BROKEN BOW — Teachers have been hired to fill the positions of two Broken Bow coaches who died in a car accident June 1.
Middle school/high school Principal Ken Kujath brought his recommendations to the school board at Monday’s regular meeting, and they were approved. Kujath said he felt fortunate to find quality candidates to fill the empty classrooms of Zane Harvey and Anthony Blum.
J.D. Furrows of Mullen will take Harvey’s high school math position. he comes into the district with 15 years of teaching experience including in Arapahoe and Mullen.
Patti Puls of Lincoln will lead Blum’s business classroom and take over as the sponsor for Future Business Leaders of America. she comes to Broken Bow with a master’s degree and eight years of teaching experience, including at Sterling, outside of Lincoln.
“They’re coming into pretty tough conditions,” Kujath said of the new teachers.
Kujath told board members he had very few applicants for the business position and had to search for a candidate.
Because filling the teaching positions was the priority, Kujath has yet to allocate the vacant coaching positions. he said he will fill those spots in the next few weeks.
Another teaching position, secondary English, was filled with Kujath’s recommendation of Heather Zaruba of Elyria. she has six years teaching experience, including in Nemaha Valley and Nebraska City. she replaces Alex Hull, who resigned earlier in the year.
In other business, board members learned the district’s preschools have been renamed new Discoveries. new Discoveries North is the preschool at the former Tappan Valley country school, and new Discoveries East is the new name of the Head start program in Broken Bow.
Broken Bow Public Schools and Head start combined preschools to offer 25 percent more classes. according to Elementary Principal Kim Jonas, all preschool sessions are filled without even advertising the additional space.
Jonas also updated board members on the summer meal program at Custer Elementary School.
The no-cost lunches for students each weekday have been averaging 86 meals served. seven days this summer, the program has served more than 100 meals. Jonas said before the program started, estimates were to feed about 60 kids each day.
Board member Ken Myers reported the addition of about 20 extra parking spots south of the high school is now finished.