Thursday, December 18, 2014

Recap: School Board Meeting December

Attendance: 7 SB members, 10 SBO staff, 1 admin, 1 media, 2 teachers, 0 community

Phase 2 - Dr. Poole (Spiller, Scott, Speedwell (approx. $15-16 million)

  • Timeline - 2015 Planning, 2016 Bids for construction, June 2016 break ground
  • Scott: bus loop, full size gym on ground floor behind current gym, full renovation of rest of building, possibly parking lot in back, current gym would remain as auditorium/multipurpose
  • Discussion: Mr. Martin asked about possiblity of building new school in town; double the price for new school; tax rate at $0.44 makes it difficult to build new school; Mr. Frye asked if we could save money by putting GWHS, FCHS in phase 2 instead (building costs increases over time)
  • Spiller: K wing would become parking lot, addition of loop behind 3rd grade wing below playground, office entrance reconfigured to include main entrance, 
  • Discussion: Mr. Martin asked about building new structure at SMMS on the football field, possibility of building just K-2 or 3-5 building, Mr. Frye asked about building on the old HS area across the street from Spiller; asked about including FCMS since it wasn't done in Phase 1; all considerations are still on the table and can be discussed
  • Speedwell: complete renovation, but footprint remains the same

Testing Update - Ms. Cochran


  • HS/MS testing for first semester went well, technology was smooth
  • Reports restructured to include amount of rigor and use of calculator

Budget Forecast - Dr. Brannon


  • Legislators are saying cuts in everything will need to be made to balance budget
  • Governor: no cuts are being proposed to K-12 public schools
  • Expenditures: 
    • 3-5% step increase recommended for all employees (cost $300K for every 1%); 
    • Health Insurance costs  $30K for every 1% to prevent costs falling on employee, 
    • Options: VRS Health Insurance transfer costs to employee, leasing bus fleet
    • EMT Course Offering costs $75K
    • Phase 2 architects fees $275K (depending on what we propose to do in Phase 2)
  • Revenue: Enrollment projected to decline so revenue likely to decline 4,150 this year to 4,125 next year
  • Discussion: SB would like to have joint meeting/discussion with BoS

Action Items (all passed unanimously)


  • VSBA Supt. Search - advertisement meeting Jan. 6th @ 11am
  • Budget Schedule (Feb 12th WCEA presents budget requests from Budget survey)
  • Employee Bonus - $163 BOS, $37 SB + $100 for parttime (should include everyone except hourly & subs)
  • VSBA Funding Resolution - requesting increased money for education
  • Policy JN Amendment - $20 fee for 1-to-1 E-backpack program at FCHS (yearly fee for using device)

Dr. Brannon Updates


  • Final SACS/AdvancED final report to come in Jan/Feb; thanks to all stakeholders involved
  • Recognition of staff who helped resolve special issue at Spiller 
  • Principals' Reports - will be held at winter/spring SB meetings
  • Flu Vaccination - not strand that was vaccinated; Spiller had 150 students out yesterday
  • SB Meeting on January 8th

SB Member Updates


  • Kidd attended summit for schools in difficult conditions; engaging parents, early childhood edcuation, extending the school day for activities were all popular topics

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