Marta McAllister Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Proceedings of the Planning and Development Committee School District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana January 7, 2008 The Planning and Development Committee Meeting of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, and the High School District, Yellowstone County, Montana was duly held at The Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana, Monday, January 7, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. Those in attendance: Chair Sandra Mossman, Executive Director of Secondary Education, Kathy Olson, Executive Director Human Resources, Dan Martin, Trustee Peter Gesuale, Trustee Malcolm Goodrich, Margaret Aukshun, Cheryl Malia-McCall, Jim Majerus, Jeff Dunham, Michael Iverson, Ali Manning, and Dr. Sara Nyquist. Guest attending; Director of Facilities, Rich Whitney, Call To Order Pledge of Allegiance Public comment-There was no comment from the public. Presentation by Rich Whitney- He stated the District had a campaign back in the year 2000 to promote schools be warm, dry, safe, and accessible. He reported a committee was formed to address these issues. The committee members were; Director of Facilities, Rich Whitney, Executive Director of Special Education, David Munson, Head Custodian of Skyview High School, Jim Miller, and two community members Steve Corning and Rick Leuthold. They helped with the direction to which projects would be funded. The list contained about $64 million worth of projects. A $15 million levy was passed in 2001. The money was split and $10 million went to elementary schools and $5 million went to middle schools. Due to the passing of the levy in 2001, the $64 million list was decreased to $49 million. He explained it was a building reserve levy. A building reserve has constraints on use. The money was spent on larger projects where a local consultant designed a project and put it out for bid. A local contractor would be hired to complete the project. Rich would like to see a bond in the future instead of a levy. He stated with a bond the State gives a percentage to help that fund. The amount varies and it would depend on that current year’s rate. He stated the $10 million bond would cost the taxpayers $6 million, as the difference was leverage from the State. The State leverage had run about 40%. Trustee Gesuale questioned if the bond would be constricted to new construction. Rich Whitney stated that new construction would not be a requirement. Dan Martin said when the District ran the $90 million bond for the high school district; the GTV was at 48%. The taxpayers ended up paying $46 million as the State paid the difference. Jim Majerus questioned why the levy that passed in 2001 was not put out for a bond. Dan Martin noted that the burden was much greater for a bond and the Board did not want to take the risk of it not passing. He stated the levy required a majority of the vote and a bond requires 40% of the electorate turn out. He commented the reserves were greater at that time. Rich Whitney stated the initial list of $64 million was reduced down to $49 million. He reported if you apply inflation from 2001 to 2008, it would become $70 million in projects today. Rich Whitney stated the inflation rate is approximately 12-15%. He stated construction prices are going up dramatically. There have been additional items added to the project list that fits in with the warm, safe, dry, and accessible definition. He stated Senior High has heating issues due to the system 79 years old. One phase was completed at $2.3 million but the classroom wing has 3 additional phases: the auditorium, gymnasium, and the tech education classroom. They were still 6 years out from repairing those additions. He commented that in November the calls were: *Fire alarm system at Career Center went down. An employee was hired to man 24 hr manual fire watch. The District scheduled replacing the system. The Fire Marshal wanted it up to current code, which would cost $100,000.00. *Boiler at West High is failing and the repair cost is about $45,000.00 *Rimrock heating system. The cost would be approximately $400,000.00 due to an old steam system. *Central Heights pipes freezing caused some water damage. *Senior High roof was crumbling down on entryway. *The Facility Service building had 51 patches on roof. The roof is in need of replacement. *The Chiller at Skyview High went out. The parts are under warranty but the labor will run about $21,000.00 and a new Chiller would be approximately $100,000.00. Chair Mossman asked Rich Whitney to prioritize the schools in need. Rich Whitney listed the schools that received improvements from the last years levy. Washington Newman Bench Poly Highland Lewis and Clark Rich Whitney stated Senior High has many improvement projects to be completed but funds ran out. West High has a deficient electrical system. The breaker panel in the auditorium was undersized and needs to be fixed. West will be an expensive building due to the necessary construction. Skyview High School needs a new roof and auditorium repair. He reported the water and fire main were repaired recently. Rich Whitney commented there is no construction money in the general budget for projects over $25,000.00 Ali questioned who is in charge of keeping the schools up-to-date with current technology. Dan said Karen Palmer was the person in charge of technology. He reported that the system could not handle Zangle due to slow microwave transmissions. The system was improved by changing to fiber optics for the Internet. He reported Kathy Olson and Gail Surwill handle the other classroom instructional operations. Trustee Goodrich questioned construction impediments restricting the school technology. Dan stated the wireless took care