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I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND GET OUR JOINT WORK SESSION STARTED THIS EVENING.
THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FOR JOINING US.
[A. Discussion - FY 2027 Warren County Public School's Budget]
I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO DR. WRIGHT.THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, GIVING US THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH, UH, UH, NOT ONLY OUR BOARD AGAIN AND BUT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND TO REALLY, UH, JUST COME TOGETHER AND GIVE YOU A TIME TO REFLECT.
I KNOW THAT WHEN DR. MARTIN WAS HERE, YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SORT OF SEE A FIRST DRAFT, UH, WHICH WAS, UH, I THINK HE WENT TO THE PRINCIPALS.
UH, THEY, THEY GAVE THEM A, A LIST OF THINGS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE AND THEN CAME BACK TO THE TABLE.
BUT THERE WERE NO NUMBERS REALLY.
IT WAS JUST A DISCUSSION OF PHYSICIANS.
IT WAS A LARGE NUMBER AT THAT POINT.
'CAUSE I THINK AT THAT POINT IT WAS REALLY WHAT WOULD WE REALLY LIKE TO HAVE IF, IF, IF THINGS WERE PERFECT? AND THAT WAS A LIST OF 24 NEW POSITIONS.
SO WE TOOK THAT AND SORT OF HAVE WORKED THROUGH THAT SINCE I STARTED DECEMBER ONE AND GOT US TO WHERE WE PRESENTED OUR BUDGET, UH, TO, TO THE BOARD, TO THE SCHOOL BOARD, UM, LAST WEEK.
WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE IS OUR BOARD IS NOT ADOPTED, UH, A BUDGET YET.
SO WE'RE STILL, AND VERY MUCH PRELIMINARY PROCESSES.
UH, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY INFORMATION AT, NEITHER DO YOU RE REGARDING INSURANCE.
AND WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY INCLINATION IN TERMS OF WHAT OUR STATE FUNDING MIGHT LOOK LIKE, UH, WITH THE NEW GOVERNOR AND THE NEW GOVERNOR'S BUDGET.
SO WE, WE HOPE TO SEE SOME, SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES TOWARDS THE END OF FEBRUARY.
AND WE'VE ANTICIPATED, UH, HEARING FROM INSURANCE.
WE SHOULD HAVE HEARD SOMETHING BY NOW.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE EAGERLY ANTICIPATING HEARING SOMETHING.
SO, UH, BUT WE REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE AND GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO SORT OF DIGEST WHERE WE ARE AND, AND ALSO ASK, ASK QUESTIONS.
WE ALSO WANT YOUR HONEST FEEDBACK AND INSIGHT.
SO WE'RE HEADED DOWN A ROAD THAT, AND YOU'RE OVER THERE THINKING, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT.
SO WE, WE, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT PERSONAL, BUT WE NEED, WE NEED YOUR HONEST FEEDBACK.
'CAUSE AS WE GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, UM, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE KNOW WE HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE, OF, OF, OF BOTH BOARDS, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US KNOW TONIGHT.
YOU KNOW, SO WE, WE WANNA BE HONEST AND FRANK AND, AND, AND VERY DELIBERATE AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
SO, UH, WE WELCOME THAT HONEST FEEDBACK AND, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE JOB THAT OUR SUPERVISORS HAVE.
UM, WE ARE HERE TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR SCHOOLS.
WE ALSO UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT AND YOU'RE SPREAD VERY THIN.
SO WE APPRECIATE ALL THE DIFFERENT SERVICES THAT OUR COUNTY NEEDS AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, SO THAT, THAT IS NOT LOST UPON US OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
BUT WE ARE GONNA TALK SCHOOLS TONIGHT 'CAUSE THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE.
AND WE'RE GONNA DO OUR BEST TO ADVOCATE FOR, UM, WHAT WE FEEL VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT.
SO WE DO HAVE A PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF YOU AND WE'LL, WE'LL WORK THROUGH THAT.
UH, THE SECOND PAGE IS JUST THE AGENDA.
WE'LL START RIGHT WITH, AND I, I KIND OF LIKE TO GET RIGHT TO THE POINT.
SO WE'RE GONNA START RIGHT WITH THE, THE BOTTOM LINE RATHER THAN BUILD UP TO IT.
AND HERE'S WHAT THE ASK IS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO FAR TO FIND IT.
AND THEN WE'LL END UP, UH, WORKING THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT, UH, PIECES THAT GOT US THERE.
SO, UH, AT ANY POINT, UH, WHILE WE'RE GOING THROUGH THIS, AND I'LL DO SOME INTRODUCTIONS AND THE FOLKS ON OUR STAFF WILL PROVIDE MORE INSIGHT AND MORE DETAIL.
AT ANY POINT WHEN YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, WE WANT YOU TO ASK THOSE, AND THAT WAY WE, YOU CAN TAKE NOTES AND WE CAN PROCESS THROUGH THIS TOGETHER.
SO, UM, WE DON'T NEED TO RUSH THROUGH IT.
UM, WE'LL GET THROUGH, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE CAN AT THIS POINT THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DONE.
BUT THE NEXT PAGE IN YOUR PACKET IS, IS THE BUDGET SUMMARY.
RIGHT OFF THE BAT, YOU CAN SEE WE'RE ASKING FOR 80 82 MILLION, 82 POINT, UM, SEVEN ROUGHLY, UH, IS OUR TOTAL OPERATING BUDGET REQUEST FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 LAST YEAR.
TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE, OUR TOTAL FISCAL YEAR 26, WHICH IS OUR CURRENT YEAR, THAT TOTAL BUDGET FOR OPERATING WAS 76.2.
THAT INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR'S OPERATING OUR CURRENT YEAR'S BUDGET, SORRY, OUR CURRENT OPERATING BUDGET TO FISCAL YEAR 27 OPERATING BUDGET IS $5.8 MILLION.
SO ADDITIONALLY, THERE IS A TEXTBOOK REQUEST OF $200,000 CIP FUND REQUEST OF $1.2 MILLION.
AND THEN THE COUNTY, UH, FOR A TOTAL COUNTY FUNDING INCREASE, INCLUDING THOSE TEXTBOOK FUNDS AND CIP FUNDS OF $7.2 MILLION
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OVER WHAT WAS RECEIVED LAST YEAR.SO I KNOW IT'S A LARGE NUMBER, THE STICKER SHOCK.
WANTED TO GET THAT OUT THERE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.
I FELT LIKE THROUGH THIS BUDGET PROCESS, ALL WE'VE DONE IS CUT POSITIONS, BUT THERE, UH, ONE THING WE DO HAVE IN THIS BUDGET IS A LARGE SALARY INCREASE FOR OUR STAFF IS, WHICH IS WHERE THE BULK OF THAT IS COMING FROM.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL GET TO THOSE DETAILS LATER.
ON THE NEXT PAGE, YOU WILL SEE A BUDGET SUMMARY THAT HELPS US GET THERE.
MR. VALENTINE, UH, CAN UH, SHARE A FEW INSIGHTS AND MORE DETAILS REGARDING THAT.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT THIS POINT, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO PAUSE.
BUT MR. VALENTINE, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU FOR THAT.
THE, UH, SHEET SHOWING, UH, THERE, THE SUMMARY STARTS OUT WITH THE REVENUE AND AS, UH, DR. WRIGHT MENTIONED, UM, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE STATE BUDGET'S GONNA BE.
NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE IN THE STATE.
SO WHAT WE HAVE DONE IS WE HAVE PLUGGED IN THE NUMBER THAT GOVERNOR YOUNGIN PROPOSED AS HIS BUDGET BACK IN DECEMBER.
AND AS WE KNOW, UM, THERE'S A NEW GOVERNOR IN OFFICE AND A GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING.
WELL, I'M SURE IT'LL BE DIFFERENT THAN THAT.
UM, WHETHER IT'S MORE OR LESS THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN ONCE, UH, THE BILLS CROSS OVER LATER THIS MONTH IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
AND WE'LL GET AN IDEA FROM DOE THEN WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN FOR US AS WARREN COUNTY.
SO WHAT WE'VE USED IS THE ONLY THING WE HAVE AT THIS POINT, AND THAT'S THE 44,377,002, UH, $207 IN STATE REVENUE.
OUR FEDERAL REVENUE, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE LATER.
THAT'S PROJECTED AT JUST OVER 3 MILLION, UM, FEES AND MISCELLANEOUS CHARGES FOR SERVICES COMES IN AT 385,000.
UH, SOMETHING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT DOING LAST YEAR AND WEREN'T ABLE TO DO.
THE STATE GIVES US MONEY EARMARKED FOR TEXTBOOKS.
AND WE, TO BE HONEST, DON'T USE IT ON TEXTBOOKS PER SE.
WE USE IT FOR ITEMS, CONSUMABLES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT ARE ALLOWABLE.
AND WE MEET THE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE STATE GIVES US TO USE THOSE FUNDS.
BUT IT'S NOT FOR ACTUAL HARDBACK TEXTBOOKS OR, UM, ONLINE COPIES, ADDITIONS OF THOSE.
WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING TO DO IS TO TAKE THAT $412,720 THAT THEY GIVE US FOR TEXTBOOKS AND TRANSFER IT OUT OF OUR OPERATING FUND AND PUT IT INTO THE TEXTBOOK FUND SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A SUSTAINED SOURCE OF MONEY THAT'LL GO INTO THAT FUND TO HELP US EACH YEAR.
UM, THAT FUND CAN CARRY OVER FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT.
SO WHEN WE HAVE PEAKS AND VALLEYS IN THE ADOPTION CYCLE OF TEXTBOOKS, HOPEFULLY WE CAN KEEP THIS AMOUNT GOING IN THERE TO SORT OF SMOOTH OUT THAT TE PEAK AND VALLEYS IN THAT.
UM, I, I THINK IT'S A GOOD SOUND BUDGETING PRACTICE IF WE'RE ABLE TO DO IT.
UM, AND THEN I'VE SHOWN THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION, WHICH IS THE CURRENT COUNTY APPROPRIATION, SO THAT WHEN WE COMPARE EVERYTHING, THE DIFFERENCE WOULD HAVE TO BE THE AMOUNT THAT THE COUNTY WOULD MAKE UP TO BALANCE OUR BUDGET FOR.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE CANNOT HAVE A BUDGET THAT ISN'T BALANCED.
UM, SO WHEN WE GO TO THE NEXT ITEM NUMBER TWO, THAT'S WHEN WE START LOOKING AT OUR EXPENDITURES FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND WE'LL TALK AGAIN, MORE IN DETAIL ABOUT EACH OF THESE ITEMS AS WE GO DOWN.
BUT JUST THE CURRENT POSITIONS WE HAVE TODAY WITH THE SALARY ADJUSTMENTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE PROPOSED, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A LITTLE BIT, THAT COMES TO JUST OVER $71 MILLION.
THERE ARE $728,833 WORTH OF, UH, PROPOSED NEW POSITIONS, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT ABSORBING SOME POSITIONS WHICH WOULD SAVE US MONEY.
AND THEN THERE'S A POSITION OR TWO THAT WE'RE GOING TO ENHANCE, MAYBE BUMP UP THE HOURLY PAY RATE TO GET IT UP TO A MORE COMPETITIVE MARKET RATE.
AND THEN THERE ARE THREE POSITIONS THAT ARE CURRENTLY FUNDED THROUGH FEDERAL FUNDS.
OUR FEDERAL FUNDS HAVE BEEN SHRINKING OVER TIME.
AND AS THEY SHRINK AND AS WE GIVE SALARY INCREASES TO IN PARTICULAR THE TEACHERS AND THOSE THAT ARE IN THE CLASSROOM THAT THESE FUNDS ARE GOING TO SUPPORT, UM, IT MEANS WE HAVE FEWER RESOURCES WE CAN PUT IN THE CLASSROOM.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE THESE FUNDS PAY THEIR BIGGEST DIVIDEND, OBVIOUSLY.
SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS TRYING TO WEAN OURSELVES FROM HAVING SOME OF THE, UH, COST THAT ARE ASSOCIATED NON-CLASSROOM COSTS WITH ADMINISTERING THE GRANTS COME OVER TO A LOCAL, UM, SOURCE, AND THAT WOULD COST 175,000.
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SO OUR TOTAL FOR ALL SALARIES AND BENEFITS WOULD BE $71,840,160.THE REST OF THE BUDGET WE CALL NON-LABOR, THAT'S ANYTHING FROM CONTRACTED SERVICES TO INSURANCES TO UTILITIES, ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY INVOLVE OUR PEOPLE.
AND THAT BUDGET IS RECOMMENDED AT PROPOSED AT 10,000,787, UM, OH 53.
SO THAT PUTS OUR TOTAL PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET AT 82,000,627, UM, TWO 13, WHICH AS YOU CAN SEE IS MORE THAN THE 76 MILLION 831 1 56 THAT WE WOULD HAVE IN PROJECTED REVENUE.
SO THAT MEANS WHEN YOU COME DOWN TO NUMBER FOUR, THE AMOUNT REQUESTED FROM THE COUNTY WOULD HAVE TO INCREASE BY, UM, JUST UNDER 5.8 MILLION TO BALANCE OUR OPERATING BUDGET.
AND AS DR. WRIGHT MENTIONED, UM, TEXTBOOK FUNDS WERE ASKING IN ADDITION TO THE 400,000 TO PUT 200,000 OF LOCAL FUNDING BECAUSE WE HAVE A BIG MATH ADOPTION THAT, UH, MS. BRAGG WILL BE TALKING TO US ABOUT HERE IN A LITTLE BIT AND EXPLAINING.
AND THEN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND, THE 1.2 MILLION, THAT'S WHAT'S PROJECTED AND NEEDED FOR NEXT YEAR.
KOSNER WILL BE LATER ON TALKING ABOUT THAT.
SO WHEN YOU ADD UP, IT COMES UP TO A BIG NUMBER, $7.2 MILLION THAT WOULD NEED TO COME ADDITIONAL FROM THE COUNTY TO SUPPORT THIS BUDGET IN ITS FORM AS PRESENTED RIGHT NOW.
GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ANYONE MIGHT HAVE.
IT IS THE, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDING, UH, UH, SOME, SOME OF THESE BUILDINGS NEEDED.
SOME ROOF IS THAT, IT INCLUDES THE HILDA BARBER AND ALSO THE WRESTLING ROOM UP AT SKYLINE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
COSTNER WILL BE GOING OVER A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE PACKET.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT EACH OF THESE ITEMS. BUT YES, IT DOES INCLUDE THOSE TWO ROOFS, UM, AND SOME OTHER THINGS THAT, THAT HE CAN DO A BETTER JOB OF EXPLAINING THAN I PROBABLY OR NOT, PROBABLY.
DOES THE, UM, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND ASK OF THE 1.2 MILLION, DOES THAT INCLUDE OR FACTOR IN THE, UM, RETURN MONEY FROM WHAT WE HAVEN'T SPENT IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS THAT WE USUALLY GET BACK THAT DOES NOT, NO.
