The Hutchinson School Board Monday approved spending 557-thousand, 720-dollars for the adoption of new social studies textbooks across the district.

The district will use Pearson textbooks primarily while picking up supplements from other vendors and will use McGraw Hill for the civics program at Hutchinson High School.

The money for the textbook adoption comes from the district’s textbook fund. As with families who budget to replace a car or other big-ticket item, the district saves money in certain funds for expected large expenses – such as textbooks.

The board also approved Operational Expectation No. 7 – Asset Protection in an annual review on how the district is protecting taxpayer-funded assets. The policy ensures that all district assets are properly maintained, appropriately used and not placed at undue risk. The policy also requires the district to maintain reasonable amounts of insurance in case unforeseen incidents occur.

In other action, the board heard a Continuous Improvement Report from Hutchinson Middle School. USD 308 has a single middle school, serving about 700 students, on two campuses.

They also approved a contract between the district and Reno County Education Cooperative for orientation and mobility services for a student.

Also approved was a contract between the district and McPherson County Special Education Cooperative to allow a USD 308 speech pathologist to serve a McPherson student who attends the Transition Learning Center in the Educational Services Center.