August 4, 2011
The August regular meeting of the Elementary and High School District No. 1 Board of Trustees was held in conjunction with the Final Budget Meeting on August 4, 2011 in the Choteau High School Library. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Mark Henderson.
Members Present: Mark Henderson, Mark Salmond, Brodie Gollehon, Ron Daley, Jonathan Stoltz, and Jerry Stott.
Members Absent: Kirk Moore.
Supt. St. John and Clerk Davis were present throughout the meeting.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary minutes for the June 22, 2011 regular meeting as written.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school minutes for the June 22, 2011 regular meeting as written.
Visitors: Choteau Acantha Editor Melody Martinsen and District Patrons Cliff Heuscher, Sally Heuscher, and Jenny Lee.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the elementary claims clearing warrants #17453-#17615 and payroll clearing warrants #22663-#22749 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Mark Salmond and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the high school claims clearing warrants #17453-#17615 and payroll clearing warrants #22663-#22749 for payment. A vendor list for claims is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
Correspondence:
A) Supt. St. John shared a communication with the Board from Katie Bark, an Office of Public Instruction Specialist with the Nutrition Program, commending the District for being proactive and organizing a Food Service Advisory Committee and thanking the District for inviting her to take part in the recent meeting of this advisory committee.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT A copy of the Superintendent’s Report provided to the Board by Supt. St. John is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
A) Supt. St. John reviewed his written report with the Board at this time. Supt. St. John had provided the Board with an outline of the thoughts and suggestions expressed at the recent Food Service Advisory Committee Meeting and the Board and administration reviewed these at this time. Supt. St. John noted that this outline has been posted on the District’s web site. Supt. St. John informed the Board that this meeting was held on July 20th with 18 committee members taking part and everyone found it to be a valuable meeting. Supt. St. John noted that the focus was looking at how to improve the health of our students. The committee noted that healthy food choices are often more expensive so such choices would increase the overall costs and in turn require an increase in meal prices. Supt. St. John informed the Board that many of the suggestions had a down side to them such as offering more grab and go breakfast meals so that there would be more time to concentrate on serving a good, healthy lunch menu; but such grab and go menu offerings are excessively packaged which is wasteful and not environmentally friendly. Supt. St. John informed the Board that healthy choices such as fruit and jerky have been tried in the concession stand but were not purchased and went to waste. Supt. St. John stressed that this committee is strictly advisory so the thoughts and suggestions generated may never be implemented for various reasons as noted above. Supt. St. John also noted that it probably is not a good time to give the suggestions a trial and error period because of the large learning curve of the district’s new head cook.
B) Supt. St. John informed the Board that the District is being solicited to pay dues in the amount of $1,250 to once again be members of the Montana Quality Education Coalition. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he is not compelled to join this organization again because they are once again pursuing litigation to keep school funding in pace with inflation. Supt. St. John noted that he was hoping for more of a grass roots approach to this issue rather than litigation, but feels the Board should discuss this matter and determine whether the District should join or not. The Board and administration discussed MQEC membership further at this time, with it being the consensus of the Board not to join MQEC again as the dues are costly and they also do not want additional litigation regarding this matter.
APPROVE FINAL BUDGETS FOR THE 2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR The Board reviewed and discussed all elementary and high school proposed final budgets. Clerk Davis informed the Board that the date and time of this Final Budget Meeting was advertised, informing the public that they could be heard for or against any part of the budget. The administration and Board reviewed how each budget will be funded.
