County school board reviews draft of its 2016-17 budget, district IRS audit

Superintendent Anthony Orr, left, listens during a discussion Thursday evening at the Nelson County Board of Education’s work session.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, 11:48 p.m. — With uncertainty about possible cuts in state education funding in the 2016 General Assembly, the Nelson County Board of Education reviewed the district’s draft budget plans for the 2016-17 school year.

Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer told the board members Thursday night that the draft budget the board will approve later this month includes a lot of uncertainty because Gov. Matt Bevin has yet to release his proposed budget.

“There’s a lot of things that could affect the budget,” Hockensmith said of the legislative session now under way. “I think its up in the air more than its probably been in a long time.”

Hockensmith said the draft budget he will present later this month is based on existing data — enrollment trends, retirement costs, salaries and benefits, etc. On the revenue side, the district will anticipate a 4 percent tax revenue increase and that SEEK funding from the state will be approximately the same as last year.

Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, provides details regarding the district’s draft budget at Thursday’s school board working session.

The budget currently includes no cost-of-living or salary increases beyond the usual step increases for teachers. The budget may also include upgrading wi-fi equipment in all the district’s buildings, he said.

The equipment for the wi-fi upgrade project will qualify for the E-Rate discount program, Hockensmith said, which means the district will only have to pay approximately 20 to 30 percent of the total cost of the equipment. The district’s estimated share will be about $260,000, he said.

“That’s the district’s cost,” he said. “The actual cost is a lot more than that — close to $1 million.”

The timing of the technology upgrade will depend on how the district’s draft budget evolves over the next few months.

“It’s a substantial expense we’ll have to undertake in the next fiscal year or the next couple of fiscal years,” Hockensmith said.

The budget also is anticipated to include the purchase of six school buses, and at schools’ request, changing school secretaries from a 7-1/2 hour day to an 8-hour day.

K-8 ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS. Hockensmith also said the draft budget will set the enrollment threshold for allocating funds for an assistant principal position at the K-8 schools at 330 students. A K-8 school larger than 330 will have the additional fund; a school with fewer than 330 will not.

Superintendent Anthony Orr, left, and board chairman Damon Jackey, listen during discussion at Thursday’s working session of the Nelson County Board of Education.

That means that with 335 students, the New Haven School will continue to have an assistant principal, while the Boston School, with 315 students, will not.

“That means that what we have in place now will continue,” Hockensmith said.

Several members of the board voiced support for funding an assistant principal position for the Boston School.

Board member Diane Berry said in the past, school guidance counselors have been given some of the duties an assistant principal would have.

“That’s not something that should happen,” Berry said. “To me the guidance counselor should be a guidance counselor and not an assistant principal.”

Board member David Norman agreed, and told the board that the New Haven School’s assistant principal was a great asset to the school.

“I think when you have a combined elementary and middle school, an assistant principal is a good thing,” board member Larry Pate said.

The school’s site-based council has the option of creating an assistant principal position, by trading in one of its teaching positions in order to create it, Hockensmith said.

Superintendent Anthony Orr told the board that based its discussion, he and the district staff will look at some funding scenarios to bring back to the board at a future meeting for their consideration.

Board member Larry Pate listens to discussion during Thursday night’s school board work session.

IRS AUDIT. The Nelson County School District was selected for a random audit by the IRS, Hockensmith reported. In a recent meeting with IRS officials, he said they were complimentary of the accounting practices at the school and district level.

However, in the audit the IRS determined two of the district’s independent contractors should have been classified as employees rather than contractors As a result, the district had to pay a $3,800 tax bill, and is changing how it handles contractors.

Orr said in the past, the district has contracted for services for special needs students — services which can include speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. Those providers will now become district employees, he said.

ELC BIDS. Hockensmith said the bids for the Early Learning Center expansion project will be opened next Thursday. The board will approve the bids at its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

In other business, the board:

— received an update on the district’s Kindergarten Readiness data;

— reviewed the district’s annual nutrition report;

— and approved the district’s application for two WHAS grants to help fund pre-school programs.

NEXT UP. The board meets next at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at the district’s Central Office on Wildcat Lane.

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