Superintendent Ken Crawford

Disagreement arose among the Highland school board on Monday night as they discussed a superintendent sharing agreement with the WACO school district in Wayland.

The agreement would see superintendent Ken Crawford split time between Highland and WACO on a 70-30 basis.

He would spend around three and a half days per week with Highland, and the remaining one and a half with WACO.

“I’m just going to say, I voted for you to be in the district 100 percent,” board vice president Megan Allen told Crawford. “We just need one year of you to be in here, on the ground, getting a good feel of everything that’s going on. I realize a day and a half isn’t a lot…but I feel like you might miss out on things.”

Crawford currently serves as superintendent for both the Highland and Lone Tree school districts. He will be leaving the latter position at the end of June.

“I’ve always had the intention… that we need to share our superintendent based on the way state funding works,” board member Michael Golden said. “I don’t think we can afford not to if we have the opportunity. If it’s not WACO, it’ll be someone else.”

The issue had previously been broached years ago, and the board said it had drawn some contention then.

Secretary Sue Rich said she hadn’t heard much in the way of complaints as of recently. She said parents in the district had largely accepted that Crawford might devote time elsewhere.

The board ultimately voted in favor of advancing the agreement. The WACO school board will vote on it next Monday.

It was far from the only topic discussed, however. Looking to the 2021-22 school year, the board also voted to raise preschool tuition from $125 to $135.

They decided the year will run 178 days, 84 in the first semester and 94 in the second. The fall semester kicks off on Aug. 23.

The Highland board also allotted the school’s FFA club an officer’s retreat to a zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. The trip is scheduled for mid-April.

“I think [ag teacher Gina] Trower has done a very nice job of developing a really good program here. She’s done a lot in very little time, and these guys are a testament to that,” board member Rachel Longbine said. “I have zero reservations about these guys taking a trip. I think they’ll represent our school well.”

The school itself might be represented in a movie next summer, too.

Crawford said a team of actors and a crew from New York University aim to shoot an independent production at Highland in July 2022.

“If this goes through, they said the financing is there, they’re going to do the movie and they want to use our site,” Crawford said. He reiterated that it would be an independent film, not a blockbuster.

“We’ll see if that goes through…it’ll be kind of a neat thing for us,” he said.