ELDRED — At Tuesday’s meeting, the Otto-Eldred school board committed funds to support the development of upgrades to the high school weightlifting area.
Principal Harley Ramsey presented an overview of the plan to develop a personalized fitness program in physical education classes. The improvements will include updated equipment as well as a new cardio area. The boys locker room will also need to be remodeled to accommodate the football team during halftimes.
The district is implementing a personalized learning approach to classrooms, and the development of this new fitness program is an extension of this personalized approach to learning. Administration has received commitment from the O-E Sports Boosters to help purchase new equipment. Grants and private sources will be sought to equip the new fitness area.
Meanwhile, the district has received backlog of PlanCon reimbursement of $665,000. The board moved to transfer the funds to the Capital Reserve fund. The district will be set to self-fund current projects and any future projects, avoiding the need to consider future debt.
Capital reserve funded projects were approved, including new sump pumps for both buildings and window repairs at the high school. The Guaranteed Energy Savings program that was presented in the past month by Smart Edge was also improved. Energy savings from the improvements made will pay for the project over the next ten years.
Highlights from Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget were reviewed. A $100 million increase in basic education funding was proposed, resulting in a small increase for Otto-Eldred. A proposed $500 million cut to transportation funding was included in the budget. How this would impact the district is not yet known. The district plans to partner with ERIN IU28 to review current transportation costs and plans to find any inefficiencies to prepare for these unknowns.
Also reviewed was a bill that will be proposed by the state Senate which would eliminate or reduce school property taxes. Facts of this proposal are key. This bill would require the state to find funding to replace the current $14 billion revenue total for property taxes around the state. Local control over revenue sources would be eliminated. Schools would still be allowed to levy taxes to pay for current debt, so a total elimination of school taxes would not be seen. Taxes would increase in other areas: Earned Income, increase sales tax or increased (Federal /State) tax paid due to less reductions available. Property tax paid by businesses or non-residents would be paid in some manner by Pennsylvania residents.
Secretarial job descriptions were reviewed and updated. These descriptions will better align staff to meet the requirements the district must meet at the state and federal level.
The board approved a motion for the district to begin the Transfer of Entity process with IU9 related to Special Education Emotional Support classrooms. Starting in 2017-18 school year, Otto-Eldred would directly serve its emotional support population instead of contracting for this service with IU9.
Several substitute cafeteria and/or teacher’s aides were approved. Those included on that list were Jamie Fisher, Cassie Button, Shannon York, Lisa Mong, and Darien Bruno. Also, Jodi Flexman and Nikki Pavone were approved to serve as volunteers for the track and field team.
Elementary Principal Ryan McGinnis announced that kindergarten registration will be held at the Otto-Eldred Elementary School on March 6 and 7. Children must be the age of 5 on or before Sept. 30, 2017. Pre-K Registration will be held March 9 and 10. Children must be the age of 4 on or before Sept. 30th, 2017.
A new online cafeteria payment system will be rolled out for parents in March. Information will be available soon.
The Junior/Senior Prom was approved to be held at the Smethport Country Club on May 6th.
