With student numbers for 2010-11 down by nearly 30 from last year, USD 410 Superintendent Steve Noble said the district will be working with a significant future decrease in capital outlay.
?That?s significant for us,? Noble said about the decline in enrollment at the regular board of education meeting Monday.
That grim news reframed the financial picture for board members as they discussed the proposed $250,000 remodeling project of the former car dealership facility on West D Street that will house the USD 410 central offices.
Vince and Julie Jantz of Jantz Construction of Tampa attended the meeting. The company had completed drawings for the project and agreed to contract language for the building construction agreement.
The board did approve the agreement as written, along with several changes recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards, and to revise the fee for Jantz to $6,000 plus the bond fee or 8.5 percent of the project, whichever is greater. The $6,000 amount was decided because the cost of the project will probably be less than initially planned.
That decision was preliminary for the discussion that followed. Priorities for the project focused on the exterior, administrative offices and bathrooms as priorities. Depending in the bids for aspects of the project, the board will make a decision about the scope of the project.
Linda Ogden reported on FACT?Families and Communities Together Inc.?formerly known as Marion County Communities in Schools.
?I?d like your help in spreading the word of who we are and what we do,? Ogden said to the board about the newly formed nonprofit organization.
Its mission, she said, is to facilitate collaborative relationships to improve families, schools and lives in Marion County.
FACT will continue to work with Marion County schools districts through grant funding, she added.
Ogden also reviewed data from the Kansas Communities That Care survey, which measures risk and projective factors of students in the county.
Anne Janzen and Michele Melton, teachers at Hillsboro Middle School, reviewed the Tiered Instruction Effectiveness project for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade levels, for testing and enhancing reading fluency and comprehension.
Also, David Sheppard, director of Marion County Special Education Cooperative, attended the meeting and introduced himself to the board. Sheppard assumed his position in July.
In other business, the board:
? approved KASB policy updates.
? approved Hillsboro State Bank to continue with operational fund banking services for three years.
? approved establishing an account Hillsboro State Bank in which annual deposits of $47,500 will be made for the capital improvement account for the Joel H. Wiens Stadium/Reimer Field. Tabor College has created an account for matching deposits.
? Approved an amendment to TEEN interlocal agreement regarding access to the fiber network should a school district decide to withdraw from TEEN.
? approved disposal of district property?an overhead projector to Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church, five wireless access points and a switch for $600 to Hillsboro United Methodist Church and a laptop for $901 to FACT.
? approved an extended contract for Marcia Findeiss for English for Speakers of Other Languages services at HMS and a salary increase by TEEN for Brandi Hendrix, director.