A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to adopt the elementary final budgets for the 2011-2012 school year as proposed. Due to declining enrollment (with three year averaging the K-8 ANB was 14 less), the highest budget without a vote was $82,549.98 below the 2010-2011 adopted budget of $1,764,221.20 and a voted levy was not placed before the electorate, so the elementary general fund budget was set at $1,681,671.22 for the 2011-2012 school year. This budget will be funded by direct state aid ($660,050.84), state special education allowable cost payment ($45,726.87), state quality educator component ($73,418.67), state at risk student component (reinstated at $9,312.19), state Indian Education For All component ($5,324.40), state Indian achievement gap component ($1,800.00), state guaranteed tax base subsidy ($268,087.60), non-levy revenue ($74,254.84), cash balance ($0.00), and district tax levy ($543,695.81). The elementary general fund operating reserve was set at $168,167.12 (10%), with last year’s $89,852.00 excess reserves and an additional $8,047.54 for a total of $97,899.54 being set aside this year as excess reserves for unused delinquent taxes. Clerk Davis noted that just over 15% was set aside in operating and excess reserves, and the elementary district had $75,000 available over this 15% that was transferred to the State Flexibility Fund (129) as allowed by state law and approved by the Board at the June 24th regular meeting. Clerk Davis noted that the District still has these excess reserves available to soften the projected dramatic impact to budget limits and district levies due to declining enrollment, state funding, and loss of federal funding. In addition to the elementary general fund budget, the elementary transportation budget was set at $122,612.30, the elementary tuition fund budget was set at $11,056.83, the elementary retirement fund budget was set at $213,150.00, the elementary state technology fund budget was set at $13,097.48, the elementary state flexibility fund budget was set at $78,428.47, the elementary debt service fund budget was set at $68,575.00, and the elementary building reserve fund budget was set at $82,680.95.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried (1 absent) to adopt the high school final budgets for the 2011-2012 school year as proposed. Due to increasing enrollment (the current 9-12 ANB is 9 more) and a new state law that allows the District to use the highest over base levy in the past five years to calculate the highest budget without a vote, the highest budget without a vote was $48,455.68 higher than the 2010-2011 adopted budget of $1,300,902.30 (without the 2010-2011 budget amendment of $11,312.23) and a voted levy was not placed before the electorate, so the high school general fund budget was set at $1,349,357.98 for the 2011-2012 school year. This budget will be funded by direct state aid ($576,438.68), state special education allowable cost payment ($27,262.45), state quality educator component ($43,926.48), state at risk student component (reinstated at $3,094.28), state Indian Education For All component ($3,345.60), state Indian achievement gap component ($2,200.00), state guaranteed tax base subsidy ($227,853.18), non-levy revenue ($84,728.52), cash balance ($2,335.13), and district levy ($378,173.66). The high school general fund operating reserve was set at $134,935.80 (10%), with last years $44,493.00 excess reserves and an additional $14,998.96 for a total of $59,491.96 being set aside this year as excess reserves for unused delinquent taxes. Clerk Davis noted that 15% was set aside in operating and excess reserves, and the high school district had $50,000 available over this 15% that was transferred to the State Flexibility Fund (229) as allowed by state law and approved by the Board at the June 24th regular meeting. Clerk Davis noted that the District still has these excess reserves available to soften the projected dramatic impact to budget limits and district levies due to declining enrollment, state funding, and loss of federal funding. In addition to the high school general fund budget, the high school transportation budget was set at $124,333.40, the high school bus depreciation fund budget was set at $56,823.27, the high school tuition fund budget was set at $9,511.88, the high school retirement fund budget was set at $144,325.00, the high school adult education fund budget was set at $9,000.00, the high school state technology fund budget was set at $14,018.45, the high school state flexibility fund budget was set at $56,120.96, the high school debt service fund budget was set at $68,575.00, and the high school building reserve fund budget was set at $83,110.44.
Clerk Davis informed the Board that the District valuation decreased again this year and end of year cash balances also decreased so a total of 217.21 mills will be levied for the Choteau School District for the 2011-2012 school year, compared to 204.80 for the 2010-2011 school year, which is an increase of 12.41 mills. Clerk Davis informed the Board that there was a net decrease of $34,094.30 in the District’s general fund budgets, yet the general fund mills increased by almost 3 mills. The transportation fund mills increased by over 2 mills because any increase in costs for the bus route contract is over schedule and funded by the District. The mills for the debt service funds increased by 3.5 mills since the payment on the principle increased by $10,000. Clerk Davis noted that the largest increase in mills came in the bus depreciation fund at just over 4 mills since the second activity bus was replaced so two buses are being depreciated at the maximum 20% limit. Clerk Davis reminded the Board that this is the second year of a two year contract with the teachers, administrative negotiations are settled, and the non-certified salary schedule was revised so the general fund budgets were calculated based on these known figures. Any salary, benefit, and other budget increases in the general funds, that have decreased by over $34,000, were covered by retirement savings. An elementary teacher retired but was replaced for one year only with the position being funded through the $75,000 transfer to the State Flexibility Fund. A high school science teacher retired and this position is now being covered by the junior high science teacher and the addition of .4 FTE to cover junior high science to a .6 FTE high school teacher. Clerk Davis informed the Board that the District will continue to use the ESEA Title-II, A allocation to decrease class size (see statement below), noting that the allocations for the federal ESEA Title programs continue to decline or have been eliminated. Professional development costs that have been covered by the Title-I ARRA funds for the past two years will now be covered with the Federal Small Rural Schools allocation, with the 2010-2011 allocation having been set aside to cover the 2011-2012 costs since it is available to be expended until December of 2012. This schedule will allow the District to be prepared a year in advance on how to fund professional development, since it is never known if there will be and how much the SRS funding will be until late fall of each school year.
