A new first-grade teacher, Megan Steuck, was approved for hire.
Tenured contracts renewed were: 1st year: Ken Sievert, Jennifer Fredrickson; 2nd year: Andrew Peterson, Erin Holland; 3rd year: Amanda Inouye, Meghan Conway, Diana Foster.
Insurance rates soar
The district insurance quotes raised eyebrows.
“I expected the rates to jump,” said Supt. Kevin Wellen. “We’ve had claims like the Ellendale roof and flood damage. But I didn’t expect them to jump 60 percent.”
The board authorized Wellen to seek competitive quotes from other providers. Wellen told the board he will confer with former board member Rick Firme to ensure equivalent coverage will be secured.
Roofing Project
The district’s ongoing roofing project was priced many years ago, and recent inquires revealed that the remaining portions would cost 50 percent more than previously estimated.
Bids received for the Ellendale gym and the former middle school classrooms came in with a low of $341,800. High bid was $567,000.
The board has decided to skip the roofing again next year, to make room for other capital expenditures, since it appears the roofing work is not currently as urgent as other demands.
Budget Adjustments
The revised 2011-2012 budget was approved. The revised budget includes additional expenditures of $230,000, which include the track resurfacing, additional kindergarten and special ed teachers, the iPad initiative, bus fuel and a car purchase. The sum also reflects a deduction of $95,000 for a portion of the roofing project, which was skipped this year.
It was observed that, though there was no change in revenue from the enrollment projection, the extra kindergartners who made it necessary to hire an additional teacher will bring additional revenue in the future.
For the fiscal 2012-2013 budget, the initial proposal called for $10,145,345 in expenditures for an approximate $300,000 deficit. The board approved the budget minus the low bid on the portion of the roofing project that was scheduled and decided against for the time being. That reduction closely matched the deficit.
“We expected this year to be a break-even year,” remarked board chair Rick Schultz.
An item on the budget that required explanation was a negative figure (-$58,387) in the Debt Service Fund. How could that be?
Wellen explained that, in order to compensate for a percentage of property owners who fail to pay their taxes, the counties routinely overcollect, and periodically this overage needs to be corrected, so it is deducted from a district’s levies.
“Apparently the taxpayers in our district are better about paying than those in some other districts,” Wellen offered.
Lunch Prices
Lunch prices for 2012-2103 were raised 10 cents, and adult lunch prices were set at $2.10 and $2.25 for K-6 and 7-12. After discussion, it was corrected to K-5 and 6-12.
Dairy and Bakery
The 2012-2103 Dairy contract was awarded to Dean Foods. The Bakery contract went to Pan-O-Gold Baking Co., based largely on their lower prices for wheat bread.
Prime Food Vendor
The board authorized the administrator to seek proposals for a “Prime Vendor: School Food” for the upcoming school year.
The district currently purchases through numerous vendors for food supplies. If the district went to vendors requesting a proposal from one vendor to supply the district with 90 percent of its food, it could mean price breaks and other advantages.
City and Ballfields
The City of New Richland has proposed an arrangement for cost sharing on the improvements to the softball field, whereby the City would participate in 20 percent of the costs for fence and groundwork to move the field (home plate to position of existing pitcher’s mound) and re-grade with better material.
Wellen suggested the district offer a counter-proposal whereby they would pay the City a lump sum not to exceed $30,000 for a five- or 10-year lease on both ball fields, and leave all maintenance and renovation to the City, with the stipulation the fields would be kept up to meet school athletics requirements and that no action be taken without joint committee approval.
Either way, the board moved to tell the City to go ahead on the ballfield renovation as described.
Cost-cutting ideas discussed included having the Trades class build the dugouts to specification, finding sponsors for scoreboards, and possibly selling advertising space on the outfield fence.
The proposed crosswalk system currently is estimated at $13,000 to $15,000 including removal of old poles but not including concrete removal. The City has agreed to a 50/50 cooperation with the crosswalks.
The next meeting of the NRHEG school board will be Monday, July 16, 6:30 p.m. at the Ellendale Media Center.
