2017-02-09
Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting – February 9, 2017
The meeting was called to order by Board President Shannon Grover in the administration office on the above date at 7:04 a.m. with everyone present except Cale Rieger.
Derrick Tice made a motion to approve the agenda; the motion was seconded by Chris Bracelin and carried.
The Board reviewed and discussed the items on the consent calendar. A motion was then made by Derrick Tice, seconded by Troy Hilt, and carried to approve the consent calendar, including the following items: a) The minutes of the regular Board meeting on January 12, 2017. b) A list of bills being paid on direct deposit slips numbering 0119001 – 0119074 and on checks numbering 10915-10927 on BANKWEST, and checks numbering 11948-11997 on First National Bank for a total of $375,061.09. c) The Cash Summary Report (including two transfers: $4,663.05 from Supplemental General Fund to the Vocational Fund, and $5,723.43 from the General Fund to the At-Risk Fund)¸ the Grade School Activity Fund Report, and the High School Activity Fund Report – all as of January 31, 2017.
No Audiences.
Under Committee Reports, Superintendent Schiltz reported that currently there are no positions needing filled for next school year, so at this time the hiring committee will not need to schedule a meeting. Superintendent Schiltz reported that the faculty meet-and-confer committee had presented the proposed 2017-2018 calendar to him. The Board will review and discuss the calendar at the March meeting. The faculty meet-and-confer has not requested a meeting at this time.
Under Old Business, Superintendent Schiltz reported the information available concerning school finance for next year from the Legislature. Superintendent Schiltz reviewed with the Board a new school finance proposal. Also discussed was a Legislative Post Audit that was conducted to study the potential savings of creating a pool of health insurance for K-12 employees statewide. Also reviewed was a spreadsheet from KSDE showing the effects of a 5% reduction in state aid for all schools this fiscal year. If this were put into place, USD 297 would lose nearly $96,000.00 during the current school year.
Mr. Seger’s Architectural Drafting class will present the front lawn project drawings to the Board at the March meeting.
Next, Superintendent Schiltz summarized the various options for our track renovation project. After discussion, there was a consensus of the Board to send out a bid letter for the proposed track renovation.
The Board and administration had an initial discussion of staffing plans for 2017-2018. The Board was reminded that by law (K.S.A. 72-5411, as amended) a Board must notify a teacher in writing on or before May 19th if said teacher’s contract will not be renewed; and a teacher must notify the Board in writing on or before June 2nd if (s)he is resigning from their teaching contract.
Currently, we do not have any openings for the 2017-2018 school year that we know of. One issue that we may need to address is the potential for a large kindergarten class next year. At this time, we do not have exact numbers planning to attend kindergarten, but we believe we could be approaching 30. We will continue to monitor numbers and will develop a plan if necessary.
Contract offers and proposed reassignments (if any) for 2017-2018 can be acted-on at the regular meeting on April 13, 2017, or at the May meeting if necessary.
Under new business, Superintendent Schiltz conducted an annual review of the St. Francis Educational Foundation Fund that was established by Mr. Werner a couple years ago. The procedures for spending money from the fund and making donations to the fund were reviewed. Donations can be made on-line at sfcommunityfoundation.org or through Carla Lampe, Treasurer of the Fund.
Also under new business, Superintendent Schiltz reviewed the preliminary energy audit submitted by Energy Solutions Professionals (ESP). This audit was free of charge. The next step would be to have them do an Investment Grade Audit for a fee of $6,126. Derrick Tice made motion to approve having the IGA, seconded by Ed Marin, motion carried.
Under miscellaneous, there was a lengthy discussion regarding sports programs in the St. Francis Community Schools.
No report on the school-improvement process or review of Board Policy.
The Board discussed banning of nuts/nut products in USD 297; it was the consensus of the Board to do as much as possible to keep nuts/nut products out of the school system. Mila Bandel suggested having a CPR class at the in-service meetings this fall.
The next scheduled Board meeting will be held on March 9, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
At 10:31 a.m., Chris Bracelin moved that the meeting adjourn; the motion was seconded by Derrick Tice and carried.