The minutes should reflect that in the absence of federal funds, the outlined costs would have been eliminated.
In the absence of ESEA Title II, A Funds, Choteau Elementary Grade 2 would have 25 students which exceeds the accreditation standard of 20 for that grade level, so the 2011-2012 ESEA, Title II, A funds will be used to pay for .75 FTE teacher salary and benefits. (The remaining .25 FTE representing the cost that would have been needed to place an aide in that classroom to meet accreditation standards. It should be noted that this allocation has decreased to the point that only .57 FTE of the 2nd grade teacher salary and benefits will be covered.)
ADDITIONAL 2011-2012 EXTRACURRICULAR ASSIGNMENTS The administration made recommendations for filling the elementary winter and spring athletic assignments as well as the high school spring athletic assignments for the 2011-2012 school year at this time.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and make the following elementary athletic extracurricular assignments for the 2011-2012 school year.
ELEMENTARY ATHLETICS:
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Jerry Stott and unanimously carried (1 absent) to accept the administrations’ recommendation and make the following high school athletic extracurricular assignments for the 2011-2012 school year.
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS:
(Contingent on over 30 track participants)
ACCEPT TEACHER RESIGNATION Supt. St. John informed the Board that he received a letter of resignation from Junior High English Teacher Jennifer Birnel the last week of July so that she could pursue a career opportunity with the Montana State Library. Supt. St. John noted that Policy #5251 gives him the authority to accept resignations on behalf of the Board, but since it was so late in the summer and a Board meeting was schedule for the first week in August, he felt it best that acceptance of this resignation came before the Board. Supt. St. John noted that the administration proceeded to advertise this projected vacancy so they would be able to inform the Board what options would be available to fill this vacancy, as it would be their recommendation to accept the resignation despite the lateness of the resignation.
A motion was made by Brodie Gollehon, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried (1 absent) to acknowledge receipt of and accept Jennifer Birnel’s letter of resignation, a copy of which is attached to the minutes of this meeting, as the Junior High School Teacher for the 2011-2012 school year. The Board and administration stated that Mrs. Birnel will be missed and despite not liking such late resignations, they would not want to stand in the way of a career opportunity.
CONSIDER EMPLOYMENT OF JUNIOR HIGH ENGLISH TEACHER Supt. St. John informed the Board that Cali Salmond, who was newly hired to fill the one year only elementary teaching position, contacted the administration regarding her interest in the possible junior high English position. Supt. St. John noted that to meet accreditation standards, a junior high English teacher can either have an elementary or a Grade 7-12 English endorsement. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Mrs. Salmond has an elementary teacher endorsement with an emphasis in communication, so the administration interviewed her and determined that it would be a good option for the District to transfer her into the open junior high English position and look for another applicant for the one year only elementary teaching position.
Supt. St. John informed the Board that the administration returned to the pool of applicants for this one year position and had additional applications to consider, and the administration would recommend the employment of Alicia Robinson to fill this newly open position. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Ms. Robinson was a very good candidate from the first pool of applicants and a one year only position works well for her as she is looking at returning with her fiancée to their home area on the East coast in a year. Supt. St. John informed the Board that Ms. Robinson taught at a newly formed hutterite colony school last year, but that school was made a part of the Augusta District and the position was not available this year. Supt. St. John noted that Ms. Robinson has a Massachusetts teaching certificate but has applied and qualifies to receive her Montana teaching certificate.
