Board OKs — but will revisit– shared asst. principal for Boston, New Haven

The board of education poses with the January “Expect the Best” award recipients, front row from left, Sarah Williams, Kimberly Boone and Wanda Parker. Parent award recipient Tricia Filiatreau was absent.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, 11:45 p.m. — The Nelson County Board of Education approved a staffing formula Tuesday night that will mean that the New Haven School and Boston School will share an assistant principal position in the 2017-18 school year — though the board plans to revisit the matter in at the request of board member David Norman.

Board member Diane Berry discusses the district’s staffing formula and its possible impact on the New Haven and Boston schools at Tuesday night’s meeting.

At the January work session, Norman said he opposed cutting the full-time assistant principal position at New Haven and sharing the position with the Boston School, calling it “the wrong time to make such a change at New Haven School.”

“I would like to see New Haven more stable before we make these changes,” Norman said.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief financial officer, explained that the staffing formula means a school with more than 330 students would be allocated an assistant principal position, while a school smaller that would not. Approving the staffing formula would at least give both schools a half-time assistant principal, Hockensmith said.

Superintendent Anthony Orr said there are other options to discuss in regard to the position — like having a teacher also serve as an assistant principal — but the district needs additional time to determine what those options will cost. Board member Diane Breeding expressed concern that if the staffing formula was approved the board could not revisit the matter.

Orr promised the board they will have a chance to revisit the assistant principal position at an upcoming meeting once cost estimates are completed.

The staffing formula must be approved by the board by Jan. 31.

Tim Hockensmith, district chief financial officer, reviews the draft 2017-18 district budget.

DRAFT BUDGET. Hockensmith gave the board an overview of the districts draft budget, noting that he expects the district’s largest revenue source — the state’s SEEK funding — to be about the same for Fiscal Year 2017-18 as it is for the current year, which is just over $15 million.

The final version of the 2017-18 budget won’t be adopted until September, which means the numbers in the draft budget can change between now and then.

Hockensmith said the district is expected to see an overall increase salaries by about 1.45 percent due to the normal step increases given each by to classified and certified employees.

One unknown in the budget at this time are fuel costs. The district uses 165,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year, and last year the district was able to lock-in savings on the cost of fuel. It is too early to lock in a price, Hockensmith said, but he expects to have a firm price set by May, the next time the budget is examined.

MAKE-UP DAYS. The board approved using Feb. 10 and March 10, 2017 to make up for the Jan. 5 and 6 snow days.

In other business, the board:

— received a detailed update on college and career readiness.

— approved three change orders related to the Early Learning Center expansion project.

— approved one change order related to the Thomas Nelson High School auditorium project.

— voted to join with the Kentucky School Board Association’s intervention to challenge the Kentucky Utilities proposed rate increase.

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