The Neosho County Community College Board of Trustees held its September 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in the Student Union Boardroom on the Chanute Campus. The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m. and adjourned at approximately 11:30 a.m.
The Trustees held both the college budget and the Revenue Neutral Rate hearings as required under Kansas Law. There was no public comment. Later in the meeting, the board approved both the yearly budget and the RNR rate for the coming year at 39.476 mills, a 0.377 reduction from the 20242025 rate.
While costs have gone up for items such as employee health insurance, supplies, and services, the college was able to achieve this budget for the coming year through efficiencies. It reduced the institution’s workforce by five fulltime and one half-time position for this year without affecting quality of student services or the overall mission, according to NCCC President Dr. Brian Inbody.
“We used those savings plus additional state funds earned through higher enrollment to fully fund the 25-26 budget. It is always good when the trustees can lower the mill levy,” Dr. Inbody stated.
The Trustees also completed a three-month process to enter a lease-purchase agreement for the purpose of selling Certificates of Participation bonds totaling $3.25 million. The proceeds from the sale will fund the Mih Family Fine Arts Center, a $6.7 million renovation of the existing auditorium and expansion of that facility.
The college and its foundation have raised nearly $4.1 million in grants, gifts, pledges, and donations for the project thus far. Last month the trustees awarded the construction phase bid of $5.7 million to Loyd Builders of Ottawa, with the groundbreaking event held Sept. 11, on the NCCC campus. The construction will begin in October and should conclude in September of 2026.
The board also heard a yearly report from Kerry Ranabargar, the Vice President of Operations for the college. His office oversees Information Technology, Safety/Security, Maintenance and Custodial Departments.
The department maintains and cleans over 311,000 square feet of college buildings, oversees groundskeeping for 65 acres, and provides IT support for over 500 computers and over 20 servers.
Ranabargar reported that for the first time this year the number of work tickets for preventative maintenance now far exceeds the number of tickets for unplanned maintenance.
“The more time we spend on preventative maintenance items greatly reduces the time it takes to fix things unexpectedly. I couldn’t be happier with these results,” said Ranabargar.
Ranabargar emphasized the number of projects his department has conducted or has overseen in the last year including completion of the Mitchell Career and Technology Center Automotive Lab, safety netting installation at Hudson Field, the Student Union Plaza, and phase I of parking light pole refinishing. Upcoming projects include overseeing the construction of the Mih Family Fine Arts Center, and completion of the Strahm Family Strength Center and roof replacements on Neo-Kan residence hall and Rowland Hall.
In other business, trustees: —Approved the minutes from the previous meetings.
—Heard a Treasurer’s report from Chief Financial Officer Sandi Solander and approved claims for disbursement for the month of August.
—Approved salary increases for soon-to-be former Title III Grant Employees who are leaving the five-year grant when it ends on September 30th. Hourly employees will receive a $0.85/hour increase, salary employees will receive an increase of 3% (or $1,750 if current salary is less than $58,333).
—Approved the following hirings: Airrick Lee as RSVP Coordinator with a start date of Sept. 15, Elizabeth Rousselle as Nursing Instructor with a start date of Sept. 15, Carli Daisy as Teaching and Learning Center Specialist starting Aug. 25, and James Tyler DuBurke as Desktop Support Technician with a start date of Aug. 18.
—Approved the following resignations: Prentiss Lance Farrice as ABE Instructor with a last day of Oct. 17, and Cheryl Burk as AA to Health Occupations. Her last day was Sept. 15, 2025.
—Terminated the contract of Tara Martin, Administrative Assistant to the Director of Development, effective Sept. 10.
—Heard no public comment. The next NCCC Board of Trustees Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 9 a.m. in the Student Union Boardroom on the Chanute Campus.