SO THAT IF WE START GETTING THAT MONEY BACK AGAIN, THAT COULD HELP OFFSET, OR DO WE HAVE THAT EARMARKED FOR OTHER THINGS ALREADY THAT THAT WOULD BE UP TO THE COUNTY ONCE OKAY.
UM, ANYTHING THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD HASN'T SPENT AUTOMATICALLY REVERTS BACK TO THE COUNTY, AND THAT BECOMES PART OF THE COUNTY'S FUND BALANCE.
AND THEN THE COUNTY AT THEIR DISCRETION CAN OF COURSE DO WHAT THEY, UH, FEEL MOST IS MOST IMPORTANT WITH IT.
AND, UH, UH, OUR RECOMMENDATION ALWAYS IS IF THAT HAPPENS, THAT IT GOES TOWARDS ONE TIME EXPENSES AS OPPOSED TO ONGOING EXPENSES SO THAT YOU DON'T SORT OF DIG YOURSELF A HOLE THE FOLLOWING YEAR WITH THAT MONEY.
BUT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, COUNTY POLICY AND DECISION, NOT, NOT OURS.
DO WE KNOW HOW, LIKE, DO WE GET REFERRED FUNDS YET FOR HOW MANY YEARS WE WORKING ON LAST YEAR? THE LAST AUDIT WE HAVE COMPLETED IS FY 23.
UH, IN THE, THE REFERENCE IS TURN BACK FUNDS.
SO THAT'S ANY REVENUE THAT THE SCHOOL HAS RECEIVE RIGHT.
NOT NECESSARILY IN REGARDS TO BUDGET, BUT IN, IN REGARDS TO ACTUAL REVENUE VERSUS ACTUAL EXPENDITURES.
SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS FOR 24 AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS FOR 25.
AND THEN WE'RE CURRENTLY IN FISCAL YEAR 26.
SO WE COULD HAVE POTENTIALLY ACCRUED THREE YEARS WORTH OF, DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH, WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH.
THERE'S ALWAYS A ASK, UM, FROM THE SCHOOLS TO THE COUNTY.
WE DON'T HAVE AN AGREEMENT CURRENTLY.
SOME LOCALITIES HAVE AGREEMENTS, SOME LOCALITIES HAVE, UH, REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENTS, FUNDING AGREEMENTS.
CURRENTLY WE DO NOT HAVE AN AGREEMENT.
SO THE, THE PROCESS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THAT THE SCHOOLS SHOWS THE TURN BACK FUNDS FROM THE PREVIOUS AUDIT IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE AND REQUEST THAT FUNDING GO TOWARDS CAPITAL PROJECTS.
WELL, I THINK WHAT SHE'S ASKING THE LAST TIME WE AS A SCHOOL BOARD ASKED FOR THOSE AND RECEIVED THEM WAS FROM THE FY 23 YEAR.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S, I'LL HAVE TO GO BACK AND SEE.
I DON'T THINK SO, BECAUSE EVEN THAT WOULD'VE BEEN MORE RECENTLY THAT WE RECEIVED THAT.
RIGHT? I DON'T THINK THOSE FUNDS, YEAH, I DON'T THINK THOSE WERE.
SO EVEN FY 22 MAYBE WAS THE LAST YEAR THAT WE GOT CARRIED OVER.
THAT MIGHT'VE BEEN THE LAST YEAR.
I'LL HAVE TO LOOK, BUT I, I DON'T THINK 20 THREES WERE RETURNED.
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THE COUNTY PROBABLY NEEDED THOSE TO BALANCE THEIR BUDGET OR, OR THEIR FUND BALANCE OR SOMETHING.NOT NECESSARILY FOR BALANCING THE BUDGET FOR FUND BALANCE, IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT, LIKE I SAID, IT'S BEEN REPORTED IN THE AUDIT, BUT IT, BUT IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT THE SCHOOLS HAS COME TO ASK FOR.
UM, IT'S, IT'S LITERALLY THE SCHOOL'S MONEY THAT YOU TURNED BACK OVER TO THE GENERAL FUND.
I, I REMEMBER ASKING FOR IT LIKE IN YEARS PRIOR.
I JUST DON'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME WE SUCCESSFULLY DID THAT.
I BELIEVE, AND I BELIEVE EVERY TIME THAT YOU'VE ASKED FOR THAT, THROUGH, THROUGH THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, THAT HAS BEEN GRANTED.
SO OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I DON'T RECALL THE EXACT FISCAL YEARS THAT HAVE AND HAVE NOT BEEN REQUESTED.
UM, AND THIS IS ALWAYS THE PREFERRED METHOD IS TO GO THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS AND REQUEST THOSE FUNDS THROUGH, THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS.
BUT WE DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE LIKE A BALLPARK.
LIKE FOR INSTANCE, IF WE ARE THREE YEARS BEHIND, IN EACH OF THOSE THREE YEARS, LET'S SAY THE SCHOOLS DID NOT SPEND $200,000 OF THEIR ALLOTTED MONEY TO US, $200,000 TIMES THREE WOULD BE $600,000.
WE'D BE HALFWAY TO OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND.
SO IT'S NOT, NOT SPENDING YOUR ALLOTTED FUNDS.
THAT'S NOT WHAT THE TURN BACK FUNDS IS.
THE TURN BACK'S ACTUAL REVENUE OVER ACTUAL EXPENDITURE.
SO AS YOU KNOW, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO EXPEND MORE THAN YOUR BUDGETED FOR.
BUT IF YOU RECEIVE MORE MONEY THAN YOU SPEND, CORRECT.
THAT IS WHAT IS CALLED THE TURNBACK MONEY.
IT'S NOT ACTUAL VERSUS BUDGET.
I WE'RE SAYING THE SAME THING.
YOU'RE JUST USING DIFFERENT VERBS, BUT I'LL TRY TO USE YOUR WORDS.
SO THE TURNBACK FUNDS, MEANING WE WERE ALLOTTED 72 MILLION TO $71 MILLION, WE ONLY SPENT 70 MILLION, THEN WE WOULD HAVE A, A DIFFERENCE, AND WE CAN ASK FOR THAT MONEY BACK AND I KNOW, BUT IF WE ONLY GET 69 MILLION IN REVENUE, THEN WE'RE IN TROUBLE.
RIGHT? SO YOU HAVE TO REALLY COMPARE THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE FROM ALL OTHER SOURCES AND THEN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM THE AMOUNT THAT WE SPENT AND WHATEVER THAT DIFFERENCE IS.
IF IT'S MORE THAN THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION FOR US, THEN THAT IS WHAT WE'LL CALL THE TURN BACK SURPLUS, WHATEVER NAME WE WANT TO DO.
UM, IF FOR SOME REASON IT WOULD BE THAT GAP WOULD BE MORE THAN THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION AND WE'RE IN TROUBLE.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE A BALLPARK LIKE WE CORRECT.
WE DO EVEN AN ESTIMATE AT THIS POINT.
THERE, THERE ARE ACCRUALS AND THINGS THE COUNTY LOOKS AT OR THE, THE AUDITORS RATHER LOOK AT.
AND, UH, IT'S NOT ALWAYS AS EXACT AS YOU WOULD WANT IT TO BE.
SO THEREFORE WE NEED TO ASK FOR THE 1.2 MILLION PER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS TO FIX OUR ROOFS.
AND THEN IF WE HAPPEN TO GET OUR MONEY BACK LATER, THAT WILL BE AN ADDED BONUS, AND I'M SURE WE'LL PUT IT TO GOOD USE.
MAY I SAY SOMETHING? UH, I THINK MR. VALENTINE PROBABLY REMEMBERS, I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY WHEN THE SCHOOLS HAD A SURPLUS MM-HMM.
HE WOULD COME BACK AND TURN IT BACK TO US, BUT THEN WE'D TURN AROUND AND GIVE IT TO YOU FOR A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ITEM.
AND THAT'S HOW WE DID THE REST OF JEFFRIES, UH, A LOT OF THE
SO THAT'S, THAT, THAT WAS THE WAY WE WORKED.
AND I THINK THEY GAVE, YOU KNOW, SOME INCENTIVE TO, YOU KNOW, AND THERE AGAIN, YOU HAD, I THINK, UH, ADDITIONAL REVENUES CAME IN THAT MAYBE YOU HADN'T ANTICIPATED.
AND SO WE TURNED IT BACK AND I'D LIKE TO SEE US BE ABLE TO DO THAT IF POSSIBLE.
WE'LL, WE'LL MOVE ON WITH A DM, UH, WHICH IS THE NEXT SECTION, UH, IN YOUR HANDOUT.
SO OUR AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP, UH, IS TAKEN TWICE A YEAR.
ONCE IN THE FALL, WE GET A FALL NUMBER.
UH, AND THEN WE WILL GET FROM, FROM THE STATE, THEY'LL TAKE ANOTHER NUMBER, AND WE SEND IN A STATE REPORT, UH, IN MARCH.
UM, BASED ON THAT NUMBER, WE GET, UM, FUNDING, UH, THAT COMES TO US, UH, THROUGHOUT, THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR, IF, IF OUR NUMBERS ARE, ARE HOLDING UP BASED ON THE ESTIMATE THAT THE STATE GIVES US.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE OVER TIME, GOING FROM, UH, 2020, UH, TO 2027, OUR A DM HAS BEEN ON A GRADUAL DECLINE.
AND I THINK 2020 WAS PROBABLY THE, THE HIGHEST THAT WE HAD SEEN IN QUITE SOME TIME.
UH, AT LEAST IN, IN REVIEWING THE RECORDS AT 50 52, OVER 5,200 STUDENTS.
AND THEN THAT DECLINE HAS JUST BEEN CONTINUING IN THE DIRECTION TO WHERE NEXT YEAR, OUR NUMBERS THIS YEAR ARE 47 50, AND OUR PROJECTION FOR NEXT YEAR IS 46 92.
SO WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD PROJECTION LOOKING AT SENIORS GOING OUT AND OUR, OUR STUDENTS COMING IN, IT'S PRETTY'S PRETTY EASY TO PROJECT, YOU KNOW, FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
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LIKE IT WILL CONTINUE TO DECLINE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS AND THEN LEVEL OFF PROBABLY SOMEWHERE RIGHT AROUND THE 4,000, MAYBE SLIGHTLY BELOW 4,000 STUDENTS.ONCE IT'S LEVELED OFF, BUDGETING BECOMES A LITTLE MORE, THINGS WILL GET A LITTLE EASIER IN TERMS OF WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE, AND IT MIGHT FLUCTUATE A LITTLE BIT, BUT AS YOU'RE CONTINUING TO DROP, IT'S A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO MANAGE.
IT'S DIFFICULT TO BUDGET, AND WE'RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO, UM, DISSOLVE AND BE VERY STRATEGIC AND HOW WE MANAGE POSITIONS.
UM, SO, SO THAT IT'S DONE, UH, FISCALLY, UH, PRUDENT MANNER, BUT ALSO, UH, SO THAT WE'RE NOT IMPACTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
SO, UM, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THAT LAST COLUMN WHERE IT SAYS LOSS OF FUNDS, SO THAT'S A LOSS OF MONEY.
SO WE GET ROUGHLY ABOUT $6,000 PER STUDENT FROM THE STATE.
THERE'S SOME OTHER CATEGORIES WHERE WE RECEIVE MONEY, UH, FEDERAL FUNDS AND SO FORTH, BUT JUST STRAIGHT MONEY FROM THE STATE.
WE'VE LOST $3.3 MILLION IN REVENUE OVER THE YEARS.
WHILE THINGS RELATIVELY STAY THE SAME.
WE STILL HAVE THE SAME BUILDINGS, WE STILL HAVE THE SAME BUSES, WE STILL HAVE THE SAME, UM, STAFFING HAS DECREASED A LITTLE BIT, UM, BUT WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF THE SAME EXPENSES IN TERMS OF COACHING AND, AND TRANSPORTATION AND THE, THE, THE BILLS THAT WE COULD PAY FOR OUR BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES.
SO, UM, I KNOW THAT'S A, UH, A PART THAT COMES UP A LOT WHEN YOU LOOK AT DECLINING STUDENTS.
AND OVER TIME YOU'LL SEE OUR STAFF CONTINUE TO SORT OF, WE WERE REDUCED.
BUT WHEN WE DO THAT, WE WANNA DO THAT, AS I SAID, STRATEGICALLY, AND WE ABSORB THOSE POSITIONS WHEN WE CAN.
SO CURRENTLY AS FOLKS RESIGN OR RETIRE, DEPENDING ON THEIR ROLE, WE MEET WITH THE PRINCIPALS, UH, AND WE SAY IT'S THIS ONE THAT WE CAN ABSORB.
WE, WE'VE BEEN HAVING THOSE MEETINGS ONGOING FOR THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS WITH, WITH OUR PRINCIPALS AND OUR SCHOOL LEADERS.
AND NO ONE WANTS TO GIVE UP A POSITION, RIGHT? UH, I WAS A PRINCIPAL FOR A LONG TIME, AND IF SOMEONE SAID, WELL, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GIVE UP A COUPLE POSITIONS, I WOULD THINK OF EVERY REASON NOT TO.
BUT, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING TO THE POINT THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE BIG PICTURE AND WHERE WE ARE WITH, WITH A DM.
SO WE ARE, AGAIN, STRATEGICALLY WORKING WITH OUR PRINCIPALS AND LEADERS AS WHEN WE GET THAT OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE, AND I SAY OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE WE, WE NEED TO DO IT UNDER OUR TERMS. AND, UH, IF THAT MAKES SENSE, WHEN WE CAN SO THAT LATER, UH, YOU KNOW, A YEAR FROM NOW OR TWO YEARS FROM NOW, IF WE HAVEN'T BEEN PROACTIVE IN CURRENT YEARS, WE MAY BE IN A SITUATION THAT'S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE, WHERE WE, WE CAN'T AFFORD, UH, WE'RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH FUNDING FROM THE STATE, AND WE THEN WE'RE IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION.
SO I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT.
I'VE TALKED TO PRINCIPALS ABOUT IT.
UH, AND JUST SO THAT AS WE REDUCE HERE OR MOVE TEACHERS AROUND FROM ONE BILLING TO THE OTHER, WE'RE DOING SO IN A WAY, UH, TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR STUDENTS WITHOUT, AND, AND TRYING TO REDUCE STAFF STRATEGICALLY WITHOUT IMPACTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
SO SOME OF THE KEY POINTS I WANTED TO MAKE ON THE NEXT SLIDE REALLY, IS THAT OBVIOUSLY AS OUR A DM DECREASES, OUR FUNDING DECREASES, BUT WE STILL HAVE MANY OF THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPENSES.
SO THE SECOND BULLET THERE IS THE REQUIREMENTS STAY THE SAME, WHETHER YOU ARE A SMALL DIVISION OR A LARGE DIVISION, THE STATE REPORTING STAYS THE SAME.
AND ALL THE, THE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE REMAINS THE SAME FOR OUR PRINCIPALS, OUR STAFF.
UH, THERE'S JUST, THERE'S LESS STUDENTS.
