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Schools look to replace cut positions
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: April 17, 2014

The skies aren't exactly blue, but the clouds appear to be lifting.

For the first time in years, Valley Center school district officials are starting next year's budgeting process with plans to add staff positions instead of eliminate them.

"It's nice to see some of the positions coming back," said school board member Brad Barbour.

Those plans were discussed during the board's meeting April 14.

With additional state aid to help offset capital improvement costs and an increase in enrollment, the district could see a $1.09 million boost in operating funds for 2014-15, something it hasn't had for at least the past five years.

"We've never increased the budget since I've been on the board," Barbour said.

While the district's final budget will be set this summer, the board gave administrators informal approval this week to begin looking for additional personnel to fill some of the positions that had been eliminated over the past few years. Those specific additions will be up for board approval at a later date.

Superintendent Cory Gibson said the money could be used for:

•One additional elementary section to reduce class sizes.

•Two additional sections (fifth- and sixth-grade math and social studies) at the intermediate school.

•A math interventionist at the middle school.

•An elementary counselor so each elementary school will have one (Wheatland and Abilene currently share a counselor).

•A half-time Spanish teacher at the high school.

•A building technology aide for the middle school and high school.

•A receptionist position at the district office.

•A 5 percent increase in building and department budgets, which were previously cut by 10 percent.

•An additional bus route.

•An estimated increase in utility costs.

•Covering the cost of a year of the insurance tiered system.

•A 3.4 percent staff salary increase.

The district is expecting to have 2,776 students in 2014-15, a conservative estimate based on this year's enrollment of 2,767.

During the past several years, the board routinely started the budget-setting process by looking at potential spending cuts.

Also on April 14, the board discussed the possibility of expanding its open enrollment policy in an effort to draw more students, but decided not to take it any further.

Currently, the district allows out-of-district relatives of staff members and other families with ties to the district to apply for enrollment. The policy, adopted two years ago, draws about 60 students each year.

Gibson said the district office receives about 10 calls each week from families who live outside of the district and are interested in enrolling in Valley Center schools.

Board member Rhonda Price made a motion to have Gibson study the issue and develop a proposal for the board to consider. Dave Spears and Barbour supported the motion. Richard Harris, Roger Joyal, Collin McKenney and Bart Balthazor voted against it.

"I don't think I'm ready to change," McKenney said.

In other business April 14, the board:

•Heard presentations from Wheatland second-graders Abby Anderson, Daniel Gomez, Keaton Foust and Mary Kate McClure. The projects integrated technology.

•Accepted a gift of a small pallet of poster board from Valley Offset Printing for the middle school.

•Approved out-of-state travel requests for four Future Business Leaders of America students who will travel to a national leadership conference in Memphis, Tenn., June 27 through July 2; four students who will travel to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., July 1 through 7 as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program's national conference; the eighth-grade band that will travel to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo., on May 10; and Superintendent Cory Gibson and assistant superintendent Mike Bonner who will travel to the National Leadership Training Program in Atlanta, Ga., May 8 and 9.

•Heard an update from the Wheatland Elementary Site Council.

•Heard an update on the district's gifted education program.

•Tabled until May a decision on updates to student handbooks.

•Approved a bid of $41,848 from Alexander Operating Systems for wireless infrastructure improvements.

•Met in executive session twice for a combined 50 minutes to discuss personnel and teacher contract negotiations.

•Accepted supplemental contract resignations from Jared Ensey (middle school boys' basketball assistant coach, March 12), Jeff Sells (middle school boys' basketball head coach, March 26), Chad Baalman (middle school boys' basketball assistant coach, March 26), Brian Shelton (high school wrestling head coach, March 21), Caleb Smith (high school girls' basketball assistant coach, April 9) and Bryan Otte (high school volleyball head coach, April 11).

•Approved hiring Anna Bayne (food service server, high school, $9.30 per hour, March 24), Gene Jones (bus route driver, $12.20 per hour, April 14), Kevin Jackson (custodian, middle school, $11.95 per hour, April 14), Jonathan Holdaway (custodian, high school, $9.35 per hour, April 22) and Delia Clifford (kindergarten teacher, West Elementary, $38,180, Aug. 8).

•Accepted resignations from Matt Davis (custodian, high school, March 7), Yvonne Schippers (cook, intermediate school, retiring, May 20), Barbara Johnson (bus driver, April 11), Hollie Ricke (business teacher, high school, May 22) and Dave Stockton (media specialist, Wheatland Elementary, May 22).

•Heard an update on the district's energy consumption. Though improvements have been made since the last update in the fall, there remains room for efficiencies, the district's energy consultant said. Toward that end, the board gave tentative approval to a list of capital projects that will take place this summer (with formal bids to be approved later). Those include replacing old lighting with more efficient systems at Wheatland, the intermediate school and the middle school, replacing 23 rooftop HVAC units at Wheatland, replacing one rooftop HVAC unit at the intermediate school and replacing roof sections and rooftop units at West (the number of sections and units will be determined later).

•Learned that the district's budget will be republished to reflect an increase in funds it is receiving from the state because of an increase in enrollment and at-risk weighting. The district will receive $376,124 in additional funds, some of which will go into the at-risk and special education budgets.





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