As I write this, there's only an early-release day tomorrow separating students, teachers, and staff from their Christmas break!
The school board has met twice since my last blog. We had a meeting scheduled on short notice on December 12th and then on this Tuesday (Dec. 18th). On December 12, we met for about two hours with our architectural firm and construction manager-at-risk to discuss their estimates for our bond initiative. The two firms disagree in their high-level cost estimates and the board wanted to talk this out with them. We questioned, were provided specific estimates, and had conversation with them about why there was significant difference between the two costs. In a nutshell, SM Wilson (CMR-at-risk) built approximately $600,000 more in contingencies, and nearly $200,000 for a position that is not necessary (clean-up laborer). Even with that, the estimates of the building costs still varied by nearly $1 million. As a board, we decided then on Monday to proceed as follows: We agreed to proceed as follows: the architectural firm will move forward with preparing blueprints for the 8-classroom wing and the full-size gymnasium, with the structure being able to be a storm shelter that would hold the entire building. The board is asking the team to take a look at how we can save some funds such as building 2 locker rooms instead of 4 as originally planned. Doing this, and keeping the higher contingencies, would keep us within the budgeted amount and the bonded funds. The documents the board were provided by each firm can be found on the board meeting page. Secondly, the board accepted and approved our annual audit. We are proud of the work of our administrative team, teachers, and staff which led us to not have any "material weaknesses" in which would need to be addressed. The audit report consistently has concerns with ensuring we have proper procedures over segregation of duties related to the ledger and entries. The auditor present noted we do have proper segregation and checks related to expenses and related items. This finding was found last year and was noted that is a common issue in smaller districts. The auditor said she is in contact with Mr. Downs for when opportunities present itself to help address this---to be proactive and get it covered. All-in-all---our auditors gave us a good report. We are grateful and proud for this. The audit and audit report can be found here. Lastly, we accepted the program evaluations from the counseling program, library and media centers, and the district finances. I only bring that to your attention because I was interested in the impact of our book fairs vs. budgeted items. For the primary and intermediate schools, the book fairs raise nearly the exact same amount of funds for library use as the budget for books and subscriptions on an annual basis. I think it's great that our parents and community utilize the book fairs and then there's the added benefit....that our children benefit because of the items that can be purchased through Scholastic. These book fairs really give buying-power to our libraries. I thought it was an interesting tid-bit that is easily overlooked. As we conclude 2018 and the first half of the school year, I hope our educators, staff, and students are able to enjoy a bit of respite and are able to recharge. Enjoy the holiday season with family and friends. I wish each of you a very merry Christmas! Until 2019, Craig
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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