Bayfield's interim superintendent attended her first school board meeting Tuesday, seven days after she stepped in to finish leading the district for the rest of the school year.
Mary Rubadeau, former superintendent of the Telluride School District, said she is in frequent contact with Kevin Aten to keep him updated on changes in the district. On Tuesday night, the board approved Aten's contract as the district's superintendent for the next school year.
Aten, a graduate and former teacher at Durango High School, is director of innovation, instruction, and technology in Estes Park. Aten was selected after candidate interviews that took place on Wednesday, March 21.
"We want a nice, smooth, easy transition," said Janie Hoover, the board president.
Rubadeau said she is monitoring the district's construction and renovation of two schools, as well as working with Pediatric Parters of the Southwest to open a new health clinic in the Bayfield Primary School.
Health clinic administrators are being asked to attend a future school board meeting to provide an update on the project, Rubadeau said.
Staff hiring also is underway for all of the schools in the district, Rubadeau added.
Rubadeau was hired as interim superintendent last month after Amy Lyons, the previous interim superintendent, resigned unexpectedly earlier in March, citing unprofessional behavior from school board members and an environment of intimidation in the district.
In other action at the meeting, the district is moving its lunch program into the digital age, with finger scans available for students to access their lunch accounts.
A finger scan is about three times faster than typing in a code, Julie Whitmore, the district's nutrition director, told school board members.
"This is to try to get all those kids through the lines," she said. The codes will still be available for families that want them, Whitmore said.
The new computer program the district is purchasing will have an app for students and parents to use their phones to access menus and account balances.
The program also has online applications for free and reduced lunches for students.
School lunch prices will rise slightly next year for elementary students, from $2.70 to $2.75, with $3 remaining in place for BMS and BHS students, and adult lunch prices will rise from $3.75 to $4 per person.
A Wolverine Cafe at BHS, with sandwiches, wraps and salads, has been popular this year, Whitmore added.