UH, AND IN SOME WAYS IT COULD GET A LITTLE EASIER, BUT HONESTLY, YOU DON'T REALLY SEE IT BECAUSE IT'S SPREAD OUT OVER THE DIVISION.
SO ONE HIGH SCHOOL, OR ONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OR ONE MIDDLE SCHOOL'S NOT GONNA FEEL A RELIEF BY HAVING A FEW LESS KIDS IN THEIR SCHOOL UNTIL IT'S, IF IT WERE A LARGE SUDDEN DROP OF A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS.
THE, THE STUDENT NEEDS HAVE INCREASED AND CONTINUE TO INCREASE, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF BEHAVIORS.
I KNOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT OUR BOARD HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UH, SIGNIFICANT, SIGNIFICANT NEEDS, UH, AND BEHAVIORS.
AND THAT'S REALLY INCREASED NOT JUST IN WARREN COUNTY.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, OUR SUPERINTENDENT GROUPS TALK ABOUT THAT I WAS EXPERIENCING IN SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY AS WELL AS KING GEORGE COUNTY.
UH, AND, AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE, AND I THINK THROUGHOUT THE NATION, SINCE COVID, WE HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE IN SIGNIFICANT BEHAVIORS IN STUDENTS.
SO WE ARE WORKING ON, IN WHAT WE CAN DO TO IMPACT THAT, INCLUDING ADDRESSING THE BEHAVIORS, BUT ALSO ADDRESSING THE BEHAVIORS AND THROUGH THE INSTRUCTION.
UH, BECAUSE IN ADDITION TO THE BEHAVIORS INCREASING, WE'VE SEEN
[00:25:01]
A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF QUALIFIED TEACHING APPLICANTS.SO BECAUSE, UH, WE HAVE A DECREASE IN TEACHERS AND FINDING THOSE, THOSE QUALIFIED, UM, TEACHERS THAT HAVE THEIR CERTIFICATION, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DO.
AND THEY CAN GO WHEREVER THEY WANT, UH, AND REALLY NAME THEIR PRICE.
SO IF WE CAN GET THEM TO COME TO WARREN COUNTY, THEN THAT, THAT IS WONDERFUL BECAUSE IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
UH, A LOT OF TIMES WE'RE HIRING PROVISIONALLY LICENSED TEACHERS, WHICH MEANS THEY HAVE A DEGREE, BUT THAT'S IT.
THEY HAVEN'T REALLY HAD ANY TRAINING IN TERMS OF WORKING, UH, WITH STUDENTS.
THEY HAVEN'T BEEN TO COLLEGE FOR THE, THE TEACHING LICENSE.
AND THEY'RE ABLE TO GET A PROVISIONAL AND SORT OF WORK THROUGH IT, AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN HANG ON TO THEM.
BUT A LOT OF TIMES THEY COME IN, THEY, THEY SEE WHAT, WHAT HAPPENS, AND THEY'RE LIKE, I'M OUTTA HERE.
AND, AND, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE GONE AFTER A FEW DAYS BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S A DIFFICULT JOB.
AND, UH, THEY WERE NOT PREPARED AS SOMEONE WHO WENT THROUGH THE, THE TRAINING WOULD BE.
AND LASTLY, THE CONTINUING, CONTINUING, AND I'M SURE THE COUNTY CAN CONNECT WITH THIS, IS THERE'S AN INCREASE IN FOIA REQUESTS AND, AND ALL OTHER LITIGIOUS TRENDS THAT HAVE REALLY BOGGED DOWN MANY OF OUR COUNTY OFFICES.
I'M SURE, UH, THE COUNTY IS NO DIFFERENT FROM SHERIFF'S OFFICE, FIRE AND RESCUE SCHOOLS ARE FEELING THAT SAME PRESSURE.
UH, AND IT'S REALLY JUST, UH, CAN TAKE OVER, UH, ONE PERSON'S DAY OR WEEK.
AND MANY CASES, UH, DEPENDING ON THE EXTENT OF, OF SOME OF THESE FOIA CASES AND SOME OF THESE LEGAL MATTERS, UH, NOT TO MENTION THE EXPENSE, UH, OF LEGAL.
AND THIS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, CONTINUES TO CLIMB FOR, FOR OUR BUDGET EACH YEAR.
SO, UH, I'LL STOP THERE AND TURN IT BACK OVER TO, UM, MR. BALLANTINE TO WORK THROUGH, UM, SOME OF THAT FORECAST THAT, UH, WE WANTED TO TALK THROUGH.
AND THEN WE'LL PAUSE FOR SOME QUESTIONS AFTER HE FINISHES.
WHEN I SPOKE EARLIER ABOUT OUR, UH, ON THAT SUMMARY SHEET ABOUT OUR PROJECTED REVENUE, THIS IS THE DETAIL OF IT, AND I WON'T BORE YOU WITH EVERY LINE OF IT OR ANYTHING, BUT THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE IS BASICALLY THE STATE PROJECTED REVENUE.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S BASED ON GOVERNOR JENKINS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE UPCOMING BIENNIUM.
UM, AND THIS WILL CHANGE ON THIS SIDE, BUT ONE THING I WILL POINT OUT, UP IN THE TOP LEFT THERE, THE THIRD ITEM DOWN TEXTBOOKS, IF YOU LOOK UNDER THIS PROPOSED, THE PROPOSED FISCAL 27 BUDGET IS $412,720.
THAT'S THAT AMOUNT THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
WE WOULD LIKE TO TRANSFER TO THE TEXTBOOK FUND TO GIVE IT SOME SUSTAINABILITY.
UM, THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN, RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE IS FIRST OF ALL, OUR FEDERAL REVENUE.
AND AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE SEEING IT SHRINK, UM, FROM YEAR TO YEAR, AND WE WANT TO BE CONSERVATIVE ON WHAT WE ESTIMATE FOR IT, UM, SO THAT WE DON'T MAKE COMMITMENTS ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT WE WOULD PERCEIVE.
BUT THEN THE OTHER THING IS WE TYPICALLY DON'T FIND OUT TILL PROBABLY JULY AT THE EARLIEST WHAT OUR, UM, FEDERAL, UH, GRANT AMOUNTS WILL ACTUALLY BE FOR THAT FISCAL YEAR THAT WE'VE ALREADY STARTED.
SO, UM, THERE'S GUESSWORK OF COURSE, IN THAT THE MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE IS JUST THAT, THAT'S THE ITEMS THAT THE, UH, EITHER THAT FEES THAT ARE PAID AND MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS THAT COME IN THERE.
THE NEXT ONE IS THE TRANSFERS EITHER INTO THE OPERATING FUND OR OUT OF, AND THAT'S WHERE WE SHOW THE, UH, TEXTBOOK FUND MONEY COMING OUT OF THE OPERATING BUDGET.
SO IT COMES IN ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE UNDER STATE REVENUE, BUT GOES OUT AS A TRANSFER, WHICH WOULD BE TO THE SCHOOL TEXTBOOK FUND WHERE IT WOULD BE USED, UH, AND CAN ONLY BE USED TO PURCHASE TEXTBOOKS.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, THE, THE ONE THAT'S MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU, I'M SURE, IS THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION.
I'VE SHOWN THAT AS LEVEL FUNDED JUST TO SHOW HOW, UM, IT WOULD BE AFFECTED, HOW THE BUDGET'S AFFECTED, UM, BUT IT WOULD BE AFFECTED BY WHAT THE BUDGET IS.
SO, UM, ALL THOSE NUMBERS ADD UP TO THE $76,831,156 THAT WE WOULD ANTICIPATE HAVING NEXT YEAR BASED ON A PROPOSED STATE BUDGET, UM, LEVEL COUNTY FUNDING, AND THEN THE FEDERAL REVENUE BEING ADJUSTED FOR WHAT WE THINK IT, FOR WHAT IT'S GONNA BE THIS YEAR, HOPING THAT IT'S NO MORE, NO LESS NEXT YEAR.
SO, UM, GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE ABOUT ANY OF THE, THE REVENUE ITEMS ON THERE.
AND AGAIN, THE LEFT HAND SIDE WILL, I'M A HUNDRED PERCENT CERTAIN IT WILL CHANGE, UH, AND HOPEFULLY IT'LL INCREASE.
[00:30:01]
THE ONE THING I WILL MENTION THERE IS A, IN THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET, THERE'S A 2% COMPENSATION, UM, INCENTIVE GIVEN.IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE SCHOOLS WILL GIVE 2% INCREASE TO THE EMPLOYEES, THEY WILL GIVE THEIR FAIR SHARE, WHICH IS 55% ROUGHLY OF THAT, UM, FOR WHAT WE CALL SOQ POSITIONS, WHICH WE HAVE MORE, AS DOES PRETTY MUCH EVERY OTHER SCHOOL DIVISION IN THE STATE, MORE POSITIONS THAN THE MINIMUM THAT THE STATE SAYS, UM, WE NEED.
AND EVEN THOUGH THEY SAY THAT'S WHAT WE NEED, THE JARC AND ALL THESE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT, THAT THOSE NUMBERS AREN'T, UM, REALISTIC.
SO, UM, IT, IT'S A CARROT THEY PUT OUT THERE, BUT IT DOESN'T, UH, BY ANY MEANS FULLY FUND THE INCENTIVE THAT THEY'RE GIVING US.
AND, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT THAT, UM, BONUS INCENTIVE OTHER THAN RIGHT AFTER, UH, THE GOVERNOR WAS EX EXITING.
I THINK THAT WAS A PART OF THE CABOOSE BILL AND YEAH, PART OF THE CABOOSE BILL, WHICH WOULD AFFECT THIS CURRENT YEAR.
THERE WAS A PROPOSAL TO GIVE A 2% BONUS, BUT I, I HAVEN'T HEARD MUCH ABOUT THAT.
SO THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.
THIS IS A 2% SALARY INCREASE NEXT YEAR.
BUT THEN THERE WAS THAT TALK OF A, UH, SOME TYPE OF A BONUS THIS YEAR, WHICH IT'S ANOTHER TOPIC, BUT IT COULD BE DIFFICULT
I THINK THIS IS WHERE A BULK OF OUR, OR THIS IS THE BULK OF OUR INCREASES.
AND THE BIG PART OF THIS IS THE VERY FIRST, UH, INTRODUCTION THERE IS THAT WE ARE PROPOSING A, A 4% SALARY INCREASE, PLUS, PLUS THE STEP ADVANCEMENT, WHICH IS, WHICH IS, THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY BIG.
AND THAT'S, AND IT'S THERE FOR A REASON.
UH, I THINK, UH, AS WE DID A STUDY, UM, LAST YEAR, AND I THINK, UH, MS. DRAKE PRESENTED ON THAT IN THE FALL, AND SHE IS HERE TONIGHT TO TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE DETAILS OF THAT AS WELL.
WE, WE FOUND THAT WE WERE PRETTY LOW IN THE FIVE SURROUNDING COUNTIES, UH, WHICH, WHICH IS, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE HIGHER THAN THEM.
AND WE DON'T EVEN HAVE TO NECESSARILY BE COMPETITIVE, BUT WE DO NEED TO BE SOMEWHAT IN CONSIDERED, RIGHT? AND WE HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT WE CAN OFFER IN TERMS OF OUR, OUR ATMOSPHERE IN TERMS OF OUR COUNTY AND THE BEAUTY AND THE FAMILY ATMOSPHERE THAT WE HAVE HERE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF WONDERFUL AND GREAT PEOPLE, BUT COMPENSATION IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE.
SO THE 4% PLUS STEP IS REALLY MEANT TO GET US BACK UP TO, IN THE BALLPARK, RIGHT? JUST NOT, WE'RE NOT GONNA, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE COMPETING WITH SOME OF THE COUNTIES, UH, NORTH OF US, BUT WE ARE, WE WILL BE CONSIDERED, RIGHT? AND, AND I THINK THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT.
I ALSO THINK IT'S JUST, IT BRINGS US UP CLOSER TO OUR SURROUNDING COUNTIES.
AGAIN, NOT AHEAD, NOT EVEN REALLY IN THE MIDDLE, BUT JUST GET SOMEWHAT COMPETITIVE.
AND THEN AT THAT POINT, TO JUST MAINTAIN THAT WITH WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A NORMAL, UH, COLA INCREASE, PLUS STEP.
BUT THEY INITIAL BUMP WOULD REALLY DO A LOT FOR OUR STAFF.
UM, ADDITIONALLY THERE WE HAVE SOME SPECIFIC, UM, STAFF MEMBERS AREAS THAT WE ARE FOCUSING ON REALLY BRINGING THEIR SALARY SCALES UP TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
UM, BOTH TO BE, JUST TO RECOGNIZE THEM AND THE JOBS THEY DO FOR, FOR BEING REALLY SOMEWHAT NOT PAID OR COMPENSATED, WHAT WE WOULD THINK WOULD BE APPROPRIATE, MOVING THEM UP.
AND ALSO BECAUSE OF THE DEMAND, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF OUR NURSES AND, AND, UH, THE DIFFICULTY IT IS IN FINDING A NURSE RIGHT NOW WITH WHAT WE'RE OFFERING, THEY'RE OFTEN JUST SORT OF WALKING AWAY AND NOT LAUGHING IN OUR FACE, BUT PROBABLY SOMEWHAT LAUGHING IN OUR FACE BECAUSE WE JUST CAN'T, WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY OFFERING IS, IS WAY BELOW.
SO WE HAVE A PLAN, UH, TO OFFER MORE LPNS AS OPPOSED TO, UH, RNS, UH, INCREASE OUR COACHES BRING THAT STIPEND TO STEADY, UH, UM, A LEVEL AMOUNT AS OPPOSED TO AMOUNT BASED ON THEIR SERVICE, WHICH WILL BE EASIER FOR BUDGETING.
THE DEAN OF STUDENTS IS A POSITION WE'RE ACTUALLY, UH, DECREASING THE STIPEND FOR THAT POSITION.
IT IS A, IT IS MEANT TO BE A POSITION WHERE FOLKS CAN GAIN ADVANCEMENT TO WORK WITH, TO BECOME AN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, BUT NOT A, NOT A LIFELONG POSITION.
SO, UM, WE DID DECREASE THAT STIPEND BECAUSE IT REALLY, BECAUSE OF THE, THE AMOUNT OF THE STIPEND, WE FOUND THAT FOLKS WERE HANGING
[00:35:01]
ONTO THAT POSITION MAYBE LONGER THAN, THAN THEY SHOULD.RATHER THAN LOOKING TO ADVANCE TO THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, OUR BUS DRIVERS AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS, WE REALLY JUST NEED TO BRING THEM UP TO GET THEM IN SOME CASES, UH, TO THE VERY MINIMUM THAT THEY SHOULD BE MAKING.
SO, UH, I'M GONNA TURN, TURN IT OVER TO MS. DRAKE TO, TO GET A FEW MORE DETAILS AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL PAUSE FOR QUESTIONS ON SALARY SCALES.
GOOD EVENING, HOW ABOUT YOU? BUT I WAS PRETTY EXCITED TO HEAR MELTING SNOW, SNOW TODAY.
