachers informally made those same recommendations during last Thursday night’s public forum where approximately 225 community members attended. The recommendations were made formally at Monday night’s meeting and four of the seven board members voted to accept them.

Voting in favor of the newest plan were Roxanne Walker, Vicky Wedman, Rob Wolfe and Jim Roebuck.

Voting against the plan were board members Marty Taliaferro, Casey Smith and Connie Russell.

At the beginning of the meeting, Taliaferro, who is board president, said the board would start looking at long-range plans which could involve a bond issue to make facility improvements.

The board’s decision was met with a letter of retirement being read by Supt. Moore, saying his reasons for the announcement were personal.

He told the Flint Hills Express on Tuesday, “There’s a time for everything and I feel it’s time for me to do something different. I don’t want to be moving in a different direction from my board and I could see the direction they taking on Monday night.”

Moore, age 57, said he is eligible for retirement and he wants to find a situation for the remainder of his career where he can exercise his creativity and be a productive worker and citizen.

“I was raised in a situation where I worked all the time,” he said. “But it has started to catch up with me. I’m health stressed. And, frankly, I’m not good at deconstruction — I like to be a builder of things, ideas and programs.”

Moore has served as superintendent at West Elk for seven years and has worked in the district for a total of 17 years.

He previously held education posts in Missouri, Wichita, Derby and Mulvane. He currently resides at Severy.

The board plans to hold a retreat and work session before school starts to discuss details of the plan which they passed on Monday night. They also have a regular board meeting on Aug. 11.

Moore said he would be “tweaking the Local Option Budget” somewhat to help finance the concept passed by the board.

He said those in favor of the new proposal believed it held cost savings since it reduces teaching by three positions and might reduce certain transportation costs.

“The new plan will actually cost about $150,000 more than the pilot project, and I will be finding ways to cover those expenses,” he said.

“I remain committed to providing the best opportunity to get the best education possible in our West Elk schools,” he said.

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