Levy Discussion, Construction Options
The Council School Board met for their regular meeting this past Tuesday. All board members were present except for Bob Grossen.
Cross Country Coaches Greg and Cheryl Dillon came before the board to thank the board for their support of the team. The Dillons reported that the team earned a spot at the state championship, which was a first for the school.
Interim Superintendent Brian Joyce reported that Tyler Powers received a $36,000 grant to purchase welding simulators for the welding program. He also expects to receive a $50,000 grant for greenhouse repairs among other things. Additionally, The concession stand will see some upgrades due to a proposal that was put together by Rorie Burgess and funded by a $1,000 donation from a member of the alumni.
Joyce reported that the School Wide Improvement Plan (SWIP) is being worked on by himself, CES Principal Leo Fontana, several staff members and a parent with students in the school. This is the program that the Elementary School is in after being designated an underperforming school by the state. This will easily be a three year process that comes with a lot of work but also a lot of opportunity for the district as well, according to Joyce. According to standardized test results, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency is low at the elementary school and is a focus of the SWIP plan.
Athletics Pay-to-Play was also discussed. The district spent over $65,000 on athletics last year. This does not include bussing and transportation costs. Overall, the board is expecting a tough budget year and athletic costs add up. It costs close to $1,000 to equip one student for football. The deliberation was whether and how much to charge students for playing sports. Currently, athletic fees are capped at $350 per family. One question that was discussed was whether or not the district could charge students who are not full time in the district more. A significant portion of this $65,000 is pay for coaches. However, the pay for coaches is low. Ryals stated he was ‘appalled’ at how little some of the coaches were paid. No decision was made at this point.
The school district is considering a levy to continue to fund certain operating expenses. The most recent levy was approved by voters in May 2024 for $130,000 each year for two years totaling $260,000. However, the state has paid this levy off early through distributions to the district amounting to about $243,000. So the voters approved it but ended up not paying for much of it. At least as directly as through their own property taxes. The previous levy was also partially paid off by the state in the amount of about $74,000. This levy was approved by voters in March 2022 for $85,000 per year for two years totaling $170,000.
According to the Adams County Clerk’s Office, since 2012 voters in the Council School District have approved levies every two years for a total of seven, two-year levies in that timeframe. In 2012 the levy was in the amount of $50,000 per year and has increased in recent years. These levies have been used to pay teacher aides and other operating expenses, not improvements to the buildings.
The district does not know if the state will continue to pay for levies after approval from voters but Ryals mentioned that the fiscal climate at the state does not look promising for these type of payments. The district will likely put a similar levy to voters in May but no final decision was made by the board during the meeting. They will move forward first to gather information to determine their needs and cost to voters.
For action items there was a lengthy discussion on construction and improvement needs. The district has about $1.1 million from the state that is set aside to pay for improvements to current buildings. It can also be used as a down payment towards a bond.
Building maintenance and improvement projects that the district could choose to spend this money on are numerous and expensive and would address legitimate needs. For example, the schools HVAC system is about 5-10 years beyond it’s expected lifespan and could cost about $750,000 to replace. This is just one possible use of this money. However, once the money is spent it’s gone and the district is not counting on another windfall from the state to help with expensive maintenance.
Or, the district could choose to pursue a bond to fund new school buildings using this money as a down payment of sorts to get started. The district started exploring a bond a few years ago and the cost of one new school building at the time was easily $20 million. The district decided to stop pursuing a bond at that time due to low community support that was discovered after a phone survey was conducted.
No action was taken on this as the district is interested in receiving public input on these options and will be seeking it soon.
The next action item was for the purchase of an addition to the school’s website where school board items such as agendas and board packets could be publicly accessible. This would also provide a solution to host district policies and make it easier to update them when needed. The current policy listed on the district’s website does not have recent updates. District Clerk Mindy Ivey was given the go ahead to purchase the option that best suits the district’s needs
Whether or not to replace the aging Chromebooks was the next action item. These are reaching end of life and were purchased with one-time funds during the pandemic. Options discussed included footing the bill to purchase them or to purchase just enough to share between classrooms or not replacing them at all. The district will be seeking public input on this possible purchase as well. There is a public comment period at the beginning of each regular board meeting where members of the public can voice their opinions.
A server was approved for purchase and installation through Council Computers for a cost of about $11,000.
There will be a special board meeting on January 13 at 5:00 p.m. to review policy series 5000 and 3400. This will be a work session to review policy page by page.