A motion was made by Ron Daley and seconded by Brodie Gollehon to accept the administrations’ recommendation and transfer Cali Salmond from the one year only elementary teaching position to fill the junior high English teaching position and employ Alicia Robinson to fill the one year only elementary teaching position open due to this transfer. Trustees voting for this motion were Ron Daley, Brodie Gollehon, and Mark Henderson. Trustee Mark Salmond abstained. The motion carried with a vote of three for, one abstention, and one absent. The minutes should reflect that Mrs. Salmond will now have a non-tenured teaching contract for the 2011-2012 school year that is subject for renewal for the 2012-2013 school year and Ms. Robinson will have a non-tenured teaching contract for the 2011-2012 school year only. Supt. St. John reminded the Board that Mrs. Salmond will earn $25,224 with a BA/1 and Ms. Robinson will earn $27,989 with a MA/1 and both teachers qualify and will receive the $2,000 signing bonus.
TETON BUS SERVICE CONTRACT ADDENDUMS Supt. St. John reminded the Board that the April 27th mid-month Superintendent Report outlined the discussions of the activity bus replacement committee. At that time this committee recommended considering addendums to the bus route contract to address the time line of fuel adjustments and the payment rate of extracurricular activity trips at the August Board Meeting. Supt. St. John informed the Board that he had discussed this further with Bus Contractor Gary Passmore and outlined the plan they had developed to address these issues.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to amend the current bus route contract with Teton Bus Services to revise the activity trip mileage rate from a flat $2.00 per mile to whatever the adjusted fuel rate is, which is the rate being paid for the bus routes, due to significant increases and fluctuations in diesel costs.
Again due to wildly fluctuating fuel prices, a motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Ron Daley and unanimously carried (1 absent) to amend the current bus route contract with Teton Bus Services to revise the schedule for adjusting fuel rates from the current bi-annual dates of January 15th and August 15th to a tri-annual schedule of September 1st, December 1st, and March 1st with the rates being adjusted and effective on these dates.
A copy of the actual addendum outlining these revisions to the five year contract with Teton Bus Services is attached to the minutes of this meeting.
APPROVE BUS ROUTE DRIVER Supt. St. John reminded the Board that they need to approve any new route driver employed by the bus route contractor and Teton Bus Services is requesting that John Winslow be approved as an additional substitute route driver at this time. A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve John Winslow as a bus route driver for Teton Bus Services, contingent upon him meeting all bus driver certification requirements and having satisfactory criminal and driving record background checks.
APPROVE DISTRICT PARTICIPATION IN THE NATIONAL SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM AND ESTABLISH HOT MEAL PRICES FOR THE 2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR Supt. St. John informed the Board that they once again need to approve renewing the agreement to participate in the National School Nutrition Program for both the hot lunch and breakfast programs. Supt. St. John informed the Board that the general fund budgets continue to subsidize the lunch fund at approximately $25,000 per year to cover health insurance benefits and travel and other non-food expenses. Supt. St. John noted that meal prices were increased last year and despite the price of food increasing dramatically, would not recommend an increase in meal prices for this school year as these prices are at the average price for schools around the area.
The Board and administration discussed this matter further. A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Jonathan Stoltz and unanimously carried (1 absent) to renew the District’s agreement to participate in the National School Nutrition Program and the U.S.D.A. Donated Food Distribution program, and to accept the administrations’ recommendation and set the meal prices for the 2011-2012 school year as follows: student breakfast (Grades K-12) - $1.50, reduced student breakfast (Grades K-12) - $ .30, adult breakfast - $1.75, student lunch (Grades K-6) - $2.00, student lunch (Grades 7-12) - $2.25, reduced student lunch (Grades K-12) - $ .40, adult lunch - $2.50, and ½ pint milk - $ .25.
APPROVE ACTIVITY TICKET PRICES FOR THE 2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR Supt. St. John informed the Board that the administration would recommend that individual event and all season activity ticket prices remain the same as set last year, including the family activity ticket at $150.00 - the price of two adult and two student all season passes - implemented to limit the cost for large families.
