School board reorganizes, new members sworn in

Trisha Benton Randolph Times

RANDOLPH – The Randolph Public Schools Board of Education reorganized for 2025 and administered the oath of office to two new members at its regular meeting Monday night.

Anson Dockhorn and Chris Winkelbauer were sworn in and participated in their first meeting as new board members. The board also reorganized for the year, electing Paul Schmit as president; Cody Backer as vice president; and Sandy Owens as secretary and treasurer. Schmit has served as president for the last 15 years and Owens has served as secretary and treasurer for the past 10 years.

Winkelbauer will serve on the building and grounds, technology and wellness committees, while Dockhorn will serve on the safety, school improvement, transportation, and wellness committees.

In other action, the board approved the annual report which is available on the district’s website.

Superintendent Daryl Schrunk highlighted the Class of 2025’s ACT scores which outpaced both the state and national averages.

As juniors, all Nebraska students are required to take the ACT exam as their state standards asssessment test.

While some states also require the ACT exam, it was impressive to see Randolph’s juniors exceed the national scores which included scores from students only taking the test for college entrance purposes, Schrunk said.

The annual report also provides information on the Class of 2024’s post-secondary plans at the time of graduation.

Out of that class of 19, six students (or 31 percent) planned to attend community college, six to attend state college, and four to attend a university. Two students were planning to attend a trade school and one planned to immediately enter the workforce upon graduation.

At the end of the meeting, the board went into executive session. At the end of the session, the board voted to renew contracts for Schrunk, Elementary Principal Denton Beacom, and High School Principal Brandi Bartels.

They also approved the superintendent’s salary of $151,550 starting July 1. His salary will be frozen at that amount for the next two years.

At its meeting Monday night, the board also: - Agreed to pay $140 for each Randolph student taking Driver’s Education.

- Heard about the possibility of splitting the Junior High girls and boys season with an athletic conference proposal set for a vote next month. Under the proposal, Junior High boys wrestling and Junior High girls basketball seasons would take place before Christmas, and then Junior High girls wrestling and Junior High boys basketball would take place after the holidays. Many schools had already split seasons which made it difficult for both boys and girls wrestling programs to have equity, Bartels said.

- Discussed the Beef in Schools and the Farm to School programs. The state-funded programs provide funds for schools to use to purchase local beef and other farm commodities for the school lunch program.

- Reviewed the district’s fund balances, including bills. More thn $3,000 was billed to the district for the general election from Cedar, Pierce and Wayne counties.

- Compared elementary test scores from different standardized tests in English Language Arts, Reading and Math.

- Changed the date of its next regular meeting to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12, due to the Lewis & Clark boys basketball championship game.