of those problems. Michael Iverson commented some schools have very old computers. Trustee Gesuale cautioned the committee when looking at inventory lists and determining which schools have higher needs. Chair Mossman stated one of the committee’s charges is to create equity in the schools and make sure all schools are offered equal opportunities. Dan Martin reported that the schools currently own 6500 computers. In the year 2000, there were 1200 computers. Every other year Timber money has purchased most of these computers. Federal programs monies have purchased new technology for Title schools. The older computers have been handed down to other schools that do not have title money. Anne Barlow questioned if parents had called to complain about school deficiencies. Trustee Goodrich said he had not received calls of parents complaining of deficiencies. He stated the $80 million needed at this time for school improvements are significant and felt a $10 million request would pass easier. He said the Broadwater School’s physical structure is in disastrous condition. Trustee Gesuale questioned how big of a venture this would be. He wanted to know if this was a $10-$20 million dollar issue and the period of time to accomplish these goals. He felt it was important to communicate with the public about the issues and work with the public to find a solution. Kathy Olson said that parents have voiced their concerns about teacher/student ratio. Cheryl Malia-McCall commented as a Principal with the District, she had noticed each school had individual issues. Such issues were windows, heating, hot water, class size and computers. She said the PTA had purchased computers for schools. Chair Mossman asked if there had been a technical analysis of the buildings in the school district. Dan Martin reported Karen Palmer could be asked to present to the committee on the technical analysis. Sara Nyquist commented the committee could do a better job educating the public on the necessary improvements needed for the schools. Margaret Aukshun reported the Education Committee has been working on communicating with the public which included inviting the Gazette, and TV news stations to their meetings. Chair Mossman claimed the committee must look toward strategy and solution. Rich Whitney discussed the renovation project lists. There were two lists with the first one determining the more expensive projects. List one included: • Heating Distributions Systems • Chillers • Electrical • Roofing • Building Envelopes • Americans with Disabilities Act Projects The projects are numbered by four criteria: 1) Safety 2) Prevention of a foreseeable disaster 3) Legal Requirements: Life Safety Code, Bldg. Code, ADA 4) Enhancement of Educational Opportunities He commented if a $40 million bond levy was passed and executed over 4 years, that would be $10 million dollars worth of projects per year and move the District forward. He felt it would be an amount the contractors could support. He felt it was important to note the shorter the timeline from bid to approval the better the price for the project. He commented the community must be cognizant of that. Michael Iverson questioned if any of these improvements were a one-time expense. Rich Whitney stated there are no one-time expenses. There would be a continuous need for improvements and upgrades. Jim Majerus stated a common sense approach would be to set funds aside yearly for improvement expenditures instead of crisis management. Trustee Goodrich reported due to mill levies not passing, the District used reserve funds to keep the same amount of services for the students. He stated consequently, the reserves were used up. He said the current Board addressed this issue and they work hard to build up the reserve fund. Dan Martin reported in 2002, hard decisions had to be made after the strike. When the levy did not pass, the funds had to go towards programming and not towards maintenance and renovation expenses. Trustee Gesuale noted the state funding had also been a factor towards the diminishing of funds. Chair Mossman reminded the committee last year they were presented with the option of an Education Capacity Proposal and the committee recommended to the Board to not go forward with the study. The cost was approximately $127,000.00. She stated it could be reopened if the committee wanted to look at it again. Rich Whitney stated the company to hold the study was Genesis and Paul Trauptman was in charge. Rich said the company would give a comparable report for every school where they educationally adequate or educationally deficient. Dan motioned for Superintendent Copps to provide the Planning and Development Committee condensed and compiled information on the studies the District has done to help the committee make decisions for planning of growth and development. Trustee Goodrich seconded the motion. Those voting in favor were; Trustee Peter Gesuale, Trustee Malcolm Goodrich, Margaret Aukshun, Cheryl Malia-McCall, Jim Majerus, Jeff Dunham, Michael Iverson, Ali Manning, and Dr. Sara Nyquist. The vote was unanimous. Approval of the November 26, 2007 and December 10th, 2007 minutes- Trustee Goodrich moved to approve the minutes. Trustee Gesuale seconded the motion. Those voting in favor were; Trustee Peter Gesuale, Trustee Malcolm Goodrich, Margaret Aukshun, Cheryl Malia-McCall, Jim Majerus, Jeff Dunham, Michael Iverson, Ali Manning, and Dr. Sara Nyquist. The vote was unanimous. As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. The next meeting will be held February 4th at Broadwater Elementary School at 5:30 p.m. ______________________ Sandra Mossman, Chair ______________________ Barb Gustafson, Secretary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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