UM, SO STARTED MY DAY OFF, RIGHT? SO, UM, WIFE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, UM, AND SOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS FROM WHEN WE HAD PRESENTED LAST TIME, WE HAVE A THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN, UM, FOR OUR SALARY SCALES AND ADJUSTING OUR CURRENT POSITION.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE STUDY THAT I DID.
IT'S JUST A, IT'S A SIDE BY SIDE MARKET COMPA, UM, COMPARISON FOR TEACHERS ONLY.
SO JUST WANTED TO SEE WHERE WE ARE, UM, IN COMPARISON TO OUR OTHER COUNTIES.
AND SO AS YOU CAN SEE, LIKE DR. WRIGHT SAID, WE ARE NOT NUMBER ONE, WHICH, YOU KNOW, I'M COMPETITIVE, WOULD LOVE TO BE NUMBER ONE, BUT REALISTICALLY, WHERE ARE WE? SO WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE, UM, TEACHER MARKET SIDE BY SIDE, KIND OF WHERE EVERYBODY'S AT ON THEIR SCALES, WHERE ARE WE AT? YOU KNOW, WE ARE RANKING A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE.
UM, THIS YEAR WE'RE PROPOSING A 4% PLUS STEP NEXT YEAR.
UM, WE HAD, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE OTHER COUNTIES ARE DOING AS WELL, WE WOULD LIKE TO REVISIT THAT.
BUT YOU DO YOUR 3% PLUS STEP, 3% PLUS STEP, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, THE COLON IN BETWEEN, JUST TO HAVE SOME STEADINESS IN THERE.
SO WE'RE ALSO NOT COMING IN SAYING WE'D LIKE $5 MILLION AND JUST SALARIES OF AN INCREASE BECAUSE OF ADJUSTING SCALES AND THEN TRYING TO BE COMPETITIVE.
UM, SO JUST BEING MINDFUL OF THAT.
YOU CAN KIND OF SKIP TO THE NEXT ONE, PLEASE.
UM, SO THIS IS THE, UH, WHAT I WAS REFERENCING ON KIND OF WHERE WE LAND.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE NUMBER FOUR.
WE ARE PAYING MORE THAN SOME OTHER COUNTIES.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAD TALKED ABOUT KIND OF THE COST OF LIVING AND THE COST OF LABOR AND WHERE WE STAND IN THOSE SITUATIONS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THE MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD FOR WARREN COUNTY IS ABOUT $72,500 WHERE FREDERICK AND CLARK ARE WELL OVER THE $90,000 PRICE RANGE.
BUT IN COMPARISON TO OUR HOUSING MARKET.
SO WE ARE NOT FAR BEHIND FREDERICK COUNTY, ACTUALLY.
UM, IT'S CHEAPER TO LIVE WITH US THAN IT IS IN FREDERICK COUNTY, BUT NOT BY A LOT.
SO WE ARE TRYING TO HIRE, RECRUIT, AND RETAIN OUR TEACHERS TO LIVE HERE, TO WORK HERE.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT HOW MUCH IT'S COSTING THEM TO LIVE.
UM, I PERSONALLY LIKE GAS PRICES TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S JUST KIND OF AN INFLUX THAT UTILITIES ARE GONNA BE AN INFLUX.
I KNOW MY UTILITY BILLS ARE GONNA BE UP THIS NEXT MONTH OF THE COLD WEATHER, BUT THAT'S EVERYBODY.
WE'RE ALL FACING THOSE IMPACTS WHETHER YOU LIVE HERE, WHETHER YOU LIVE IN SHENANDOAH PAGE.
AND SO WE WANNA BE MINDFUL OF THAT ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE HERE.
AND SO THOSE ARE GREAT THINGS.
LIKE WE HAVE WONDERFUL THINGS TO OFFER IN WARRING COUNTY.
IT'S NOT SAYING THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE HERE, BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO BE MINDFUL OF THAT AS WE INCREASE, UM, OUR, OUR SCALES AND HAVE THAT PLAN MOVING FORWARD.
UH, THIS IS JUST GOING, THIS IS WINCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS, JUST A SIDE BY SIDE.
UM, THESE ARE ALL IN YOUR HANDOUTS.
I HAVE KIND OF PRESENTED AND TALKED THROUGH THESE BEFORE.
SO HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY OTHER SALARY SCALES ON WHAT THE OTHER COUNTIES ARE DOING, UM, AND WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO WE DO HAVE A REGION FOUR HR KIND OF GROUP EMAIL TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU'RE DOING, WHAT WE'RE DOING, WHAT IDEALS CAN WE STEAL, AND OH, THAT MIGHT IMPACT ME.
SO, UH, WE'LL BE MINDFUL OF THOSE.
WE ARE LOOKING TO ADJUST JUST A FEW THIS YEAR.
AND THEN, UM, NEXT YEAR WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER SET, UM, TO BE ABLE TO ADJUST AND REVISE.
AND SO NOT ONLY A LITTLE BIT OF CATCH UP, BUT, UH, THERE'S THINGS THAT ARE COMING OUT.
AND I WILL SAY THAT, UH, CONGRESS HAS INTRODUCED A BILL.
IT HAS NOT BEEN PASSED YET, AS YOU JOKINGLY SAY.
THEY JUST DON'T CALL ME AND TELL ME WHAT THEY'RE GETTING READY TO DO.
BUT THEY HAVE PROPOSED A $4 INCREASE.
UM, SO FROM THE MINIMUM WAGE FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RIGHT NOW IS $10 AND 59 CENTS.
IT'S GONNA GO UP $4 EACH YEAR IS WHAT HAS BEEN PROPOSED AND PUT IN CONGRESS, UH, THROUGH 2030.
SO RIGHT NOW FOR VIRGINIA'S, UH, MINIMUM WAGE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE'RE, WE'RE FINE, WE'RE WHERE WE ARE, BUT IF IT DOES GO TO $15 AN HOUR, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL
[00:40:01]
ASSISTANCE WILL BE PAID UNDER MINIMUM WAGE, AND WE WOULD HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE COUNTY AND ASK FOR MORE MONEY, UM, TO BE ABLE TO INCREASE THEIR SALARIES.SO THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE ON THE SALARY SKILLS ON WHAT WE'RE CHANGING AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
WE DO HAVE, UM, WE'VE BROKEN DOWN OUR INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS, AND I CAN GET AS GRANULAR AS YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO DO, UH, BUT WE'VE BROKEN IT DOWN INTO TWO SEGMENTS BASED OFF JOB AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
WE ARE ALSO TRYING TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN MORE HIGHLY QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES.
SO ALL OF OUR INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS WILL HAVE TO BE HIGHLY QUALIFIED GOING INTO THIS NEXT YEAR.
THEY GET PAID AN EXTRA THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THAT, BUT WHEN WE LOOK THROUGH OUR SUPPORT STAFF RIF LIST, NOW THEY CAN GO ANYWHERE.
WE DON'T HAVE TO SAY, WELL, YOU'RE NOT HIGHLY QUALIFIED, SO YOU CAN'T GO WORK AT THIS TITLE ONE SCHOOL.
UM, SO IT'S ACTUALLY VERY HELPFUL TO HAVE THAT.
UM, IT ACTUALLY BOOST THE EMPLOYEES THAT WE'RE HIRING.
UM, AND WE'RE EXCITED FOR OUR IAS, WHO WE'VE SET THAT PLAN WITH, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD.
BUT, UM, AS WE DO THAT, KIND OF GOING BACK TO THIS RIGHT NOW, UH, YEAR ZERO IA EARNS $13 AND 72 CENTS PER HOUR.
SO GOING TO A LEVEL ONE THAT WOULD JUMP THEM TO $18 AND 57 CENTS ON THIS.
SO WE WOULD BE OVER THAT MINIMUM WAGE.
BUT IF THIS IS A $4 INCREASE, IF IT IS PASSED THROUGH CONGRESS, THEN WE WILL NEED TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
BUT THAT KIND OF GOES BACK TO OUR COST OF LIVING AND COST OF LABOR.
UM, YOU KNOW, I LIKE TO EAT LOCAL AND I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, A HOSTESS MIGHT BE MAKING MINIMUM WAGE.
WELL, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN, YOU KNOW, IF THEY NOW HAVE TO PAY THEM $15 AN HOUR, WHAT'S THE RESTAURANT GOING TO DO? RIGHT? THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO INCREASE.
SO THIS IS JUST WHERE WE ARE HEADING.
I JUST ASK THAT WE PREPARE FOR THAT, UM, AND ADJUST OUR SALARY SCALES AS AS WE NEED TO.
UM, GOING TO OUR NURSES, WE WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE AND, UM, TO HAVE LPNS, IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT MORE ATTRACTIVE WITH THAT.
UM, THEY WOULD HAVE TO WORK UNDER AN RN.
WE DO HAVE A NURSING COORDINATOR.
THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO WORK UNDER HER LICENSE BECAUSE WE DO HAVE MEDICATION THAT WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED.
UH, BUT I HAVE HAD TWO FULL-TIME OFFERS.
THEY HAVE SAID NO BECAUSE OF SALARY.
SO I HAVE A TREND AND WE HAVE NOT HIRED ANYBODY SINCE THEN.
WE, THEY, THEY WILL NOT WORK FOR US DUE TO SALARIES.
AND, UM, IT'S UNFORTUNATE, BUT THAT'S WHERE WE ARE.
AND, AND WE NEED THOSE NURSES WITH OUR STUDENTS, VERY MUCH SO.
OUR BUS DRIVERS, UM, ALSO INCREASING THEM.
SO THEY WENT FROM FOUR AND A HALF HOUR TO A FIVE HOUR.
SO, UH, MR. VALENTINE HAD WENT OVER, NOPE, SORRY, IT'S COMING SOON.
UH, WE ARE GOING TO BE GOING OVER, UM, OUR PART-TIMES.
WE DID INCREASE THAT, BUT I'M ALSO HOPING BY INCREASING OUR BUS DRIVERS BY 30 MINUTES BECAUSE OF SEAT TIME, ROUTE TIME, UM, THAT, THAT WILL HELP REDUCE THOSE PART-TIME HOURS WHEN WE HAVE TO HAVE A BUS DRIVER FILL IN, UH, WHEN NOT ABLE.
SO, BUT RIGHT NOW, UH, PENDING THIS, THIS IS JUST KIND OF WHERE WE ARE WITH, WITH OUR BUS DRIVERS.
ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR ABOUT SALARY SKILLS OR THE ADJUSTMENTS JUST TO KIND OF PAUSE, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN LIVING AND BREATHING THIS, UM, WITH YOU ALL FOR, FOR SOME TIME NOW AND WANNA SAY FOR ANYTHING YOU HAVE.
THIS SHEET, UM, SHOWS BASICALLY WHERE ALL OF THE SALARY AND BENEFIT COSTS COME FROM.
UM, AS MRS. DRAKE MENTIONED, WE'RE GIVING A STEP PLUS 4% INCREASE ON ALL THE SCALES.
UM, THIS REFLECTS THE BUS DRIVERS INCREASING TO FIVE HOURS PER DAY AND THE REVISIONS THAT SHE SPOKE OF ON THE NURSES INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS AND OUR VARSITY COACHES.
UM, IF YOU GO DOWN THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IT SAYS SCALE.
YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED SOME OF THOSE HAD NUMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
BUT THEN THERE'S THE DESCRIPTION, HOW MANY FTES, FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS THERE ARE ON EACH OF THOSE SCALES.
THE TOTAL OF WHAT THEIR CONTRACTS WOULD BE.
THEN, UM, THE VARIOUS EMPLOYER COSTS, PAYROLL COSTS GOING ACROSS.
UM, AND THEN ON THE VERY FAR RIGHT HAND SIDE, THE TOTAL COSTS.
NOW THERE ARE A COUPLE COSTS HERE THAT ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE SCALES.
THE FIRST ONE, UM, BEING IS WHEN YOU GET DOWN ALMOST TO THE VERY BOTTOM SUBSTITUTES.
UM, WE HAVE PAID THE LAST FEW YEARS
[00:45:01]
AT LEAST, UH, A FIRM TO PROVIDE OUR SUBSTITUTES FOR US.SO IT'S WAS OVER IN WHAT WE CALL THE NON-LABOR BUDGET.
IT WAS A CONTRACTED SERVICE THAT WE DID NOT HAVE EMPLOYEES THAT, UM, WERE PAID THROUGH IT.
UH, IT'S BEING RECOMMENDED THAT WE BRING THAT, UM, BACK IN HOUSE AND THAT THOSE SUBSTITUTES BECOME OUR EMPLOYEES AND WE BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING THAT.
UM, SO THERE'S SOME COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
THE COST SHOWN HERE, THE 1.1 MILLION IS THE COST THAT WOULD BE IN PAYROLL TO SUBSTITUTES, AND THAT'S REAL CLOSE TO WHAT WE'RE INCURRING RIGHT NOW.
UM, THROUGH THAT, UM, THROUGH THE, UH, CONTRACTED SERVICE.
AND THEN YOU HAVE TO ADD IN FICA WOULD BE THE OTHER, UM, EMPLOYER COST TO THAT.
AND THEN THE VERY BOTTOM ITEM IS ACTUALLY, UM, COMING ACROSS.
THE FIRST ITEM YOU SEE THERE IS HEALTH INSURANCE.
AND I THINK MRS. DRAKE WILL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE LATER.
BUT RIGHT NOW, BASED ON PROJECTIONS, WE ARE PROJECTING THE EMPLOYER COST FOR A HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR WOULD BE, UH, JUST UNDER $8.4 MILLION.
UH, WHEN YOU COME ALL THE WAY OVER, PICK UP THE OTHER INSURANCES LIKE THE WORKERS' COMP, UNEMPLOYMENT AND TUITION ASSISTANCE THAT WE PAY.
UM, THE TOTAL COST IS THE $71,381,944.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR, UM, BUDGET IS FOR EITHER, UH, WELL, IT IS FOR EMPLOYEES OR BENEFITS FOR THEM.
UM, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT DELIVER THE SERVICE TO OUR, OUR STUDENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
WHAT, UH, WHAT PERCENT INCREASE ARE YOU SEEING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE YEAR OVER YEAR PERCENT INCREASE SINCE WE'VE BEEN WITH THE LOCAL CHOICE? SO WE'VE DONE A 12% PREDICTION FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR.
UM, WE'VE TALKED TO, UM, THE LOCAL CHOICE, TLC IS WHAT WE CALL THEM TO SEND.
YOU GUYS HAVE THE SAME, UM, TO TALK ABOUT THAT.
AND SO RIGHT NOW THE GLP ONES IS AT THE CONVERSATION.
SO I, FROM MY EXPERIENCE, UM, THIS WILL BE VERY INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS, BECAUSE IF THEY DROP THAT, I THINK 12 PERCENT'S PROBABLY PRETTY ACCURATE ON WHERE WE'VE LANDED, IF THEY KEEP THEM FROM GUT AND EXPERIENCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I HAVE, I'M JUST KIND OF PULLING IT OUTTA THE AIR.
UM, SO THAT'S JUST REALLY WHAT WE'RE WAITING ON.
THEY DID GET NEW ADMINISTRATION.
