The Perry Community School District Board of Education tackled a variety of topics at their February meeting, with the purchase of new laptops and two new school buses the costliest of the decisions made.
Financial Secretary Kent Bultman shared the annual audit report with the board, noting the General Fund currently holds a surplus of $710,000. He noted it was “the first time in several years” for a surplus, adding that 13 early retirements after the 2017-2018 year affected the balance.
Bultman said the district’s financial solvency rate had risen to 6.72 percent. It had been as high as 32.7 percent in fiscal year 2013.
When asked, Bultman said, “I would prefer to have it close to 15 percent because of the fluctuating enrollment,” but he added that “10 percent would not be bad.”
Lower than 10 percent runs a risk, he said, because with as many as 50 to 60 students entering or leaving the district each year, there is a possibility of having to dip into reserves.
Superintendent Clark Wicks said the Iowa Association of School Boards believes a ratio of at least 10 percent was adequate as an average for most districts.
Technology Director Rich Nichols presented a request to the board for the purchase of new laptops, bags and appropriate software licenses for Chromebooks for the second, fourth and seventh grades.
Nichols explained the needs and usages of the equipment, the total cost of which is not to exceed $150,000. The board approved the request.
Transportation Director Troy Griffith approached the board about the need to immediately replace two buses. The need arose after one bus was totaled after striking a deer Nov. 16 with another bus was found to have rust issues that would make the bus fail state standards.
Repairing the rust would cost $12,000 to $15,000, an amount Griffith said would not be cost efficient for the district in the long run.
During questioning, he noted the district transports 600 to 650 students each day. District SUVs and other vehicles are already used to their maximum, he said, adding that the district needs 16 buses. The average school day has 15 buses in full time use.
Replacing one bus with a new one that lacks a cargo carrier and has a smaller transmission will cost $94,500, with the other new bus costing $102,000.
Funds would come from the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL), which is currently funded at about $1.1 million. The board said they wished to keep the PPEL fund above $800,000 if possible, but they approved the purchases when it was noted there would then be one less bus required to purchase in the next fiscal year as part of the normal rotation.
The PCSD school calendar for 2019-2020 was also agreed upon. Classes will begin Aug. 23 and end May 28, with the holiday break to start Dec. 23 and classes resuming Jan. 2, a Thursday.
Some discussion was held on moving the Wednesday early dismissal to 1.5 hours. Adding the extra time would allow staff to more faithfully follow lessons learned during a recent Professional Learning Community series of seminars last year. School principals informed the board the additional time would help them work with staff on building goals at each school as well as advance the Capturing Kids Heart and (at Perry Elementary) the Positive Behavior Intervention System.
Wicks said he recognized that moving the time forward could cause some hardships for parents and caregivers, but he believed the move would be of benefit in the long run.
The board agreed, accepting the move to an earlier Wednesday dismissal starting with the next school year.
High School Principal Dan Marburger informed the board PHS would begin requiring global economics to all incoming freshmen beginning with the Class of 2022 as the state has mandated all students receive instruction in financial awareness and understanding.
The required number of credits to graduate would not change, and the class would take the place of the current Success class offered to seniors. The number of social studies credits would also remain unchanged, with sophomores taking a semester of world history while juniors take American history and seniors American government. Students would then have a choice of taking one of two courses as an elective: sociology or psychology.
The current financial literacy course, which will go into much greater detail than the new global economics offering, will remain as a senior-level elective.
The board approved policy changes, early graduation requests and an agreement not to increase extra-curricular fees.
A professional services agreement with Unesco Inc. was cleared by the district’s legal counsel and then approved by the board. Unesco will provide program management, architecture, design and engineering services, construction management and commissioning services for the Industrial Technology and Multipurpose/Wrestling rooms.
Present for the meeting were Wicks, Bultman, Vice President Linda Andorf and Directors Jim Lutmer and Kenia Alarcon. President Kyle Baxter and Director Casey Baldwin were absent.
The Perry School Board meets the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Brady Library at Perry High School. The public is welcome to attend.
