May 20, 2014 5 min read

JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan School Board approved a tentative 2014-15 budget Monday that if adopted as it is, will increase property taxes in the district by 1.39 mills.

The $12,881,000 proposed budget, which is about $600,000 greater than this year’s budget, would increase the district’s property tax rate from 24.24 mills to 25.63 mills.

The budget takes into account increases in salaries and retirement and health care costs. It also earmarks $150,000 for a middle-senior high school renovation project, which is far less than a feasibility study indicated would be needed to complete a thorough building renovation, said Cindy Jento, chairman of the board’s budget committee.

The most the district could increase property taxes this year is 1.39 mills, even with the exception the district received from the state that allows it to increase taxes above the inflationary index established by the Taxpayer Relief Act.

The inflationary index would have limited any tax increase to 0.75 of a mill. The exception, which was granted based on the district’s retirement costs, allows the district to increase taxes in excess of the index by about another three-quarters of a mill.

The board has been discussing renovations to the middle-senior high school for the past year and had an architect prepare a feasibility study. Costs associated with the renovation plan were only recently provided to the board.

The study indicated the cost of completing a thorough renovation of the building would be more expensive than the district can afford, Jento said.

The district would need an additional $500,000 to $750,000 a year to make payments on the debt that would have to be incurred to fund the project, she said. The tentative budget instead proposes earmarking $150,000 toward a project much reduced in scope.

If the plan is approved, the board will ask its financial consultant how much money the district could borrow with annual payments of $150,000 and then go to the architect to see what work could be done with that amount.

It’s like buying a home, Jento said, “you get what you can afford.”

However, some improvements have to be made to the building and the board will have to prioritize what will be done, she said. Board member John Hildebrand mentioned repairs have to be made to the roof. Jento said upgrades also are need to the electrical system.

Additional discussion will be held before a final budget is adopted next month. Jento noted the budget committee had not yet signed off on the proposed spending plan. Hildebrand was the sole board member to vote against the proposed budget.

The budget also shows major increases in spending for retirement and health care costs, each increasing about 4 percent, and for salaries, which will increase by about $200,000 because of the number of teachers reaching “bump steps” on the salary scale, said business manager Jennifer Foringer.

Special education costs also increased while state funding for the special education is expected to remain flat. General state reimbursement also remained flat, though a proposed “Ready to Learn” program could provide the district with additional $150,000, Foringer said.

In other business, the board was questioned by a parent of a pre-kindergarten student regarding a threat her daughter had received from another student. A boy had said he was going to cut the girl, the parent said, but only later did she learn the boy was found to have a knife in his bag.

The woman said elementary Principal Sam Silbaugh later confirmed a knife had been found. The boy was suspended, but the woman said she should have been informed immediately of the circumstances, citing policy in the student handbook.

Board members said laws require the board maintain strict confidentiality regarding such matters, but assured the woman it would be addressed.

“There’s no way this is going to swept under the rug,” board member Mark Pochron said. Not discussing the incident specifically, board members also assured the woman in cases like this resources are in place to evaluate a student who makes such a threat and take further appropriate action.

The board also discussed the district’s response to a bomb threat May 2 during which both schools were evacuated to the district field house.

Superintendent Donna Furnier said students were taken to the field house instead of the fire hall or area churches, as apparently called for in the emergency plan, because of the immediate threat regarding the time the bomb was suppose to go off.

She also said buses were not available immediately to take students from the schools to the safe areas.

Hildebrand said he had heard some of the students might not have been supervised in the walk to the field house, but other board members said the evacuation went well. Board member Donna Brown said she thought administrators and teachers did an exceptional job of handling the situation.

Furnier said the response would be reviewed to see where improvements might be needed. A new board committee, the emergency preparedness committee, also was formed and will work with police and the Greene County sheriff to review the district emergency plans.