WE'VE BEEN PROMISED DATES LAST YEAR.
WE LOOKED BACK, I THINK IT WAS LIKE FEBRUARY 25TH BEFORE WE GOT THE RENEWAL RATE.
SO I WAS NOT HOLDING MY BREATH FOR THAT JANUARY 31ST, BUT SO FAR WE HAVE INCREMENTALLY BEEN 2%.
SO YEAH, THE, THE BUDGET AMOUNT HERE, THE EIGHT MINUTE 3 76 8 20 IS BASED ON TAKING CURRENT ENROLLMENT AND INCREASING THE PREMIUMS, 12% ON THE EMPLOYER'S SIDE.
UM, THE COST OF THAT, THERE WAS NO OTHER QUESTIONS.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS SLIDE.
UH, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE NEW POSITIONS THAT I ADDRESSED EARLIER.
SO OUR TOTAL, UH, FTE REQUESTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 IS EIGHT AND A HALF NEW POSITIONS.
UH, HOWEVER, THE TOTAL, UH, FT FTE DISSOLVEMENT OR REMOVE POSITIONS, UH, IS FIVE FTES FOR A NET OF THREE AND A HALF FTES.
ADDITIONALLY, UH, AS MR. VALENTINE MENTIONED EARLIER, WE DO HAVE THREE FOLKS FROM OUR INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE TEAM WHO ARE A HUNDRED PERCENT GRANT FUNDED, UM, THROUGH DIFFERENT TITLE GRANTS.
WE WOULD PROPOSE TO, UH, TAKE ON 50% OF THAT FROM THE LOCAL FUND.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE A PART-TIME BOOKKEEPER, UH, SORT OF A ONE-OFF SITUATION THAT WE REALLY NEED TO INCREASE THE HOURLY RATE THERE.
UM, WHO IS COMING IN TO ASSIST AT ONE OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, UH, TO BRING THAT UP TO WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE.
UH, WE ARE MOVING THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FINANCE OVER TO HUMAN RESOURCES, UH, AND NO LONGER SPLIT BETWEEN THOSE TWO POSITIONS.
SO, UH, SHE WAS CURRENTLY WORKING BOTH FINANCE AND HR.
SHE'S COMING OVER TO BE SOLELY HR TO HELP SUPPORT THE TRANSITION FROM, UH, WITH THE SUBSTITUTES COMING BACK IN-HOUSE.
UH, ADDITIONALLY, UM, OH, JUST THE SUMMARY THERE WAS THE TOTAL OF 3.5 FTES, SO THE TOTAL FOR THAT WOULD BE 458,000, UH, $216.
[00:50:01]
AND THEN ON THE NEXT PAGE IS SORT OF A BREAKDOWN OF THAT.UH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE POSITION ENHANCEMENT AND TRANSITION SPREADSHEET ON THE LEFT SIDE, YOU CAN SEE THE NEW POSITIONS LISTED OUT.
THOSE ARE THE PUPIL SERVICES DIRECTOR, UM, THE BOARD, UH, BCVA, WHICH IS A BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST, WHICH WOULD WORK WITH, WE HAVE, WE HAVE THEM FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION.
BUT WHAT, WHAT WE NEED OR WHAT, UH, WHAT WE'VE HAS BEEN STATED THAT WE NEED IS, IS ONE FOR THE GEN ED SIDE OF THINGS, TO WORK WITH OUR TEACHERS, OUR ADMINISTRATORS, AND WORK WITH ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS, UH, TO PROVIDE STRATEGIES AND MANAGING, UH, THE BEHAVIORS, UH, THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND COMMUNICATION SPECIALISTS.
I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING, UH, BOTH THE COUNTY AND THE SCHOOLS HAVE HAVE DISCUSSED, UH, AS WELL AS OTHER, OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
AND BRINGING IN SOMEONE TO SUPPORT, UH, THE NEED FOR COMMUNICATIONS FROM A CENTRAL STANDPOINT.
ALSO TO, TO SUPPORT OUR HR DEPARTMENT AND THE PUBLIC RELATIONS AND RECRUITING, UH, PIECE, UH, A SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN, UM, WOULD REALLY SUPPORT THE CYBER NEEDS.
UH, I THINK WE'VE HAD, UH, SEVERAL PHISHING SCAMS. I KNOW MY EMAIL WAS, WAS, WAS TAKING OVER AND WAS SENDING OUT ALL KINDS OF, UH, SPAM EMAIL TO, TO EMPLOYEES ASKING THEM TO, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS ASKING FOR MONEY OR ASKING THEM TO, TO SEND SOMETHING, BUT, UH, FORTUNATELY, UH, MR. KY WAS ABLE TO GET AN EMAIL OUT AND SAY, PLEASE DISREGARD, UH, THE REQUEST THAT YOU'RE SEEING FROM THIS NEW SUPERINTENDENT.
SO, UM, SO, UH, AND I KNOW WE'VE HAD SEVERAL, UM, I THINK FAKI WAS SHUT DOWN FOR A COUPLE DAYS, UH, BECAUSE OF SOME CYBER SECURITY, UH, UH, BREAKDOWNS, UH, SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS OF SUPPORT TO CONTINUE NEED AND OUR SPECIAL, UH, EDUCATION SERVICES, THE TWO PSYCHOLOGISTS INTERNS ARE, UH, INTERESTING, UH, POSITION.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO, WORKING WITH OUR SPECIAL SERVICES AND, AND, UM, TO ADVERTISE FOR THESE INTERN POSITIONS.
THEY WOULD COME IN AND, AND BE ABLE TO WORK ALONGSIDE OUR PSYCHOLOGIST AND TAKE ON THE NEEDS, WHICH IS A VERY HIGH NEED POSITION FOR SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST.
UH, GET THE TRAINING, WE WOULD PAY THEM BECAUSE IT'S A COMPETITIVE POSITION, $30,000 EACH.
HOWEVER, WE ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO PAY FOR THIS THROUGH MEDICAID BILLING.
HOWEVER, WE DO NEED TO RECEIVE AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE 60,000 PLUS THE FICA, SO IN CASE WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY THERE.
UH, SO WE, WE ARE ASKING FOR THAT MONEY, BUT HOPEFULLY WE'RE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT THROUGH, THROUGH OUR OWN MEDICAID OVERAGE.
LASTLY, UH, FINANCIAL ANALYST, UH, SORRY, NOT NEXT TO LAST WOULD BE THE FINANCIAL ANALYST POSITION TO SUPPORT.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, THROUGH A SPECIAL EDUCATION AUDIT, UM, HAVE SOME REQUIREMENTS IN TERMS OF OUR FINANCES THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT REQUIRES, UH, MORE SIGNIFICANT BUDGET PROCEDURES, HANDBOOKS THAT WE NEED TO COMPLETE AS A MANDATE.
ADDITIONALLY, WE NEED TO DEVELOP INTERNAL PROCEDURES WITH OUR BOOKKEEPERS THAT ARE ALIGNED, UH, WHICH NEEDS FIRMING UP.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE NEED TO HAVE A LEVEL OF SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT, UH, WHICH IS REALLY MR. VALENTINE IS, IS THE DEPARTMENT.
SO, UH, IT'S A LOT OF PRESSURE FOR ONE PERSON AND, AND REALLY ANY GOOD ORGANIZATION DOES HAVE A, UH, A PROGRAM OR SOME SORT OF PLAN FOR SUSTAINABILITY.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY THE NEED FOR THAT.
UH, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON THERE AND, AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT, UH, MR. VALENTINE AND THOSE NEEDS.
AND LASTLY, THE WORK-BASED LEARNING COORDINATOR WILL SUPPORT OUR TECH CENTER IN PROVIDING THOSE JOB OPPORTUNITIES, INTERNSHIPS FOR STUDENTS TO GET OUT IN OUR WORKFORCE, WHICH IS REALLY A BIG PART FOR THEIR LEARNING, BUT ALSO EVEN NOW AS PART OF OUR ACCREDITATION, THAT THEY GET THOSE, UM, UM, OPPORTUNITIES TO BE OUT IN THE WORKFORCE.
THE POSITIONS THAT WE ABSORBED, AND AGAIN, THIS IS ONGOING, SO EVEN AFTER THROUGH THE BUDGET SEASON, WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT OUR RESIGNATIONS AND RETIREMENTS TO SEE IF THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE CAN ABSORB.
BUT CURRENTLY THE RECEPTIONIST AT THE SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE, WE ABSORBED, WE'RE COVERING THAT INTERNALLY, A DEAN OF STUDENTS AT THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL.
WE ABSORBED A MATH TEACHER AT WARREN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, A HISTORY TEACHER AT SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL, AND A READING SPECIALIST AT LFK THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ABSORB THOSE WAS REALLY ZERO IMPACT TO OUR STUDENTS.
SO THAT NET ABSORBED, SO THE NET NEW POSITIONS WAS
[00:55:01]
728,000 TO GO BACK UP THE NET ABSORBED, UH, IS 461 FOR THE TOTAL ABSORBED WAS 4 61.FOR THE NET ADDITIONAL POSITIONS WAS $267,492.
AND JUST VERY QUICKLY, RIGHT BELOW THAT, ROMAN NUMERAL THREE WOULD BE THE POSITION ENHANCEMENT I MENTIONED FROM AS RHODES.
UH, AND THEN THE TRANSITION FROM THE A HUNDRED PERCENT GRANT FUNDING TO 50% GRANT FUNDING FOR THOSE THREE POSITIONS, UH, TOTALING, UH, $175,000.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE POSITION ENHANCEMENTS, THE NEW OR ABSORBED POSITIONS? IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE OVER TO SUBSTITUTES, WHICH WAS A, UM, SORT OF A, A BIG DECISION, UH, A STRATEGIC DECISION.
BUT HONESTLY, AS WE LOOKED AT OUR, OUR CURRENT BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR AND WE LOOKED AT WHAT WE WERE SPENDING AND THE OVERAGE WE WERE SPENDING IN TERMS OF FEES, UH, AND MAN IN MANAGEMENT FEES, WE FELT IT WAS THE RIGHT DECISION TO MOVE OUR SUBS BACK IN HOUSE.
IT WOULD ENABLE US TO PAY THEM MORE.
UH, AND HONESTLY THEY WOULD BE, UH, WARREN COUNTY SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ALSO.
WE FEEL LIKE THIS WILL HELP US HAVE A LITTLE MORE CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT OF OUR SUBS IN TERMS OF MOVING THEM AROUND HOW WE USE THEM, UH, THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING, THROUGHOUT OUR DIVISION, AND NOT JUST ONE BUILDING.
AND REALLY HOPEFULLY BUILD A LITTLE MORE, A LITTLE MORE FISCAL CONTROL AND SUSTAINABILITY.
UH, THE BUDGET WAS 888 MILLION.
IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.
THE PROJECTED EXPENSES ARE 1.1 MILLION, SO WE KNOW WE NEED TO BUMP THAT UP.
MR. VALENTINE MENTIONED WE ARE PROPOSING 1.1 MILLION FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 FOR SUBSTITUTES, UH, WHICH WE'LL MOVE OVER FROM THE, THE NON-LABOR, AS WE SAID, INTO OUR LABOR CONTROL.
SO I THINK MRS. DRAKE, UH, IS GOING TO SHARE A FEW MORE DETAILS REGARDING THIS TRANSITION FROM CONTRACTED SERVICES TO OUR EMPLOYEES.
YEAH, SO, UM, CURRENTLY IN OUR BUDGET LINE, UM, THAT WAS PREVIOUS ON, PREVIOUSLY ON THERE, WE HAVE $888,712 PUT IN THIS BUDGET LINE.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN GREAT HAVING THE FILL RATES AND HAVING THE SUBSTITUTES IN OUR BUILDING, BUT THAT IS ALSO CAUSING US TO GO OVER AND WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO PAY FOR THAT SOMEHOW.
UM, SO THOSE VACANT POSITIONS, UM, IS HOW WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT.
I KNOW THAT WAS A QUESTION, I THINK LAST YEAR, UM, WHEN WE HAD PRESENTED THIS, LIKE, WHERE'S, WHERE ARE THOSE VACANT POSITION DOLLARS GOING? AND THEN IT'S LIKE, WELL, WE WENT OVER ON SOME, SO WE'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO GO BACK AND FORTH.
WE ALSO HAVE, UM, CURRENTLY AN INCENTIVE BUILT INTO THIS THAT WOULD GO OUT OF THIS AS WELL.
BUT, UH, FOR OUR SUBS, WE DO HAVE A YEAR OVER YEAR TREND WHERE WE ARE SPENDING MORE THAN WHAT WE HAVE BUDGETED FOR.
SO BY BEING ABLE TO BRING, WHEN WE'RE 54, 50 4% OVER, UM, ON AN AVERAGE THAT WE ARE, WE'RE SPENDING MORE THAN, THAN WHAT WE HAVE.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S JUST A TREND WE CANNOT CONTINUE, UM, TO HAVE.
SO ON THE, THAT'S JUST, JUST A CHART TO SHOW WHERE, WHERE WE ARE, UM, OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, AND THIS IS OUR RATE.
UM, WE WOULD BE ELIMINATING THE BUILDING BASED SUBS THAT DO HAVE A LOT OF VALUE TO OUR SCHOOLS.
THEY SEE THE KIDS, THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.
HOWEVER, THEY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE BUSY.
THEY MAY NOT, I MEAN, THEY MAY BE BUSY, BUT THEY MAY NOT BE IN A CLASSROOM.
UM, RIGHT NOW WITHIN OUR CURRENT CONTRACT, WE CAN'T MOVE THEM TO PUT THEM WHERE WE NEED THEM AND WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM.
UM, BEING ABLE TO MANAGE THAT IN-HOUSE, WE CAN SAY, YOU'RE HERE, YOU'VE SIGNED UP.
NOW MAYBE THAT PERSON CAN BE HERE AND WE CAN DO A TRANSFER AND THEY CAN MOVE TO ANOTHER BUILDING, OR THEY CAN GO WITHIN THAT SAME BUILDING.
UM, AND JUST HAVING THE ABILITY TO WORK WITH THEM MORE, UM, EVEN WITHIN THE SAME SCHOOL.
THERE ARE A LOT OF OPTIONS AND PAY RATES RIGHT NOW THAT WE HAVE IN OUR CONTRACT.
AND SO LOOKING AT WHAT WE COULD OFFER TO INCLUDE FICA AND THE TOTAL RATE VERSUS THE CURRENT, UM, BILLING RATE FOR DEGREED ONLY.
LIKE I SAID, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR CONTRACTORS, LIKE 20 DIFFERENT LINES, SO WE NEED TO SIMPLIFY THAT.
UM, SO WE WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENCE IN SAVINGS.
SO IF WE HAVE, WE'RE JUST GONNA TAKE OUR FULL DAY SUB, UH, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO PAY THEM, UM, INCLUDING FICA $132 AND 41 CENTS A DAY.
AND WE, IN COMPARISON TO WHAT RIGHT NOW IS IN OUR CONTRACT AT $155 AND 5 CENTS, UH, WE WOULD HAVE A DAILY SAVINGS FOR ONE SUB AT $22 AND 64 CENTS.
