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FSCC Trustees, faculty negotiations nearing an end
The Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees, during their regular monthly meeting Monday night, announced a tentative faculty negotiations agreement has been reached for the 2013-14 contract year.
The negotiations were previously being presided over by Federal Mediator Bobby Thompson.
After reconvening from a closed executive session, the board voted unanimously to approve three items related to the agreement:
* Each faculty member in the bargaining unit will take a vertical step on the salary schedule in his-her respective column.
* For the Spring 2014 semester, Wednesday, Jan. 8 will be a mandatory in-service day for faculty in the bargaining unit. Jan. 9-10 will be contract days when faculty will be able to spend time in their offices.
* An additional $675 for each staff member for the 2013-14 school year, with no additional compensation for FSCC President Clayton Tatro.
"We had discussion regarding faculty negotiations (during the executive session)," Tatro told the Tribune. "There was a session held with the federal mediator Friday, Nov. 15. We reached a tentative agreement with the faculty, so we discussed that piece at length. And then approved the tentative agreement with faculty, and then did an equivalent cost of living adjustment for staff, with the exception that the president (Tatro) receive no additional compensation."
Also discussed during the executive session, the board found the contracts of FSCC employees Jeff Daly (Truck Driving instructor), Billy Smoot (Truck Driving instructor), and John Hulsing (Certified Truck Driving instructor), should not be renewed. In addition, the three employees will be given written notice on or before Nov. 29, of the intent of the Board of Trustees to not renew their contracts for the Spring semester of the 2014 school year.
Trustee Mark McCoy moved for the adoption a resolution relating to the three FSCC employees, which was approved unanimously during the open session, which followed the executive session.
"Kansas City Kansas Community College is not renewing our partnership to offer courses in Kansas City," Tatro told the Tribune after the board meeting. "There is a distinct possibility that we'll be able to set up an operation in Paola. But until that comes to fruition, we have an obligation to make sure that we're not overstaffed. So the notice of intent to non-renew tonight will be given to the three faculty in question. And then we should know more by the December board meeting, where we would have to act on that as to whether or not we're going to have to take further action."
During the public forum, former Kansas Senator Bob Marshall discussed the proposed Crawford County Technical Education Center. Marshall touched on a number of points he discussed during last month's Board of Trustees public forum. However, one of Marshall's primary concerns during Monday's forum was with the feasibility of Fort Scott students commuting to Crawford County in order to attend class there.
The Crawford County Technical Education Center is a proposed 120,000 square-foot building that will be built in the industrial park near the airport in Crawford County which will house nine vocational technology programs, all certificate programs from FSCC.
"A student at Fort High School would have to leave at 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock and drive, and it would take him 45 minutes to get to the Crawford County Technical Education Center, and then he would take the class, and it would be another 45 minutes back," Marshall told the Tribune. "But there is a certain amount of responsibility and exposure he has from a traffic standpoint. Plus there's gasoline involved with driving, and there's time involved."
Marshall told the Tribune the proposed technical education center would be much more beneficial to residents of Crawford County compared to Bourbon County residents.
"We need to do a good job and probably a better job within the community, to let folks understand that the programs we offer in Crawford County now, currently, actually are a benefit to Bourbon County," Tatro told the Tribune. "The board is not yet ready to invest any further monies or additional dollars into Crawford County or a Technical Education Center. We have an ongoing investment in Crawford County now that is serving Bourbon County well. It's bringing programs to the college and bringing programs to students that we wouldn't have otherwise. So I think it's a situation where we need to make sure we're clearly communicating the value of those programs, and how those benefit both students and the community."
During the regular meeting, FSCC Occupational Recruiter Judy Meister discussed FSCC's recent Fifth Annual Career's in Construction (Trades) Week, which also featured a short video presentation.
"Any time we can bring young students (in this case eighth-graders) into experience and exposure with our programs, it truly gives them a much better feel of what's possible with the careers that are available, and hands-on learning, it really engages students," Tatro said.
Added late to the agenda, the board voted unanimously to approve a purchase order addendum to cover vehicle repairs for a truck utilized by the rodeo team. The repairs, estimated to cost $800, will be completed by Hixon Repair.
Also on the agenda, the board voted unanimously in favor of approving game management payments for 2013-14 men's and women's basketball teams. The projected total game management cost is $20,006. The game management schedule covers the expenses incurred during games.
The board unanimously approved the purchase of a Dell server for $12,836.36. Funding will come from two sources, the Kansas Technology Grant and the 2013-14 FSCC Information Technology Department equipment budget.
According to information made available to the board, the FSCC Information Technology Department continues to identify and manage the operational and data storage needs of the college. As versions of operating systems are updated and security requirements are improved, IT servers need to be updated.
By a vote of 4-2, the board approved the purchase of a late model, low-mileage, pre-owned vehicle, under $30,000 from Shepherd Team Auto Plaza. Funding for the proposed vehicle purchase would come from the school's general fund with mileage reimbursement from the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and High School Equivalency program (HEP) grants.
Board members voting against the vehicle purchase were Mark McCoy and John Kerr. McCoy expressed skepticism regarding the type of vehicle the board discussed purchasing.
Near the beginning of the meeting, board President Robert Nelson asked for a moment of silence for FSCC student Ryan Rickman. Rickman, a member of the rodeo team, died Sunday night in Michigan during a storm.