A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to set individual event activity ticket prices to coincide and be in compliance with the 1B Athletic District Constitution and accept the administrations’ recommendation and set additional extracurricular activity ticket prices for the 2011-2012 school year as outlined below.
1 to 3 Game Individual Event Ticket Prices: Adults - $5.00
Students - $3.00
4 to 6 Stacked Game Individual Event Ticket Prices: Adults - $6.00
Students - $4.00
All Season Activity Ticket Prices: Adults - $50.00
Students - $25.00
Family - $150.00
APPROVE INDIVIDUAL TRANSPORTATION CONTRACTS A motion was made by Mark Salmond, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to approve the following individual transportation contracts for the 2011-2012 school year.
Ind. Trans. Contracts: ELEMENTARY – Amy Bechtold and Jaim McPherson.
HIGH SCHOOL, ELEMENTARY, AND ATHLETIC HANDBOOKS Supt. St. John informed the Board that the principals revised the handbooks and they have been sent off, but that printed copies are not available yet for review. Supt. St. John reminded the Board how important communication is between all parties, so requested that when the Board does receive the printed copies of these handbooks to carefully review them and let the administration know if they see any problems, errors, or revisions that should be made in the future.
CLERK/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT Clerk Davis informed the Board that the following investments had been made by the Teton County Treasurer on behalf of the Teton County Investment Committee:
1) $300,000 for 210 days from 7/21/11 in a certificate of deposit with Teton Banks at .45%
2) $500,000 for 365 days from 7/21/11 in a certificate of deposit with Teton Banks at .70%.
3) $500,000 for 540 days from 7/21/11 in a certificate of deposit with Teton Banks at 1.01%.
ADDITIONAL 2011-2012 BUDGETING ISSUE Clerk Gloria Davis informed the Board that there was a new budgeting matter that the Board needs to discuss and make a decision about. Clerk Davis informed the Board that there is new legislation that requires Districts that receive oil and natural gas production taxes to budget a minimum amount for this in the General Fund equal to the lesser of 25% (FY2012) of the total of such receipts received in ALL funds in the prior year or the base and over-base general fund levy requirement. This percentage increases from 25% (FY2012) to 35% (FY2013), 45% (FY2014), and 55% (FY2015 and after). This oil and natural gas revenue must be deposited in the General Fund until the budgeted amount is reached and any remaining oil and natural gas revenue may be deposited in any budgeted fund as determined by the Board. Clerk Davis noted that that this oil and gas revenue is only received in the high school district and 25% of the total oil and gas revenue collected last year ($36,549) would be just over $9,100 that needs to be budgeted in the High School General Fund. The High School General Fund received over $26,300 of this revenue so Clerk Davis would recommend the Board direct the County Treasurer to deposit up to $20,000 in the High School General Fund and any remaining oil and gas revenue into the High School Flex Fund. Clerk Davis noted that this method will not short change the High School General Fund and will put additional revenue into the Flex Fund which provides more flexibility in meeting the needs of the District.
The Board and administration discussed this new budgeting matter further. Chairman Mark Henderson noted that schools get very few opportunities to set aside funds as a savings account and he sees this as an opportunity to do so and would rather see any oil and gas revenue above the required 25% budgeted amount of $9,100 be deposited in the High School Flex Fund. Other Trustees agreed with this position as long as doing so would not create a large revenue shortfall that would increase the district levy.
A motion was made by Jonathan Stoltz, seconded by Brodie Gollehon and unanimously carried (1 absent) to deposit any oil and gas revenue received over the required 25% budgeted for 2011-2012 in the High School State Flexibility Fund. Clerk Davis informed the Board that she did not want to make this difficult for the County Treasurer to track so would probably not make the County Treasurer split one of the quarterly payments once the 25% limit is reached. Clerk Davis further noted that she will track this revenue to ensure that only putting the 25% limit in the general fund does indeed not impact the district levy for the following year.
SCHEDULE NEXT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING The next regular Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Choteau High School Library.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10p.m.
ATTEST: ________________________ CLERK _________________________ CHAIRMAN