Monticello School Board Special Meeting – Budget, Gym Roof, & Insurance
September 27th, 2013 by Sarah SpencerThe meeting was called to order with three members present. Tammy Stain reported on the 2013-2014 budget. She reviewed last year’s actual vs. this year’s budget.
She pointed out that in regard to the building fund, the revenue, $446,000 shown in the budget is not necessarily money the school district will receive. It is a partnership money that will not be paid until all projects are finished and paid; then they will reimburse it. Food service budget was increased from $150,000 to $160,000. The school district never uses that much; normally they use between $80,000 and $125,000, but the school is raising the budget because of increase in costs of food. She reported that the Special Ed budget may be tight this year. The budget is starting with $275,000 down. She is hoping there will be more federal money to come into that account. She reported that she budgeted conservatively, and is anticipating there will be more income than she has projected.
Title VI money will be $39,053.70. That money will be used for technology equipment. The ALE fund shows a decrease. This is the result of errors in the ALE office. They are anticipating the normal amount of money they usually get, but until it comes in, they can only report what is actually available. The roof and gym projects total $755,990. The roof bid was $296.990 and the gym bid is $459,000. The school district will get $140,000 back from the state and 62% of the $296,990 back from the state. The ending budget balance is $657,000. At one time, the school district ran a budget of $2.2 million. The school district has been spending stimulus, but now that the stimulus money has ended, they are having to go back to the budget. Mr. Harper recommended that at the end of the year, any surplus should be put into the building fund. He reported that the school district has a second lien bond that is about to pay off. He suggested that they could use a second lien bond to keep the building fund balance up.
Harper mentioned that he would like to see the school district order a couple of Traverse vehicles for staff to use to carpool. The costs of the Traverse is $22,186, on contract that ends September 30, 2013.
The Board approved the 2013-2014 budget, and also gave the Superintendent the authority to check into vehicle prices with local merchants compared to the contract prices.
Superintendent Harper gave a report on the high school gym roof. He said the last time he was on it, there were areas that were spongy. There are leaks in the lobby area. There is a bid to repair the roofs on the gym, the lobby, front part and the two back building roofs all for $89,500. The School Board approved it.
The Board discussed the Arkansas School Board Association Business Trip Accidental Death policy for all full time licensed and classified staff working at least 20 hours per week, full time and part time bus drivers, and school board members. The rate is $450 a year for a $100,000 policy, plus bus drivers are $7 each for a $20,000 policy for full time drivers and $3.50 each for a $10,000 policy for part time drivers.
After executive session, personnel issues were discussed and the meeting adjourned.