School Board meeting — wrap up

By Leanna Lehman — 

The Churchill County School Board met Wednesday, July 17th to discuss financial matters and receive updates on various projects, departments, and vote on a reduction in force. 

Grants

Block Grants: According to Summer Stephens, ChurchillCSD Superintendent, two bills that passed through the legislative session resulted in Block Grants being awarded to the District. These grant funds will help supplement programs adversely affected by budget cuts. However, the District must pursue more permanent funding sources as the block grants have a onetime payout. Northside’s Pre-K program will receive a portion of the grant monies, but the district will add no additional classes. The Spring programs cuts remain in place. 

Other Grants: Stephens also reported that program funds are being awarded to the District for CTE programs, Career and Technical Education. She has also been working with Nathan Strong and CEDA in writing a grant to expand the Career Fair. Other grant funds are filtering into the District, all of which will offer some relief and provide additional services and support to students.

Pending Grants: grants that are in the pipeline but have not confirmed include a Perkins grant to improve work-based learning, a Social-Emotional Learning Project grant, and a School Climate Transformation Grant, which helps schools “develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for implementing a behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students,” according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Financial Matters

Debt Service Tax Rate: The Board unanimously moved to leave the debt service tax rate at the current level of.55 per $1,000 of assessed value as part of the property tax rate. According to Phyllis Dowd, Director of Business Services, the rate has decreased twice in the last twenty years but has not increased. Funds transfer directly into the Capital Projects account when the rate provides excess proceeds.

Expected Revenue: Dowd reported that the district has received approximately $30,000 in revenue for the last quarter from Churchill County. Statute allots a portion of residential construction fees and building permits to the school district. The county expects the housing growth to continue to increase, which translates into additional dollars for the District. 

Employees Retirement Fund: Board members approved a recommendation from Dowd to change the Third-Party Administrator, TPA, for their 403B Fund. TSA Consulting Group will replace Voya. The change will have no financial impact on the District, and those employees enrolled with Voya will have to transfer their funds to the TSA Group.  

Financial Audit: The financial audit is underway. Results will be available by October. 

Other Matters

Technology: Considering the recent cyber-attack on Lyon County School District, Dan Slentz with Oasis Online, who manages ChurchillCSD technology, met with district officials to ensure that the network and computers are secure. With advancing technology, virtually all computers are vulnerable to a similar attack. However, according to Stephens, Slentz is confident that the district network is secure and Oasis is staying on top of the situation. 

Maintenance Projects: Maintenance has completed several summer projects to date including carpet installations, kitchen upgrades, and large-scale lighting projects. Maintenance is continuing to upgrade and improve the structural conditions and is working on creating single points of entry at some schools. Several more projects are still underway and expected to be complete by the first day of school. 

Transportation Department: Earlier in the year, the Board was looking at reducing one mechanic position to half-time with the possibility of eliminating the position. The Board left the position unaltered. Putting the safety of children to the forefront, the Board commended Transportation director Kenny Mitchell and the department for their work in  considering several sizeable obstacles, and rallied in defense of the position. Further, the department will continue to examine how to improve conditions within the department and operate more efficiently to improve student and staff safety.

Attendance: CCSD is revamping the attendance policy and looking for solutions that will address chronic absenteeism in the district. Much work remains before the administration can present a proposed policy to the Board for approval. ChurchillCSD reminds parents that children in kindergarten must comply with attendance guidelines. 

Just a reminder — school starts on Monday, August 19th, with teachers returning Friday, August 16th.