[01:00:01]
UM, SO NOT ONLY WOULD WE BE PAYING THE SUBSTITUTE MORE THAN WHAT THEY'RE CURRENTLY GETTING PAID THROUGH THE CONTRACT, 'CAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT MAKES SENSE THEY HAVE AN UPCHARGE.UH, BUT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO MANAGE THAT AND, AND HAVE A SAVINGS PER DAY.
SO IF WE HAVE OVER 60 SUBS A DAY, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE PEOPLE OUT, UM, FOR, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE SICK, THEY HAVE SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, UM, OR WE HAVE A VACANCY, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO, TO HAVE THAT SAVINGS IN THERE AS WELL.
UM, SO FOR TIME AND ATTENDANCE, WE WOULD ARE IMPLEMENTING A TIME AND ATTENDANCE SYSTEM SO WE CAN TRACK HOURS BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, WE DO HAVE TO KNOW HOW MANY HOURS THEY'RE WORKING.
WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO LIMIT SOME OF THOSE HOURS.
UM, WHICH IS WHY WE'RE REQUESTING THAT POSITION TO BE ABLE TO HELP MANAGE THIS BECAUSE THIS, THE TRUE COST SAVINGS IS IF WE PUT A BUILDING BASED SUB OR A FULL-TIME PERSON IN THERE THAT'S OVER 10 FTES JUST IN SUBS, WE WOULD ASK FOR, AND THAT WOULD GO WELL OVER INTO OUR BUDGET AND SUBS.
AND THEN WE'RE NOT MANAGING IT.
SO THIS IS HOW WE'RE ABLE TO REDUCE THAT BY WORKING WITH IT.
SO THERE IS A WEEKLY RATE OR A WEEKLY HOUR, AND THEN THERE'S AN ANNUAL HOURS THAT THEY CAN WORK.
AND SO WE WOULD BE MONITORING THAT THROUGH OUR TIME AND ATTENDANCE.
SO, UM, WE WANT TO HAVE SUSTAINABILITY FOR OUR STUDENTS IN A CLASSROOM.
IF SOMEBODY'S OUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING SURGERY OR ON FMLA OR WHATEVER THAT IS, WE DON'T WANNA TAKE THAT AWAY.
UM, SO AS LONG AS WE'RE TRACKING THEIR HOURS, WE CAN KEEP THEM IN THERE, UM, FOR, FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
UM, HOPEFULLY HAVE A CHANGE MANAGEMENT, UH, PLAN COMING SOON TO ADDRESS A LOT MORE QUESTIONS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
UH, BUT UNTIL OUR, UM, LIKE DR. WRIGHT SAID, OUR IT HAS BEEN ADOPTED AND APPROVED, UM, THIS IS OUR PROPOSAL, UH, FOR THE MOMENT WITH OUR SUBS.
ANY QUESTIONS ON OUR SUBSTITUTE? I BELIEVE THE NEXT SLIDE IS CRAIG'S AS WELL.
THAT'S WHY I JUST PICKED UP HERE.
UH, THE BULK OF OUR INCREASES IS, IS ALWAYS PERSONNEL RELATED.
SO WE'VE WENT THROUGH THE PERSONNEL, UM, AND NOW WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE, WHICH WE HAVE BRIEFLY TALKED ABOUT.
UM, SO I, WE DID HAVE A MEETING, UM, WITH MS. SCOTT AND MS. MEADOWS TO TALK ABOUT THE RFP PROCESS AND WHAT THAT WILL LOOK LIKE, UM, TO GO WITH THE COUNTY, BUT THEN WITH THE COUNTY IN SEPARATE RATES.
UM, SO WE ARE WAITING FOR THE RENEWAL RATE.
SO UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE NO NEWS PREDICTION OF 12% FOR US FROM THE SCHOOL, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT THAT WILL LOOK LIKE.
SO WE ARE NOT CLOSING THIS DOOR.
IT'S JUST VERY CHALLENGING TO PRESENT ALL THESE OPTIONS TO YOU AND WHERE, WHERE WE CAN SAVE WHAT WE CAN DO WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW OUR RATES.
SO WE REALLY NEED TO GET THOSE IN, UM, TO BE ABLE TO SAY, SHOULD WE BE GOING TO A DIFFERENT, SHOULD WE, SHOULD WE GO FULLY FUNDED SOMEWHERE ELSE? SHOULD WE LOOK AT SELF-INSURED OPTIONS? WHICH SOUNDS GREAT, BUT YOU DO NEED KIND OF A POT OF MONEY TO START WITH BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THOSE CLAIMS AS THEY COME IN.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IN THE FUTURE WE WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT.
WE WILL HAVE BETTER RATES AS WE GO DIRECT, UM, THROUGH THAT RFP PROCESS, WHICH WILL BE POSTED ONCE WE HAVE THEM.
SO, UM, OUR LOCAL COST IS A 12% INCREASE ON OUR CURRENT PLANS WITH OUR CURRENT ENROLLMENT.
LIKE MR. VALENTINE SAID, UM, $8.3 MILLION IS WHAT WE'RE ASKING NOW, BUT, UM, MY LEGAL DISCLAIMER IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE ONCE WE GET THAT IN.
WE'RE GONNA JUMP RIGHT INTO OUR, OUR NON-LABOR BUDGET, WHICH IS THE SLIDE.
UM, THESE ARE REALLY DRIVEN BY INFLATION, UH, THE MODERNIZATION OF LEARNING, UH, OPERATION COSTS AND OUR ON ONGOING INVESTMENTS IN STUDENTS.
ONE THING THAT WE DID THIS YEAR, UH, WAS REALLY LOOKED AT OUR, WHAT WE WERE PROVIDING TO SCHOOLS AND TRIED TO STREAMLINE THAT TO MAKE IT MORE EQUITABLE.
YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM THAT WE SET A RATE OF 1 25 FOR ELEMENTARY, TWO 15 FOR MIDDLE, AND TWO 40 FOR HIGH SCHOOL AS A PER PUPIL EXPENDITURE.
THAT WAY WE ARE FUNDING OUR SCHOOLS, UH, BASED ON THEIR STUDENT ENROLLMENT VERY MUCH IN THE WAY THAT THE STATE FUNDS US, SO THAT IT IS EQUITABLE, UH, IN TERMS OF TITLE ONE, ALSO THAT IS IMPORTANT, UH, SO THAT WE, UH, ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE GIVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY WITH A FORMULA.
IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME, BUT THAT THERE'S A, UH, A PRESCRIBED FORMULA FOR EACH OF THOSE SCHOOLS SO THAT FOR SCHOOLS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO GET ADDITIONAL FEDERAL FUNDS THAT THEY CAN SEE IN ADDITION TO THAT WHEN THEY DO OUR FEDERAL AUDIT.
SO THAT, THAT WAS SORT OF A DUAL PURPOSE IN
[01:05:01]
IN DOING THAT.UH, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, WE LOOK AT SORT OF OUR NON-LABOR, AND THESE ARE SOME OF OUR, OUR BIGGER ASKS FROM OUR DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
UH, EACH, UH, PERSON FROM THESE DEPARTMENTS ARE HERE, AND WE'LL BE SPEAKING TO SOME OF THESE THINGS LATER, BUT IF YOU HAVE, UH, QUESTIONS, UH, YOU CAN CERTAINLY ASK THEM NOW.
BUT I DO HAVE SORT OF THE, THE GIST OF EACH OF THESE.
SO FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, REALLY THE TWO BIG ASKS HERE FOR THAT EDITION WILL BE OUR CHROMEBOOK REFRESH, WHICH IS UP FOR THIS YEAR.
AND ALSO, UH, A WHAT IS CONSIDERED THE DARK FIBER, WHICH IF YOU WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO ASK, UH, MR. SIMONOVSKI.
SO I COULDN'T TELL YOU WHAT WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT IT SOUNDS, SOUNDS SCARY TO ME.
SO
UH, EACH YEAR AS WE, UM, LOOK TO REPLACE THOSE FROM OUR HUMAN RESOURCES SYSTEMS, THOSE INCREASE OF 106,000 REALLY IS TO UPGRADE OUR SYSTEMS, OUR INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR, UH, HR, UH, UPGRADING OUR RED ROVER SYSTEM, AND ALSO THE ADDITION OF, UH, BRINGING ON AN UPGRADED BACKGROUND CHECKS BECAUSE OUR CURRENT SYSTEM NO LONGER, UH, DOES WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO.
UM, THE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT ADMINISTRATION, WHICH IS DR.
COSTNER, THOSE INCREASES OF 71,000 REALLY BOIL DOWN TO, UH, THE USE OF ARBITER, WHICH IS OUR FACILITY USAGE PROGRAM, UH, CONTRACT, AS WELL AS, UH, HES, WHICH IS OUR CONTRACTED SERVICES FOR OUR MAINTENANCE AND CUSTODIAL SERVICES.
SO THAT INCREASE IS REFLECTED IN THAT CONTRACT.
AND THEN LASTLY, SPECIAL SERVICES INCREASE REALLY BOILS DOWN TO REQUIRED CONTRACTED SERVICES FOR SOME OF THOSE HIGH NEED AREAS WITH ASSISTED TECHNOLOGY, VISION, UM, MOBILITY AND BEHAVIOR THAT WE HAVE TO BRING FOLKS IN TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS IN THOSE AREAS.
IN SOME CASES, WE BRING IN FOLKS VIRTUALLY, UH, SUCH AS SPEECH THERAPY AND OTHER AREAS WHERE WE DO NOT HAVE A PERSON IN-HOUSE TO SUPPORT THOSE, UH, UH, VERY SPECIFIC NEEDS OF STUDENTS.
SO ANY QUESTIONS ON THOSE NON-LABOR CONCERNS? I KNOW FOLKS ARE HERE, UH, AND WE'LL PROBABLY BE SPEAKING TO THAT IN MORE DETAIL AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH.
IF NOT, UH, WE'LL FLIP ON OVER TO THE TEXTBOOK FUNDS.
I THINK WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
I THINK THERE'S SOME, SOME, UM, SOME GOOD NEWS THERE.
IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, THE SECOND BULLET DOWN THAT WE DID RECEIVE A, A GRANT, SO WE'RE ABLE TO REDUCE OUR ASK, UH, WHICH WAS GONNA BE 400,000.
WE REDUCED THAT DOWN TO, TO 200,000 ADDITIONAL, UH, APPROPRIATION ASK BECAUSE OF THE GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED.
UM, SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
AND, UM, BUT WE DO HAVE A MATH ADOPTION THAT DOES NEED TO TAKE PLACE THIS YEAR IN ADDITION TO SOME SOCIAL STUDIES, UH, COURSES THAT WE WILL NEED TO SU TO SUPPLY SOME, SOME BOOKS FOR.
SO MS. BRAGG IS HERE, UH, TO PROVIDE A LITTLE MORE DETAIL OR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
UM, AS DR. WRIGHT WAS GOING THROUGH, THE PRIMARY FOCUS ON THE TEXTBOOKS WILL BE FOR K FIVE ELEMENTARY MATH AND ALSO FOR SOME SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS.
I KNOW THAT I'VE MENTIONED IN FRONT OF BOTH OF THESE BOARDS THAT WE HAVEN'T PURCHASED SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS SINCE 2012.
SO WE WOULD PRIORITIZE THE SOL TESTED COURSES, UM, AND WHERE OUR STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOL ARE GETTING THEIR VERIFIED CREDITS IN ORDER TO TRY TO COVER, UM, SOME OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES ON THE HANDOUT THAT YOU HAVE.
UM, THE FIRST PAGE IS REALLY A THREE YEAR SORT OF PROJECTED SCHEDULE ABOUT HOW, AS MR. BALLANTINE WAS SAYING, AT THE START OF THE, UH, PRESENTATION, WE WOULD BEGIN TO PUT THE FULL TEXTBOOK ALLOTMENT FROM THE STATE INTO THE TEXTBOOK FUND.
AND THEN WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ASK OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS, SO TEXTBOOKS SORT OF RUN IN CYCLES AND WE'RE COMING UP ON THE BIG CYCLES WHERE YOU'RE PURCHASING WHOLE MATH, WHOLE ENGLISH, WHOLE SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, CURRICULA, AND THEN IT SORT OF TROUGHS OFF SO WE CAN POTENTIALLY BUILD THAT BANK UP IF WE CONTINUE THAT PRACTICE OF PUTTING THAT TEXTBOOK MONEY INTO THE TEXTBOOK FUND.
SO ALONGSIDE THE TEXTBOOK FUND AND THE, UH, $200,000 THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR, IF YOU LOOK AT THE SECOND PAGE, UM, YOU'LL SEE THE TOTAL FUND
[01:10:01]
REQUEST.IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT $612,000 IS OUR ESTIMATE, THE COVER, THE K FIVE MATH, THE HISTORY COURSES.
AND THEN AS DR. WRIGHT MENTIONED, WE'LL WE'LL COVER MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH THROUGH THAT, UM, MATH INNOVATION GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED EARLIER THIS MONTH.
UM, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT THERE ABOUT WHAT'S COMING.
SO NEXT YEAR THERE'LL BE AN ENGLISH K 12 PURCHASE, AND ENGLISH TYPICALLY IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE PURCHASE, UM, JUST BECAUSE OF A LOT OF ANCILLARY MATERIALS THAT GO ALONG WITH THE TEXTBOOKS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
SO, UM, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT TEXTBOOK FUNDS OR, YEAH, JUST THESE ARE ACTUALLY BUYING THE HARD COPIES OF THE TEXTBOOKS.
IT'S A COMBINATION OF THAT AND THE CHROMEBOOK STUFF.
SO YOU GOT LICENSING FEES AND ALL THAT STUFF.
YES, AND UNFORTUNATELY, THE LICENSURE FEE, I MEAN, THE TEXTBOOK COMPANIES HAVE CAUGHT ON, LIKE THE LICENSURE FEE PROBABLY DOESN'T COST AS MUCH PHYSICALLY AS IT DOES TO PRINT A HARDBACK BOOK.
SO WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS THEY CREATE BUNDLES.
SO IF YOU BUY A HARDBACK BOOK, YOU'LL GET A DIGITAL LICENSE FOR FREE.
SO THAT'S HOW THEY'VE SORT OF WORKED THAT PROCESS.
IF YOU BUY JUST A DIGITAL LICENSE, THEY'RE USUALLY RUN SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 10 AND $15 CHEAPER THAN AN ACTUAL BOOK IT WOULD FOR JUST A DIGITAL LICENSE.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED WHEN WE PURCHASED A K FIVE MATH LAST TIME, WHICH WAS DONE USING SOME CARES MONEY AND THAT SORT OF THING OUT OF, UH, COVID, IS THAT OFTENTIMES AT THE LOWER GRADES, THOSE ARE CONSUMABLE BOOKS.
SO ONCE WE HAND THOSE OUT, AND THE KIDS HAVE USED THEM THAT YEAR, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE GONE.
AND WE GET A NEW SHIPMENT OF CONSUMABLE BOOKS.
