Wednesday, March 14, 2012
By Angelique McNaughton
UNIONTOWN — USD 235 Board of Education members approved the republishing of the school’s annual budget for a second time at their regularly scheduled monthly meeting Monday evening.
A higher head count for student enrollment led to the republishing of the budget the first time. But this time was due to the state of Kansas’ readjustment of their reimbursement rate for transportation, Superintendent Randy Rockhold said.
“The state adjusted their reimbursement rate because it is more expensive to transport students right now because of fuel costs,” he said.
The district will receive about $13,600 for transportation to offset the 25 percent increase in diesel costs. Rockhold said the district spent about $10,000 more than projected, so the extra money is “basically reimbursement.”
“If the money changes or if you get more money, you have to republish,” Board Clerk Sherri Hartman said.
It costs $200 to republish the budget each time.
During the meeting, board members also approved four early release days to allow for teacher training for the implementation of the nationwide Common Core Alignment initiative within the district.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative began is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the website says. It is meant to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare “our children for college and the workforce. Consistent standards,” it says, “will provide appropriate benchmarks for all students, regardless of where they live.”
“Common core specifically focuses on reading and math,” Rockhold said. “Between this year and next year, we will put in place the initiative to begin fully implementing it in the 2013-2014 school year. Now we’re using the state’s standards and we’ll eventually use the national standards.”
Scheduled days for the 1 p.m. early release are: April 20, May 4, May 11 and May 18.
In other business, the board:
* Approved the Treasurer’s report for February 2012.
* Approved the 2012-2013 school calendar. The calendar now includes the regularly scheduled board meeting dates, payroll dates, curriculum and service dates.
Rockhold, who is also the high school principal, said the hope is that at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, everything will be online and accessible to parents.
* Approved the district technology plan for July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2015. It is a state and federal mandate that every district have a technology plan.
* Approved the following employment matters: Resignation of Andrea Dinkel as the Uniontown High School band and vocal director; the employment of Lewis Hundley as the new high school band and vocal director; the employment of Ashley Rice as a Title I reading teacher; and the employment of Chad Dozier as a Title I reading teacher.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be April 9.
Angelique McNaughton 