The USD 382 Board of Education approved the sale of the former band practice field at Eighth and High Streets to Eric Nystrom for $30,000 at its meeting Monday.

Nystrom’s plan — “if the economy (in Pratt) doesn’t go kaput” — is to build three duplexes on the vacant half-block. He already knows two people who would like to be living there by May.

“There is no better time to be building than the present,” Nystrom said by telephone this morning, noting that the price of wholesale building materials has been driven down by housing slumps on both coasts and interest rates are low.

There has been some interest in the district property at 123 N. Oak, vacated when the Walden Center charter school and Parents as Teachers program relocated to the old high school. No action relating to that property was scheduled for the January meeting.

In a light agenda, the board approved a contract extension for Superintendent Glen Davis through June 30, 2011.

Retirement applications were approved for teachers Janice Brown, Pat Schwartz, Faye Graff and Mike Gripe. Allan Pagenkopf resigned as custodian at Southwest Elementary School and bus driver Rosezella Shinkle was terminated.

Arica Malone, a behavior specialist at Southwest Elementary School, reported on a behavior management program that focuses on teaching students how to act, rather than punishing them for misbehavior. The program has significantly reduced the number of recess detentions, out-of-class suspensions, disciplinary actions and accumulation of discipline points. By a margin of nearly two to one, Southwest teachers said the program should definitely be continued.

Pratt High teachers Bob Lee and Susan Pixler reported on the implementation of a “challenge learning” unit that followed their participation in training, at minimal cost to USD 382, at Apple Computer headquarters in California. The Pratt district was one of six in the nation selected to attend.

The challenge Pixler presented to her freshman social studies students was to make Pratt more energy efficient. Solutions ranged from changing light bulbs to the construction of a $453 million plant to create energy from trash. The students asked the questions, then found their own answers through a variety of resources. In the process, they learned a lot about how state and local governments function.

“They got the big picture, but may not have gotten all the details,” Pixler said in answer to a question from BOE member Michael Westerhaus about whether a learning process was being emphasized over content.

Prior to the meeting, the board took a tour of Southwest Elementary School. Principal Jason May called attention to a some “dressing up” and the addition of seating to the reception area and his office, relocation of kindergarten classrooms to be near the restrooms and with easy access to playground areas and reconfiguration of some rooms to better meet needs.