SO WHEN YOU PURCHASE TEXTBOOKS, IT RUNS ON A SEVEN YEAR CYCLE.
THESE NUMBERS ARE FOR SEVEN YEARS OF HAVING ACCESS TO THAT TEXTBOOK, HAVING THOSE ONLINE RESOURCES AND HAVING THOSE CONSUMABLES SHIPPED TO US AT THOSE LOWER GRADE LEVELS, WHERE TYPICALLY THE BOOK IS A CONSUMABLE AND NOT A HARDBACK.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MATH, WE ARE OUT OF CONTRACT WITH OUR K FIVE MATH.
WE DON'T HAVE BOOKS TO SORT OF SLIDE OVER INTO NEXT SCHOOL YEAR BECAUSE THOSE WERE CONSUMABLES.
SO I KNOW SOMETIMES THERE'S AN IDEA AND WE TRY TO DO THE BEST WE CAN THAT YOU KNOW, WELL, WE MAY BE OUTTA CONTRACT WITH THE BOOK, BUT WE STILL HAVE THE PHYSICAL BOOK IN OUR HAND AND WE CAN USE IT.
SOMETIMES WE CAN GAP YEARS THAT WAY.
UM, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE CONSUMABLES AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL, THERE AREN'T ANY ADDITIONAL BOOKS LIKE HARDBACK BOOKS IN THOSE CLASSROOMS. ANYTHING ELSE? THANK YOU.
UM, AT THIS POINT I'M GONNA ASK DR.
HE'S GONNA TALK US THROUGH, UH, SOME OF OUR, OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT NEEDS.
GOOD EVENING, AS MY GRANDDADDY SAY ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
WE'RE IN THE SHORT ROAD RIGHT NOW.
SO WE'RE IN SHORT ROADS, GENTLEMEN, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OVER THERE.
UM, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, I'D JUST LIKE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT.
EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU SITTING HERE, WE HAVE BEAUTIFUL SCHOOLS.
WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE IN WARREN COUNTY THAT WE HAVE OUTSTANDING FACILITIES.
THE THING IS, AS THINGS GET OLDER, WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THEM.
AND THAT'S WHY I'M HERE WITH THIS FIRST ASK TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT WITH OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IS OUR, UM, OUR ROOF REPLACEMENTS.
WE DID HAVE A CAPITAL ROOF CAPITAL, UM, COMPANY COME IN TO GIVE US WHAT WE, WHERE WE NEEDED TO START, WHAT WE NEEDED TO WORK WITH.
UM, BILL TO J BARBER AND, UM, SKYLINE MIDDLE SCHOOL WERE TWO OF THE TOP ONES THEY SAID WE NEEDED TO GET WORKING ON AND GETTING TAKEN CARE OF.
UM, FOR THAT, FOR THE QUOTES THAT WERE GIVEN TO US, IT WAS 625,000 AND THEN 120,000 TO GET THOSE TWO SCHOOLS, BRUCE, FIXED AND REPAIR TO WHERE THAT, UH, WHEN WE DO THIS, WE'RE NOT HAVING TO FIX AND REPAIR THINGS FROM MALIK.
UM, IT WAS NOT PLANNED, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THE CEILING TILES ARE MISSING HERE.
UM, AND THAT'S BECAUSE WE HAVE A LEAK.
WE CANNOT GO UP AND FIX THE LEAK YET BECAUSE THERE'S STILL ICE AND SNOW ON THE ROOF, BUT WE'RE GONNA GET IT REPAIRED.
WE'RE GONNA KEEP REPAIRING AND TAKING CARE OF, BUT WE DO NEED A PLAN IN PLACE SO THAT WE CAN TAKE CARE OF OUR FACILITIES.
UM, SO AS ONE OF THE THINGS SHE WILL SEE THAT IS, UM, LATER ON, I'M KIND OF JUMPING AROUND A LITTLE BIT.
YOU DO HAVE A COPY OF OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, WHICH IS FROM 2025 TO 2031 ON ONE SHEET OF PAPER.
[01:15:01]
GIVES A PREDICTION OF WHAT'S, HOW WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD TO TAKE CARE OF OUR FACILITIES.BUT I WANNA CIRCLE BACK AROUND TO THE, UM, TO WHERE THE NEXT ONE WE HAVE FOR OUR ASK FOR THIS YEAR.
OUR MAT CONTROLS ALLOWS FOR OUR HVAC PEOPLE TO GO IN AND MONITOR OUR HEATING AND AIR AND TO MAKE SURE THAT IF WE NEED TO TURN 'EM DOWN, IF WE NEED TO ADJUST 'EM, IF THERE'S A PROBLEM, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO SEND SOMEBODY OUT TO TROUBLESHOOT ONE OF OUR HVAC UNITS, WE'RE ABLE TO USE THE COMPUTER PROGRAM TO DO THAT.
IT'S AROUND A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR US TO GET IT ALL UPGRADED.
WE HAVE BEEN USING MAC CONTROLS ON OUR HVAC, NOT ALL OF THEM, BUT SINCE WE'VE BEEN USING 'EM, OUR ONES WE USE NEED TO BE UPDATED.
SO AS YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY'S A BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL THING, BUT THEY SOMEHOW FIGURE OUT A WAY TO SAY, YOU NEED TO UPGRADE THIS SO THAT IT'LL BE COMPATIBLE.
SO THAT'S, UM, WHY WE HAVE THAT REQUEST THERE.
AND OUR LAST REQUEST IS FOR, UM, TRANSPORTATION AND OUR SCHOOL BUSES.
AND JUST TO LET YOU KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR BUSES, AND THE REASON WE'RE ASKING, HOPEFULLY IF WE CAN GET ON A SYSTEM OF REPLACING BUSES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WE CAN GET OUR FLEETS BACK TO WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY END UP SAVING MONEY.
AND AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS FOR LIKE, THERE IS A COMPARISON THAT WE HAVE.
BUS ONE A PARTS LAST YEAR FOR, IT WAS $952 BUS, TWO PARTS FOR IT TO KEEP IT GOING.
THE ROAD WAS 375 BUS 3, 569, BUS 2020 9,000.
SO WITH THOSE THAT I HAVE THERE THAT JUST KIND OF DESCRIBED TO YOU ALL, IF WE'RE ABLE TO START REPLACING OUR FLEET, THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY IN THE LONG RUN, IT'LL BE A SAVINGS.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE REQUESTING THREE BUSES AND GET IT IN ROTATION.
NOW, HOW MANY BUSES DO WE HAVE? WE HAVE 40 BUSES.
OF THOSE 40 BUSES, 15 OF THEM ARE PAST DUE TO BE REPLACED BASED ON, YOU KNOW, OUR DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION BASED ON THE, HOW THEY'RE WORKING NOW, THEY'RE TAKING CARE OF 'EM AND THEY'RE GETTING OUR KIDS THERE SAFELY.
WE'RE NOT GONNA PUT OUR CHILDREN ON AN UNSAFE BUS, BUT WE DO NEED TO TAKE CARE OF 'EM AND WE DO NEED TO START ROTATING 'EM OUT.
WE DO HAVE ONE BUS THAT'S COMING UP, UM, THAT IS DUE FOR REPLACEMENT NEXT YEAR.
SO WITH THAT, UM, A NEW BUS COSTS AROUND $130,000.
THEY'RE NOT CHEAP, BUT HOPEFULLY MAYBE WE CAN TRADE IN OUR OLD ONE FOR A NEW ONE.
WE, WE GOT, WE GOTTA WORK OUT SOMETHING HERE, BUT IF WE HAVE THE MONEY THERE AVAILABLE FOR OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, WE'LL DO SO.
WE DO ALSO HAVE WHAT'S CALLED A WHITE FLEET.
OUR, UM, VEHICLES, WE HAVE MAINTENANCE AND FOOD SERVICES.
TRANSPORTATION HAS 21 VEHICLES, SCHOOLS HAVE SIX VEHICLES, TECHNOLOGY HAS FOUR VEHICLES, AND SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE HAS ONE VEHICLE.
SO WE DO HAVE A, A WHITE FLEET THAT WE CALL IT.
THAT'S OUR CARS THAT WE TAKE CARE OF.
SO, UM, THAT'S THE REASON I COME FORTH WITH THIS.
ASK FOR THE ROOF AND, AND, AND I'LL MOVE YOU BACK EACH YEAR TO ASK ABOUT THE, THE, THE TRAILER AND REPLACING OUR ROOFS.
I MEAN, IT'S JUST, IT'S A, AGAIN, BUT I KNOW I, I CAN FEEL SOMETHING OVER MY FAR RIGHT.
I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT THAT THEY'RE WANTING TO TAKE CARE OF TOO, BUT, AND SO AS YOU THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, I KNOW YOU HAVE A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE IN FRONT OF YOU TO TAKE CARE OF THIS COMMUNITY.
AND WE'RE, AS DR. WRIGHT SAID, WE'RE HERE FOR OUR SCHOOLS.
LIKE I SAID, WE'RE IN SHORT ROWS.
WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR ME? YES, SIR.
WELL, WHEN THEY LOOKED I WAS LAST MEETING, JOINT MEETING, I, I WAS TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED THAT THEY PUT A 25 YEAR SHINGLE ON A COMMERCIAL BUILDING.
WHEN THE, UH, WHEN THEY LOOKED AT REPLACING THESE ROOFS, DID THEY LOOK AT DIFFERENT PRODUCTS, YOU KNOW, VERSUS LIKE A 35 AND A 50 YEAR SHINGLE OR STANDING SAME METAL.
UH, 'CAUSE IT'S, FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE, THE SAME LABOR PUT DOWN A 25 YEAR SHINGLE AS IT IS A 50 YEAR SHINGLE.
UM, SO IT WAS THAT RESEARCHED AT ALL.
WELL, FROM THE QUOTES WE RECEIVED, UM, I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY QUOTED FOR THE TYPE OF SHINGLE.
I WILL TELL YOU THAT MOST OF THE ONES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THE 50 YEAR SHINGLES HAVEN'T, EVEN WHEN THEY BUILT THE SCHOOLS WEREN'T EVEN THERE.
LIKE THE, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, THIS ROOF.
AND I'M SURE IT'S A, UM, NOT A SHINGLE ROOF, BUT IT'S, IT'S BEEN GEARED, THIS IS THE ORIGINAL ROOF ON THIS BUILDING.
SO THAT'S PROBABLY WHY THOSE WEREN'T DONE.
BUT I, I DO THINK WHATEVER WE DO, WHATEVER DECISION WE MAKE, IF IT'S ALLOCATED, WILL DO WITH THE MOST ECONOMICAL, BUT ALSO THE BEST THAT WE CAN GET FOR OUR MONEY.
UM, IT DOES, AS YOU KNOW, THE METAL ROOF COSTS MUCH MORE.
THAT QUOTE'S NOT IN THERE, BUT IF THAT'S SOMETHING THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS WOULD LIKE FOR US TO LOOK AT, I'M GONNA DEFINITELY SEE IF WE CAN GET SOME QUOTES AND BRING 'EM BACK TO YOU.
WELL, IF IT'S A, IF IT'S TWICE THE MONEY, IT'S A 50 YEAR USE VERSUS A 25 YEAR ROOF IN 25 YEARS, WHAT DOES A 25 YEAR ROOF
[01:20:01]
COST? YOU KNOW, IF YES, IF YOU PUT THE, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S EXACTLY THE TWICE THE MONEY TODAY, IT'S A HUGE SAVINGS IN 25 YEARS PLUS THE INCONVENIENCE, I HAVE TO FIND THE MONEY TO PUT THE ROOF ON.OH, I'M NOT SAYING THAT'S, UH, EXACTLY THE, YOU KNOW, IT MAY BE, MAY BE FIVE TIMES THE MONEY.
I'M NOT SURE ON COMMERCIAL, UH, UH, COMMERCIAL RATES ARE BEYOND ME, SIR.
BUT, UH, NO, THAT, I MEAN, THAT'S, BUT THAT'S A VERY GOOD SOUND QUESTION THAT WE DO.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER, WHATEVER WE DO IS BEST FOR OUR, OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM, BEST FOR OUR CHILDREN AND, UM, BEST FOR THIS COMMUNITY SO THAT IT CAN BE SUSTAINABLE FOR A LONG, LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
SO WE CAN, UM, I'LL REACH OUT TO THE, THE, THE MAIN MAN, MR. HELMAN.
HE'S A GREAT GUY AND HE'LL, WE WILL WORK TO SEE WHAT WE CAN GET.
UM, AND THEN IF WE LOOK AT THE ALUMINUM MATERIAL, IT'S BETWEEN 40 AND 70 YEARS.
WHICH TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, WE LIVE IN A, WE LIVE IN A, A, A WEATHER PATTERN TO WHERE TYPICALLY YOU CAN'T GET, IF A 50 YEAR SINGLE, YOU'RE GONNA GET ABOUT 40, 45 YEARS OUT OF IT.
SO WE COULD BE LOOKING AT REPLACING THE SHINGLES TWICE OR TWO AND A HALF TIMES TO ONCE, ONE MORE TIME.
AND AT 150 YEARS, I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT.
BUT, BUT YOU MAYBE YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRAND OR NIECES AND THE GREAT, GREAT NIECES AND NEPHEWS.
YEAH, I'D RATHER WE'LL TAKE CARE OF, UM, JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW, MR. HEL, AS I SAID, IS A GREAT GUY.
HE HAS QUOTES FROM METAL ROOFS, SO WE'LL, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET THAT TO YOU.
JUST REAL QUICK, I NOTICED IN, UH, SOME OF THE BACKGROUND STUFF, YOU HAD LIKE THREE DIFFERENT ASSESSMENTS FOR WARREN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL.
I ASSUME THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S THREE DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
THEY BROKE IT DOWN INTO DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF THE, UM, FOR EACH A SCHOOL, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, HIL TO J THEY BROKE IT DOWN INTO THE, THE SHINGLES AND THEN ALSO THE, UM, THE MEMBRANE ROOF.
AND THE ONLY OTHER THING TOO IS I APPRECIATE LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD SO YOU DON'T COME TO US.
WE NEED THIS YESTERDAY, SO WE START PLANNING FOR IT, AND THAT'S WHAT THE COUNTY NEEDS TO DO WITH THEIR BUILDINGS AS WELL.
SO OUR LAST SLIDE REALLY IS, UH, JUST, UH, SOME REMINDERS WE HAVE.
THE BOARD WILL HAVE, UH, A WORK SESSION COMING UP ON THE 18TH, UH, FEBRUARY NEXT WEEK, UH, HERE AT, UH, DIVERSIFIED MINES.
UH, THAT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING THE BUDGET.
UH, WE ARE SCHEDULED TO ADOPT OUR BUDGET, UH, ON THAT NIGHT SO THAT WE WILL BE PREPARED TO PRESENT, UH, AN ADOPTED BUDGET TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, UH, AT THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING ON MARCH 4TH.
UH, WE, I DID SEND A NOTE TO, UH, OUR STAFF AND TO THE SCHOOL BOARD, UH, TO PROPOSE A IF NEEDED MEETING ON FEBRUARY 25TH.
