USD 383 Board of Education

Feb. 2, 2011
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Regular meeting:
Dr. Bob Shannon, Superintendent, reported that the district has had 5 "snow days," which is 2 days more than the 3 days already built into the calendar. Administration will bring options to the next meeting regarding how the time can be made up.

Dr. Bob Seymour, Assoc. Supt., presented a report to the board on the district's mid-year enrollment. "Bricks and mortar" enrollment had increased by a net of 7 students, but enrollment was down 64 students when students enrolled in the virtual school program are included in totals. Some students only enroll for the first semester in the virtual program, and the state has also cracked down on truant virtual students, which accounted for some of the decrease in enrollment.

The board was presented with a report on the district's career and technical education program. Board members expressed interest in aligning middle school courses with high school courses, which could bring additional funds to the district and could be accomplished with existing staff.

Board members discussed dividing the director of maintenance and transportation position into two separate positions when the current director retires in June. Administration recommended eliminating the assistant transportation director position to help fund the salaries of two director positions. The board approved 7-0 to separate the director positions.

The board had a preliminary discussion of the budget. Gov. Brownback had proposed to reduce per pupil state funding by $75 for this year and reduce it by $157 next year. The reduction of $75 per pupil equates to a reduction of $562,000, and the reduction of $157 per pupil equates to $1.2 million for the district. Bruce Stiles, district budget director, said the district will have to examine several factors to determine the bottom line. The district's enrollment has increased, which will bring more per pupil funding to the district, and new facility weighting from the construction projects will also bring more funds to the district. However, increased enrollment means the district needs to hire more staff. Board members recommended to administration that the Budget Advisory Committee should be re-organized and begin meeting as soon as possible.

Board members were presented with a recommendation for summer 2011 programs. The recommendation was to keep the programs offered the same as summer 2010, which had been greatly reduced compared to other years due to budget constraints and construction projects making schools unusable. Programs that will be offered will include credit recovery, driver's education, and special education programs. Many of the programs will be funded by student fees or by grants.