Marion school board approves budget
Staff writer
Hearing no comments from the public, Marion-Florence USD 408 Board of Education members voted unanimously Monday to approve the 2004-05 budget.
The budget reflects a .002 mill levy increase from the 2003-04 school year.
"The mill levy has been kept flat as per your instructions," business manager Martin Tice told the board.
Elementary roof
After hearing from Martin Hanney of Hanney and Associates Architects, the board decided to delay paying for the new elementary roof until the project is totally completed.
Hanney noted several items which various contractors needed to finish from the "punch list."
Items which need further work include replacement of a PA speaker, fixing a blocked gas line, repair on an awning, and completion of electrical work.
Hanney said the electrical contractor had missed an addendum which increased the number of light fixtures and had to re-order.
Also, when pulling wires to rewire the light fixtures electricians discovered water had leaked into some fixtures corroding them, making existing wiring unusable.
The corroded wiring and the addendum increasing the number of light fixtures caused the company to miss their completion date, Hanney said.
After discussion, the board decided to determine how many days past the deadline the project has run and determine the amount of liquidated damages.
"If there was extra expense on the conduit wiring I think we need to reimburse them for that," said board member Chris Sprowls. "But as for being late, I think we need to stick to our guns and assess liquidated damages. There were local bidders who would have got it done."
Board president Rex Savage said the fact that the company did not acknowledge the addendum was a "bidder problem."
Savage directed Hanney to meet with Tice and Superintendent Lee Leiker and determine the amount of liquidated damages.
Policy updates
Leiker said he didn't believe the board had updated policy in several years.
"After legislation and various court cases every year, policies and recommendations of policies come to the district each June," Leiker said. He recommended the district continue to update policies on a regular basis.
"I think the board needs to approve policy so staff and administrators know what we will uphold," Leiker explained.
Member Keith Collett said the board had dealt with policy issues several times during the past few years including issues of drug testing, ongoing substance abuse, and nepotism.
"I'd be interested in looking at the old policies first," Collett said.
"KASB (Kansas Association of School Boards) policy books are pretty generic," Leiker said. "You can determine the specifics. As you approved the various handbooks you've already covered lots of district policy."
After discussion, the board directed Leiker to attach new policies to previous policies allowing the board to examine the two before making any decisions.
Selling vehicles
After seeking bids for the sale of two surplus 1998 Windstar mini-vans, the board approved selling one to the high bidder, while keeping the second van for school use. The motion passed by a vote of 6-1 with member Gene Bowers casting the no vote.
Initially, no bids were received and after talking with principals, Leiker said the schools had use for the vans. Later, two bids were received.
In meeting with principals, Leiker learned the schools often need a vehicle to transport students around town. For instance, middle and high school students who become ill at school often are transported home. Also, two sixth graders will need to be transported to-and-from the elementary and middle schools.
"A para could transport the students in a van," Leiker said. "It's important we don't transport students in private vehicles."
The vehicle would be kept at the Marion High School/Marion Middle School complex.
The second van was sold to J.R. Stang for $2,880.99. Only one other bid was received in the amount of $2,253.10 from Ken Arnhold.
In other matters, the board:
— approved keeping substitute teacher pay as it currently stands at $70 per day and $40 for a half day. Leiker said he believed it was "difficult" to justify changes in substitute pay in lieu of recent staff reductions.
Collett asked Leiker to examine what area districts are paying and if they are paying more (approximately $10) the local board will re-examine the issue.
— approved keeping support staff substitute pay at the current level of $7 per hour.
"It's hard to pay substitutes more than you pay your current help," Leiker said. "Also, there's not as much need for support staff substitutes as there is for teachers."
— approved 7-0 entering into a cooperative agreement with Peabody-Burns USD 398 for wrestling. (See separate story).
— approved a request to use one or two district buses to transport people during Art in the Park, as in previous years. The district will be reimbursed for use of the buses.
— approved the support staff handbook.
— met in executive session totaling one hour for the purpose of personnel. No action was taken following the return to open session.
