Joplin School Board approves scholarship-matching program

Sep. 28—Joplin High School students soon will have access to a new database that can match them with scholarship opportunities.

The Board of Education earlier this week approved a partnership with VU Scholarships, an organization that is designed for students to input their pertinent academic information into the VU database and get matched with scholarships that are available to them from a variety of colleges and universities.

VU Scholarships has been in operation for eight years and is in use in dozens of Kansas City-area high schools, according to documents prepared for board members by JHS Principal Randy Oliver. It partners with more than 30 universities and is still adding college and university partners, according to documents.

Students can register for the platform in two ways. One is through their parents opting in, allowing the district to send their student's academic information to VU via a secure portal. The second way is for students to report their academic information directly to VU using their school email.

There is no participation or registration fee for students or parents. The district will pay an annual fee of $1,950, which that includes onboarding sessions, access to the VU Scholarships portal to view aggregate award amounts, scholarship calculation for each student enrolled and award letter generation.

The board also approved:

—A total of $30,652 in licensing renewal fees for Wevideo, Dropout Detective, Manage Engine and Turnitin, all to be paid through the district's 2023-24 technology budget.

—Items from the transportation department to be declared as surplus property to be sold at auction. Items include a 550-gallon oil tank that's 28 years old, an Autel scanner and a 2011 school bus with a blown engine.

—A purchase of $116,000 to Trane to replace a defective chiller control at East Middle School.

—The $7,832 cost of adding a video intercom kit and installing an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant door operator that would interface with the access control system at the entrance of Joplin High School.

—On first reading a number of policy changes, including a policy that would require school board candidates to have lived inside district boundaries for at least one year prior to the election. The change is recommended to comply with a new state law. The policy proposals need an additional vote at the next meeting to be formally adopted.