School Board To Ask For $2,452,845 For Building 8

JCHS Pod 8 Roof Collapse – Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

The Jefferson County School Board met for a Called Meeting on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at the Patriot Academy.

Chairman of the Board Jarnigan called the meeting to order. Absent from Roll Call was Board Member Lowery. Concerned parents from Jefferson Elementary PTO addressed the Board concerning head lice issues at their school. Director of Schools Edmonds informed the Board that he had recently become aware of the issue and the Administration was working to eliminate the problem.

Jefferson County Schools Director of Business Affairs Phagan presented the Board with a detailed breakdown of the Building 8 renovation and restoration funding request. The report outlined the entire project from conception to date, including motions from both County Commission and School Board. Phagan took the Board through the report, concluding with a current funding need from County Commission of $2,776,369 for the total project.

Board Member Potts stated that previous information had identified $575,000 that could be applied to lessen the total request. Information in the report presented by Phagan showed that a portion of those funds had already been utilized. He also stated that paving had not been funded yet. Potts stated that her concern was that, though the Board had been working on incorrect information, the $575,000 figure had been discussed in Board meetings and with the County Commission and expectations were that those funds were available for use. She said that she favored lessening the amount requested for the project by more than $300,000, which would show the Board’s commitment to a good working relationship with the County Commission. Potts stated that there is still around $219,000 that is being held by the insurance company that will be available at the close of the project. Upon a Motion from Potts and 2nd by Board Member Bradley, the Board Unanimously Approved requesting $2,452,845 in funding designated for Building 8 only with 100% of any insurance settlement received to be applied to the debt. With a Motion from Vines and 2nd from Rogers, the Board Unanimously Approved instructing Director of Schools Edmonds to make the Building 8 funding request to the County Commission.

Jefferson County Finance Director Helton informed the Board that, due to the number of employees in the Department of Education, the employee bonus amount would not be as high as County employees. During discussion, Board Members reiterated their intent that all employees get a bonus, using the same formula as the County Commission, with the knowledge that the amount of bonus would be less. They were informed that the full time bonus would be around $120 and part time would be around $60. The bonus will be paid in the December pay period. Board Member Rogers made a successful Motion to use $120,000 (½ of roll over funds) for the bonus for employees and was 2nd by Board Member Cavanah.