IF WE, IT'S, IT'S A TIGHT TIMELINE AND, AND, UM, THERE'S LOTS TO DISCUSS.
PLUS WE'RE LOOKING FOR ANY DIRECTION THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MIGHT WANT TO SHARE TONIGHT.
WE GOT SOME, SOME INSIGHT IN TERMS OF, UH, EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, A METAL ROOF.
UM, IF THERE'S ANY OTHER DIRECTION FROM EITHER BOARD, UM, THAT WE CAN START WORKING TOWARDS, UM, AGAIN, MARCH 4TH, UH, IS A, IS A DATE THAT WE HAVE.
WE, WE STILL HOPE, WE HOPE BY THEN WE WILL HAVE SOME INFORMATION RETURNED FROM THE STATE.
WE HOPE WE'LL HAVE INSURANCE INFORMATION, UH, BY THEN AS WELL.
SO, UM, BUT, UM, IS THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR ANY INSIGHT THAT EITHER BOARD WOULD LIKE US TO PONDER OR THINK ABOUT AS WE, AS WE TAKE THIS BUDGET AND, UH, MOVE FORWARD? YES, SIR.
HE ASKED ALL THE QUESTIONS, BUT I, I DO GOT ANOTHER ONE.
OH, IT'S A HEALTH INSURANCE QUESTION OR BENEFITS, UH, QUESTION.
OH, I, I NOTICED WE'VE, UH, YOU KNOW, HAD TO INCREASE SALARY TO COMPETE WITH THE OTHER COUNTIES, BUT I, I DID GET SOME FEEDBACK FROM SOME TEACHERS THAT, UH, EVEN WITH SOME PRICE OR SOME, UH, SALARY INCREASES, IT WAS NOT OFFSETTING WHAT INSURANCES WERE COSTING ALL.
SO I WAS JUST, I WAS MAKING SURE THAT WE WERE OFFSETTING THOSE COSTS EQUALLY TO OUR COMPETITORS, YOU KNOW, SO IF, YOU KNOW, WE RAISED WAGES AND IN MATCH FREDERICK COUNTIES AND EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE SUBSIDIZING
[01:25:01]
BENEFITS 20 OR 34%.WE ARE, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL NOT COMPETITIVE.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE AREN'T, BUT, OH, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE COMPARISON DONE OF WHAT, YOU KNOW, A TEACHER AT X SALARY IS PAYING FOR BENEFITS HERE VERSUS THE OTHER COUNTIES TO, UH, UM, 'CAUSE THAT, THAT IN TODAY'S WORLD, DO YOUR, YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFIT PACKAGES JUST PURELY PART OF YOUR PAY.
SO I, I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, UH, BESIDES JUST THE SALARY ITSELF, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE STACKING UP FAIRLY ON BENEFITS AS WELL.
AND WE COULD CERTAINLY, UM, BRING FORWARD THOSE NUMBERS.
ONCE WE FINALLY DO GET THE NUMBERS, UH, THEN WE, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AND WE, WE ADJUST.
I DIDN'T PROMISE YOU WAS GETTING THE MONEY, BUT I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT, LIKE TO KNOW UNDERSTOOD.
BUT, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY A BALANCING ACT.
I DON'T KNOW MS. DRAKE WANTS TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT OR IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN CERTAINLY BRING BACK.
SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO REQUEST THAT I REQUEST EVERY YEAR IS THAT WITH THE HEALTH INSURANCE, THE CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT THAT THE SCHOOLS MAKE TO EVERY EMPLOYEE IS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN THE CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT THAT THE COUNTY GIVES TO EACH OF THEIR EMPLOYEES.
AND SO IN, IN MY PERSPECTIVE, IT FEELS LIKE WE SEND A MESSAGE THAT OUR EMPLOYEES ARE NOT AS WORTH, WORTH AS MUCH AS YOUR EMPLOYEES PUT THE ACTUAL HEALTH INSURANCE RATE ASIDE.
IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE HAD A COUNTYWIDE AGREEMENT OF THIS IS HOW MUCH WE VALUE EVERY EMPLOYEE, TEACHER, COUNTY PERSON ALIKE.
EVERYBODY IS GETTING THIS SET DOLLAR AMOUNT TOWARDS THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE.
SO ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THIS EVENING? I'D ALSO JUST LIKE TO MENTION WE HAVE, UM, MEMBERS OF OUR TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, OUR PUPIL SERVICES AND SPECIAL SERVICES, IF ANYBODY HAD SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR THEM AS WELL ON CHROMEBOOKS.
ARE, IS THERE ANY, IS THERE LIKE A CONTRACT IF MY CHILD HAS CHROMEBOOK AND THEY INTENTIONALLY DAMAGE IT, THAT I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR THAT? OR HOW IS, HOW IS THAT, BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT MY FORTE, BUT I DO REALIZE THAT THEY DO, UH, HAVE A SHELF LIFE.
UM, MY COMPUTER AT HOME IS DRIVING ME CRAZY BECAUSE, SO, UH, BUT I'M WONDERING HOW MUCH IS THE TURNOVER BECAUSE OF, UM, THE SYSTEM EXPIRING OUT OR DAMAGES AND WE'RE REPLACING THEM AT A, I A BECAUSE OF THAT? SO WHEN WE, WHEN WE PURCHASE CHROMEBOOKS, WE ALSO PURCHASE A THREE YEAR WARRANTY.
SO A VAST MAJORITY OF, UH, OF THAT IS REPLACED WITH OUR WARRANTY OVER THAT TIME PERIOD, WHICH IS HELPFUL.
SO A LOT OF THAT'S KIND OF REPAIRED IN-HOUSE TO KIND OF KEEP THINGS GOING LONGER FOR THREE YEARS.
WE ALSO DO HAVE THE FAMILY SIDE CONTRACT BASICALLY JUST SAYING, YOU HAVE TO TREAT THESE THINGS WITH RESPECT.
IT'S A, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, IT'S A EXPENSIVE TOOL THAT WE HAVE FOR EDUCATION.
UM, I WOULD SAY THAT I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS IN FRONT OF ME, BUT BECAUSE THE SCHOOLS GENERALLY HANDLE THE, UH, INS AND OUTS OF THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, BUT WE DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF CHROMEBOOKS THAT HAPPEN.
IT'S GENERALLY LIKE, UH, SCREENS THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED TO GET BROKEN, WHETHER IT'S KIDS ACCIDENTALLY PUTTING A PENCIL INSIDE OF ENCLOSING OR WHATEVER.
BUT IT'S, UH, PRETTY MANAGEABLE OVERALL.
BUT WE DO NEED TO DEVELOP A, THIS ONE PART OF THAT ASK IN, IN THAT 500,000 IS JUST HAVING A REGULAR REFRESH CYCLE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A RELIABLE REPLACE THOSE DEVICES ON, YOU KNOW, A FIVE YEAR CYCLE.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S A HUGE PART OF THAT TASK THAT I'M ASKING FOR.
SHE HAVE A QUESTION LADY? WERE THERE ANY UP? OH, UH, YES.
UM, IS THERE NO SUMMER SCHOOL FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS? MY NEPHEWS ARE FAILING.
THEY'RE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND I NOTICED SENT HOME ABOUT NO SUMMER SCHOOL BEFORE THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
DO YOU MIND IF I CHAT WITH YOU RIGHT WHEN WE'RE FINISHED WITH US? SURE, GO OVER THAT.
I JUST HAVE A, I JUST WANNA BRING SOMETHING UP.
UM, I'VE WORK IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT COUNTIES, UM, BEEN REALLY STARTING TO PAY ATTENTION
[01:30:01]
TO, UH, RECEIPTS.AND SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN NOTICING ON THE RECEIPTS, LIKE, UH, I'LL USE FREDERICK COUNTY AS AN EXAMPLE, IS THEY HAVE A SEPARATE LINE ITEM WHEN YOU COME DOWN.
THEY DO THE VIRGINIA SALES TAX AND THEN THEY HAVE A TAX THAT SAYS FREDERICK COUNTY TAX, AND IT'S A, IT, IT'S JUST A, IT'S JUST A VERY SMALL TAX.
AND, UM, IT WAS AT JAMES RIVER EQUIPMENT WHERE I, I GOT THAT AND I ASKED THE, UH, MANAGER THERE, I SAID, WHAT DOES, WHAT, WHAT DOES THIS TAX DID? AND HE SAID, IT GOES TO OUR SCHOOLS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, AND I WAS JUST CURIOUS AND I ASKED HIM, I SAID, WELL, I SAID, WELL, WHAT MADE Y'ALL IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT THIS KIND OF TAX? AND HE SAID, WELL, ONE OF COURSE MONEY, BUT TWO, HE SAYS, WE LIKE YOU FOR OUR RURAL GUYS COMING OVER HERE AND HELPING US WITH OUR SCHOOLS AS WELL,
SO THINKING ABOUT THAT IS, WOULD THERE BE A POSSIBILITY TO DO A SEPARATE TAX? I KNOW I'M NOT GONNA BE VERY POPULAR FOR THIS, BUT, UM, WOULD THERE BE A POSSIBILITY TO DO A SEPARATE TAX IN YOUR MARKET DIRECTLY FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS? UM, I'M JUST NOT FOR SURE IF THAT'S POSSIBLE.
I DO BELIEVE IT IS FROM THE LITTLE RESEARCH THAT I'VE DONE, BUT, UM, OUR SCHOOLS ARE, AS DR.
KOSNER SAID, ARE BEAUTIFUL SCHOOLS AND THEY'VE BEEN BUILT FOR A WHILE.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, OUR TWO INDOOR RAIN GUTTERS THAT WE GOT HERE, UM, IF YOU GO TO HILDA J BARBER, YOU'LL SEE ABOUT 10, ABOUT 10 TIMES THAT AMOUNT.
AND THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR THAT.
THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE SHOULD BEEN NEVER, THAT SHOULD NEVER GET THAT FAR.
UM, IT'S A SERIOUS LIABILITY AND, AND I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT LIABILITY IS.
UM, AND I THINK JUST BY, IN THE LAST THREE TO FOUR YEARS HERE, WE'VE KICKED THE SCHOOL CAN DOWN THE ROAD SO MUCH THAT WE'VE COME UP TO A SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET.
UM, WHEN YOU GET ZERO MONEY IN YOUR, IN YOUR REPAIRS AND ALL YOUR STUFF GET FURTHER AND FURTHER BEHIND SOMEWHERE, YOU GOTTA SAY, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
AND YOU GONNA, PEOPLE ARE GONNA HAVE TO DIG DOWN DEEP.
UM, IT'S NOT A POPULAR THING, BUT, UM, I JUST FELT LIKE IF WE COULD DO THAT SEPARATE TAX, YOU MAY NOT HAVE TO RAISE THE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX AS MUCH AND WE COULD LET OTHER PEOPLE HELP PAY FOR OUR, FOR OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS HERE.
UM, I'VE TOLD THIS STORY BEFORE AND I DON'T WANNA BORE YOU WITH IT, BUT, UM, THREE YEARS AGO I COULD BUY A DUMP TRUCK TIRE INSTALLED FOR $375 PER TIRE TODAY.
THAT EXACT SAME TIRE COST ME $700.
THE TRICKY THING ABOUT THAT TIRE IS, IS I, BEFORE IT WAS GETTING ABOUT 50,000 MILES OUT OF A TIRE AND TODAY I ONLY GET 35,000 MILES OUT OF IT.
AND THE REASON BEING IS TO KEEP THE PRICE DOWN.
THEY TAKE CERTAIN PRODUCTS OUT OF IT SO THINGS DON'T LAST AS LONG.
SO YOU COULD LOOK AT IS OUR SCHOOLS IS HAVING A SET OF TIRES ON IT, BUT OUR TIRES ARE WEARING THIN, IT'S TIME TO CHANGE 'EM.
AND, UH, I THINK WE'VE GOTTEN TO A POINT NOW TO WHERE WE'VE GOT NO OPTION, UH, HILL TO J BARBER WHEN YOU GOT 25 TRASH CANS SITTING AROUND CLASSROOMS UP WATER, IT JUST MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE.
I THINK BACK DURING THIS THREE OR FOUR MONTHS AGO, I THINK WE MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY TO REPAIR THAT ROOF AND WE WOULDN'T EVEN BE TALKING ABOUT IT TODAY.
BUT THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY.
BUT, UM, I JUST THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT NATURALLY.
MY FORTE IS FACILITIES AND BUILDING AND, AND, AND THAT KIND OF THING, BUT, UM, I JUST HATE TO SEE WHAT WE'VE GOT CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE WHEN WE'RE NOT PUTTING ANYTHING BACK IN.
SO THAT'S JUST ALL I COULD I COULD I PIGGY PIGGYBACK ON ON THAT? SURE.
OR, UM, SO IN 2004 WE HAD A REFERENDUM VOTE IN THIS COUNTY TO CHARGE A MEALS TAX.
AND THAT MONEY WAS TO BE USED SOLELY AND EXCLUSIVELY FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ON THE SCHOOLS.
AND UNFORTUNATELY THERE WAS THE ISSUE WITH THE, THE WATER, THE CORRIDOR, THE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE TOWN AND THE COUNTY.
AND THEN I BELIEVE IT WAS 2018, UM, THAT WE STARTED PAYING A, A PORTION OF THAT MONEY TO THE TOWN
[01:35:01]
INSTEAD.BUT THE VOTERS DID CLEARLY HAVE A DESIRE TO FUND OUR SCHOOLS.
AND AS YOU'RE WELL AWARE, IT, IT'S A LOT EASIER AND CHEAPER TO FIX SOMETHING EARLIER ON THAN ONCE YOU HAVE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE.
BUT I, I WOULD REALLY, IT, IT DISAPPOINTS ME TO KNOW THAT WE STILL ARE NOT FUNDING ALL OF THAT MEALS TAX BACK INTO THE BUILDINGS OF THE SCHOOLS AS IT WAS INTENDED AND VOTED ON.
SO IF WE WERE TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL TAX, WHAT CAN WE PUT IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT THAT MONEY STILL MAKES IT TO THE SCHOOLS? THAT'S WHY I THINK IT SHOULD BE EARMARKED.
HOW DO WE GO BACK TO GETTING THE MEALS TAX MONEY BACK TO BEING EARMARKED FOR THE ACTUAL SCHOOLS.
UM, BUT, UM, APPRECIATE ALL OF THIS, UM, CONVERSATION AND IT'S, IT'S A LOT TO DIGEST, SO, UM, WELL WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY AND, UM, TO GET BOTH BOARDS TOGETHER AND JUST ANOTHER STEP IN THE PROCESS OF, OF LISTENING.
AND PLEASE, AS YOU PUT TOGETHER QUESTIONS, WE PLEASE GET THOSE TO US AND WE'LL FILTER THOSE THROUGH, THROUGH THE BOARD SO WE ALL HAVE A CHANCE TO, TO REVIEW.
I KNOW YOU HAVE, UM, SOME MORE TO HEAR, BUT OUR, OUR PORTION IS GONNA BE ADJOURNED.