May School Board Meeting

Chris Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  May 20, 2015. The Rich County School District held its regular monthly meeting with all members in attendance.

The board recognized 5 students who had just received Associates Degrees from USU.  The students were present at the meeting and are:  Tanner Petersen, Porter Argyle, Jerica Sorochuk, Alex Bird, and Tristton Banham.  All 5 expressed an interest in further education, 4 in engineering and 1 in business.  Several planned on missions prior to additional education.  The board also recognized the golf team for the 5^th place finish in the state tournament.

The board voted to increase the price of a meal at the high school from $3.00 to $3.50.  There has also been a fairly dramatic decrease in the number of students who qualify for subsidies (based on income), which will reduce the anticipated revenue by about $85,000 per year.  This shortfall will have to be made up by fund transfers from other areas.  The board also approved the plans of all schools with respect to Trust Land Funds (the major funding item being laptops), approved the proposed summer sports camps (and costs), and adopted by first vote a policy that deals with school bus driver compensation.  This policy will require a second vote in June.

Scott Ferguson, athletic director, asked the board to approve an increase in compensation for assistant coaches in high school sports (not middle school, and not for head coaches).  The board had several questions and asked that the proposal be reworked and brought forward at a future meeting.

The fire marshal reported that an external agency inspection of the propane tank at the middle school has revealed that some significant upgrades must be accomplished almost immediately.  The cost is expected to be in the $30-$50 thousand dollar range and needs to be finished within 60 days.  The board voted to go ahead quickly with the project and directed that bids be acquired and a contract awarding decision be made in the next couple of weeks, probably before the next board meeting.

The board listened to a proposed preliminary budget for next year, presented by  Brandee Johnson, administrator.  The revenue estimates were described as “soft” as county data had not been received, but included a tentative 3% raise for employees and additional funds for an expected 14% increase in health care coverage costs.  The 14% figure does not apply to the entire budget, only to the cost of health care coverage provided to covered employees.  Overall, the initial “soft” data indicates a likely annual deficit in the range of $200,000 (in an 8 million dollar budget) but there are adequate funds in the reserve.

The board was asked to approve an exception to the policy about confining activities to Fridays in that it was asked to approve a football game on August 27^th, a Thursday, in Bluffdale.   It is apparently the case that if scheduled, the game would be televised on KJZZ.  The board approved the exception to the Thursday rule and gave the go ahead for the schedule change.