Benny Westcott
The Sweet Home School District Board of Directors on Monday, June 12, approved a $65,236,782 budget for fiscal year 2023-24, nearly $10 million dollars more than the current year’s adopted budget of $55,584,273.
The budget includes the addition of 1.75 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching positions at the high school due to expected enrollment growth (Sweet Home’s enrollment grew by almost 1% from the 2019-20 school year to the 2022-23 school year, while statewide enrollment declined by 5.5% during that same time period), adding two district-wide counseling positions to help promote student health and wellness, and adding a district-wide teaching position to assist where needed so teachers can participate in class observations and professional development.
The budget also proposes the reassigning of instructional technology responsibilities from an administrative position to a classified position, as the administrator that held this position left the district.
As a result, the budget includes a 1 FTE reduction in administrative staffing.
The spending plan additionally calls for contributing additional funds to the district’s Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) side account to help offset future PERS rate increases.
The board also voted to impose the taxes provided for in the adopted budget at the rate of $5.0057 per $1,000 of assessed value for operations, $0.30 per $1,000 of assessed value for the local option, and in the amount of $1,827,000 for bonds.
In other action Monday, the board:
— Unanimously approved a budget adjustment for the 2022-23 school fiscal year, transferring $750,000 from the general fund to the long term maintenance fund.
“The board established the long term maintenance fund back in 2004 with the idea being that the district should not have to rely entirely on bonds for major capital improvements and maintenance,” District Business Manager Kevin Strong said. “So this is something that the board ever since has been committed to, and it’s allowed us to do a lot of the projects that we’ve completed over the past six or seven years, and hopefully more to come in the years ahead.”
– Approved the use of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for Oak Heights Elementary School renovation costs outside of the scope of the $2.5 million seismic grant that the district was recently awarded. Preliminary plans include a new front entrance allowing office staff to see who is approaching the school, a cafeteria space separate from the gym, a new library and an extra classroom.
The ESSER funds must be spent by Sept. 30, 2024, and this project will help ensure that the funds are fully utilized, according to Strong.
— Heard from Strong that the district received notification on June 2 that it can continue offering free breakfasts and lunches to all students for another four years through the Community Eligibility Provision program. The federal Department of Agriculture’s CEP program provides a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas, allowing the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.
Program benefits include increased school meal participation, no stigma for students who receive free lunch, reduced administrative paperwork and cost savings for Sweet Home households.
— Heard from Strong that earlier in the evening, an aquatic committee consisting of about 20 people met to discuss different options for funding the district’s pool.
The committee considered whether it should be funded out of the school’s operating budget, be city operated, be a separate aquatic district, or continue to be funded with the school district local option levy.
The consensus was to continue with the local option levy. Therefore, the aquatic committee will be making a recommendation to the board at its July meeting to maintain the existing 30 cents per $1,000 tax rate and renew the levy for five years.
Heard from Supt. Terry Martin that district enrollment at the end of May was 2,283, down 23 from 2,306 at the end of April. Martin also announced that Holley Elementary won the district’s attendance award for May, with school-wide attendance of 91.6%.
n Bid farewell to three members at their last meeting. Mike Reynolds has served on the board for 20 years, and Debra Brown has served for eight.
Both decided not to run for reelection this spring. Kevin Hill, who was appointed to the board in the summer of 2021, lost his bid to remain the board member for Position 3 at Foster to Mark Massey, who claimed 55.24% of the vote to Hill’s 44.29%.
— Accepted the resignation of Whitney Grizzle, Junior High School math teacher, effective June, 16, 2023.
— Accepted the resignation of Tami White, basic life skills coordinator and behavior specialist effective June 16, 2023.
— Approved hiring Brooklyn Giles, secondary school counselor/mental health support at the Junior High and High School for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved hiring Caytlin Gillespie, language arts teacher at the High School for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved hiring Samuel Mercado, Spanish teacher at the High School for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved the transfer of Mark Looney, Junior High principal, to principal at Hawthorne Elementary, effective Aug. 1, 2023.
— Approved transfer of Nate Tyler, assistant principal at the High School, to principal at the Junior High effective Aug. 1, 2023.
— Accepted the resignation of Elijah Heide, band teacher at the high school effective June 16, 2023.
— Approved hiring Zech Brown, forestry instructor at the High School for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved hiring Bailey Bronson, full-time substitute teacher for the district for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved hiring Courtney Daniels, first grade teacher at Oak Heights Elementary for the 2023-24 school year.
— Accepted the resignation of Jesse Fipps, second grade teacher at Oak Heights effective June 16, 2023.
— Approved the transfer of Lori Tuter from language arts to music teacher at the High School for the 2023-24 school year.
— Approved the hire of Jennifer McIntyre, English teacher at the High School for the 2023-24 school year.