The Harlan Community School District will be making use of the new “Smart Board” technology in the Middle School for next year. In a regularly scheduled board meeting held Monday afternoon, the board of directors approved the slightly more than $12,500 project from CCS Presentation Systems out of Omaha, NE. CCS helped the Harlan community save over $5,000 from the 2nd lowest bid. The District will receive 11 Smart Boards for the Middle School. The normal price for each board is $1,500, however through a SMART Starter Grant, the district will receive six of the boards at half the cost. Superintendent Justin Wagner said it was another step in efforts to improve technology within the district.

The Smart Boards weren’t the only bids the Harlan School Board approved Monday. They also reviewed bids for a walk-in cooler intended for the elementary building. The current 5-by-7 cooler will be replaced with a larger 8-by-11 cooler, for additional storage. Wagner said it’s replacement was long overdue. The Board received two bids for the walk-in cooler. They ended-up accepting a bid from Kruse Refrigeration and Electric Inc. of Harlan. Their bid of $18,650, includes installation.

In other business, Harlan Board of Education hired a new girl’s head basketball coach. Zach Klaassen will replace Tony Vis next season. Vis left the district last month. The Board also hired Dan Hoch for High School Social Studies Teacher, and, Middle School Track Coach Jared Boysen, was hired for head girl’s soccer coach. In addition, Mike Bierl will become a full time bus driver at the start of the new school year.