By Rebecca Dopp
Times-News Correspondent
With three new K-6 schools in the district comes
smaller classes, more available classroom space, and some
new playground equipment. But with those bonuses come the
bills for them, and board members were shown the numbers at
their monthly meeting Sept. 21.
Board member Stacy Brooks asked the superintendent,
Kirk Wright, for a transition report that reflected where
the money went for the three schools.
Clerk/treasurer Darin Clark drew up a financial
statement which showed that the final costs for Mona
Elementary included $97,581 for modular units which included
hook-ups and installation.
At Nebo View Elementary, the cost of remodeling the
kindergarten bathrooms plus various shelving and other items
came to a total of $7,459. The board projected at one time a
sum of $15,000 for these renovations, but came in well under
the projected sum. Parking lot re-striping and signs cost
$7,943. The playground equipment came to a grand total of
$82,912.
Red Cliffs was the recipient of a new playground as
well which totaled $85,415.
"It seems there are a pack of kids on them [the
playgrounds] 24 hours a day," joked Clark.
The board had budgeted $77,000 for textbooks, media,
supplies and equipment, but had either not received all the
items yet, or had not been billed for them yet therefore,
totals for all three schools were not exact.
"We'll probably need another month to get a handle on
where we finally end up on our actual costs," said Clark. "I
don't think we'll go over budget."
Brooks said that she was concerned with students
supplying paper and other items, and wondered whether or not
the teachers had all their supplies yet.
Superintendent Wright said that basic supplies were
taken out of the regular budget and not the transition
budget, and that he was not aware of any problems.
Clark said the district had increased the supply
budget this year per student. He said that Red Cliffs may
not have an increased budget because had more money per
pupil than they ever had before. He said he would like to be
informed of any discrepancy.
With the transition, the goal of the district was to
supply each school with certain items that they would lose
by moving such as media items. They did discuss sharing
items, but only filmstrips, which are very expensive, proved
to be a practical shared item.
One of the items that Red Cliffs did not make
initially was their leveled library, said Wright. Each
school has a leveled library with grade-specific check-out
books, and he thought Red Cliffs had not received their
order yet. The library was one of the more expensive items
on the list.
One of the most expensive items to make the schools
whole were the mobile computer labs.
President Leon Pexton said he was told that one of the
problems that occurred, because of the fiscal year end, was
that the school could not release early purchase orders
without impacting monies budgeted this year. He said some
adjustments had to be made by splitting the schools, but
overall, he was told things started off smoothly.
Wright said that if there were things that had been
overlooked then he hoped they would be taken care of soon.
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