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USD 235 keeps mill levy same; warns of future increase
Board members of USD 235 Uniontown heard on Monday night that Superintendent Randy Rockhold has worked to keep the mill levy from rising. That's the good news.
However, Rockhold said there are issues that need to be addressed that could not be covered by this proposed budget, which seeks to accommodate the district needs.
One need is to give raises to all staff to get them to a competitive level.
"Our salary schedules are behind... We have great teachers and we need to take care of them," Rockhold said. Sixty-two percent of the total expenditures for the upcoming school year's budget will be spent on instruction, according to materials presented to the board.
Other parts of the proposed budget pie are: operations and maintenance - 10 percent; transportation - 5 percent; food services - 5 percent; student support services - 4 percent; school administration building - 4 percent; debt services - 3 percent; general administration - 3 percent; capital improvements - 2 percent; instructional support - 1 percent; and other costs - 1 percent.
The proposed USD 235 budget is published in the Tribune today.
Rockhold said the general fund is based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students.
He said high density and special education numbers fluctuate greatly from year to year, therefore he has inflated the number of students so as not to have to republish the budget, which costs $300.
The total projected FTE for the next year is 418.5 students, less than last year which will cause a $5,373 decrease, according to materials supplied the board.
Rockhold said the Local Option Budget (LOB) for Uniontown is 21 percent, which is lower than the Kansas state prescribed 31 percent of state financial aid the district is allowed in the current year. In each school year, the board of any district may adopt a local option budget which does not exceed the state prescribed percentage, according to Kansas Statute 72-6433.
"We can raise the mill levy to 31 percent without a vote (of the citizens)," Matt Wood, board president, said. "But our fiscal responsibility...we are keeping our taxes as low as possible, even though we do have the ability to raise them."
"Anytime we can keep it as low as possible, is really great. We do have projections to eventually raise it in the future," Woods said. "We have needs we've been putting off that will reach a point we'll have to fulfill that need. Replacement of buses and Suburbans, the roof on the high school leaks and we need to put a pitched roof on, also the air conditioner at the high school. These are needs on the horizon we'll have to meet."
This budget does not upgrade the facility or equipment as it needs to be, Rockhold said.
"We've been letting some things go," he said.
He told the board he hates seeing the old bus near the bus barn, but, it has saved the district money.
"We've salvaged parts for transportation from the old bus," Rockhold said.
Besides the budget, the board elected its officers for the new year.
Woods was re-elected president of the board, his third consecutive term. Doug Coyan was re-elected vice-president. The board welcomed Daniels Johns to the board, who was elected in the April election.
The board approved the following appointments for the 2013-2014 school year: clerk of the board -Sherri Hartman; deputy clerk- Charlene Bolinger; treasurer - Kenneth Holt; attorney- Kansas Association of School Boards; ex-officio member of the vocational agriculture advisory council-Jason Sutterby; elementary attendance officer - Tracy Smith; bank depository - Union State Bank; district newspaper - The Fort Scott Tribune; political liaison - Lynne Oharah. Rockhold was appointed secondary attendance officer, special project director, Title lX coordinator, Title IV, Title 1 and Title 2 administrator. Hartman will be the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System representative and the Freedom of Information Officer, with Bolinger appointed in Hartman's absence.
The board also approved the adoption of policies and governance rules of USD 235 per exiting board policies and rules. Because of the thickness of the policy updates, the board will review a section at each monthly meeting, Rockhold said. Some of the policy updates are state mandates, he said.
In other business the board:
* Heard from Adam Holt, reporter for the Bourbon County Review, to reconsider them as the designated newspaper.
* Approved resolution for waiver of generally accepted accounting principles.
* Adopted 1,116 hours as the minimum school-in-session criteria.
* Approved a resolution to rescind policy statements found in board minutes 2012-2013.
* Approved no charge for textbook rental this year.
* Approved mileage reimbursement rate to be 44 cents per mile. No mileage will be paid if a district vehicle is available.
* Approved a resolution to establish petty cash limits for West Bourbon Elementary School, Uniontown High School and the Board of Education.
* Established an activity fund
* Approved a resolution to destroy school records for the years if 2007 through 2009 school years. Federally supported program records only.
* Adopted an early payment request policy to be able to avoid late penalties, when needed.
* Set the board of education meetings for the second Monday of each month, with no exceptions.
* Approved publishing the budget.
* Approved meal prices: students lunch, WBE- $2.15; UHS -$2.25; breakfast at both schools will be $1.20. Adult meals: lunch $3.20, breakfast $1.90.
* Accepted the resignation of Sandra Abati, media specialist.
* Approved hiring Courtney Torneden as Title Reading teacher.