June 18, 2020 Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON THURSDAY JUNE 18th, 2020 AT 6:00 PM at WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL.

THOSE PRESENT:

ADMINISTRATION

Curtis Whipple called the meeting to order. 

Pledge of Allegiance.

Tyler Newton offers the reverence.

On behalf of the School Board, Curtis recognizes and thanks Libby Torgerson and Superintendent Fahey, who are retiring this year. 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: 

April motions to approve the minutes. Shawn seconds the motion. All in favor.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Shawn makes a motion to pay the bills. Cory seconds. All in favor.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Jessica Grundy says she is part of the district improvement committee. They began to plan for an activity on September 18^th and wanted to make sure everyone is available. 

INFORMATION ITEMS

Superintendent Fahey says that Wayne County will be going to green on the governor’s COVID guidelines beginning tomorrow. There is no real difference between yellow and green. All school activities are expected to open in the fall. There will be added measures for safety and disinfecting. The local health department will consult with local boards to determine what is best for the district. Governmental immunity is provided for any school employee that transmits COVID-19 as long as state and local guidelines are followed. 

Curtis asks if there is a plan in place to meet with the local health department. Superintendent Fahey says that the administrators and new superintendent will meet again in July to work on the plan. 

Dr. Chappell says he believes there needs to be some reasonable safeguards in place. Board members have specific questions about it. Superintendent Fahey states that the plans will be finalized over the coming weeks. 

Cory says that we are right where we need to be for Cross-Country stipends. Shawn ask about the intent to look into this potential change. Superintendent Fahey says that Mary felt all coaches should be paid the same. Curtis asks how other sports compare to our district. Tyler responds that we are about average when compared to other districts. Curtis requests further information for all sports before we make any changes.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Tyler covers a possible school lunch price increase for 2020-2021 school year. The school lunch program required approximately $55,000 in property taxes and $4,500 in donations this year to make up the difference in revenues and expenses. The state recommends raising prices to cover all expenses. We are limited to $0.10 per year and have not increased since 2015. Cory makes a motion to increase prices of breakfast and lunch by $0.10. April seconds. All in favor.

Tyler brings up the House of Glass bid for Loa Elementary. This was the only bid that we received despite reaching out to multiple vendors. April makes a motion to accept the bid from House of Glass for Loa Elementary windows. Cory seconds. All in favor.

PUBLIC HEARING

Tyler presents the proposed budget for FY2021. We still have not received budget numbers from the state and as such, we will approve a budget and amend it later to reflect any changes.

Curtis opens it for public comments. Libby asks whether the WPU increase is coming through. Tyler states that the 6% increase will not be happening but we don’t have a final number yet. Curtis says that it would be safe to say that there will not be an increase in salaries this year.

Tyler discusses the amended budgets for FY2020. The board has a few questions regarding specific areas. Most programs ended the year close to what was budgeted. The SPED program spent the majority of carry-over from prior years.

Shawn makes a motion to approve the FY2021 budget. Cory seconds. All in favor.

April makes a motion to adopt the amended FY2020 budget. Cory seconds. All in favor.

Tyler discusses the certified and proposed tax rates. The charter tax rate decreased slightly. He states that based on prior conversations, the board’s intentions are to maintain the current rate and go through truth-in-taxation each year. The board rate was raised to offset the decrease in the charter rate. Going through the TNT process will equate to a slight increase in property tax revenues. 0.002829 is the effective local rate for both years.

Cory makes a motion to approve proposed tax rates for FY2021. Shawn seconds that. All in favor.

Dr. Chappell asks about the rankings for tax rates based on district. Tyler responds that our district imposes the second lowest tax rate in the state with only Park City having a lower rate. Other districts with similarly low rates have the highest assessed values in the state.

Cory makes a motion to table the energy audit item until July board meeting. Shawn seconds. All in favor.

April makes a motion to approve first reading of policy BBG-Board Members: Compensation and Expenses. Cory seconds it. All in favor.

Cory makes a motion to approve employee separations. April seconds it. All in favor.

Cory asks about updating our website. Andrea says it is planned for this summer.

April thanks Libby for her service. 

April makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 7:15  pm. Shawn seconds.

Open meeting resumes at 8:12 pm.

Curtis adjourns the meeting at 8:12 pm.