Very few people attended the board meeting held on September 12, 2019. Besides school employees, the only people in the audience were a spouse of a board member and a community member. The meeting lasted about seventy minutes. The following are the highlights from the meeting:
1) Board Member Comments - The BHS band will play at the football game scheduled for 09/13/2019. One board member noted that she hopes that all people attending the event will be polite and appreciative.
2) TTA Report - The board was informed that at least two classrooms are without one-to-one devices. This impacts the work students can do and with a progress report coming up in two weeks, there may be few assignment grades to base report card grades on. The devices were promised before the first day of school, but as yet are not available. Several other smaller issues remain unresolved, but the first two weeks of school have not been a disaster.
3) Superintendent’s Report - The superintendent reported that a local politician by the name of Paul Cook will visit Trona. Also a representative of an organization relevant to small schools by the name of Tim Taylor will be present at a school event.
4) Earthquake Repairs - The superintendent explained some of the complexities involved with earthquake repairs. Often old facilities must be brought up with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) specifications and this can be spectacularly costly. Restroom facilities at the round school do not meet ADA specs and it may not be possible to retrofit them and so portable restrooms may be required.
5) Time Capsule - There was some discussion about a time capsule related to earthquake experiences. One board member seemed to be pushing the idea.
6) Discussion of how things are working out with K-12 at the round school. Some issues have been experienced, but nothing major so far. While things have not gone smoothly, no major problems have occurred as of yet.
7) Several coaches were approved by the board. No candidates were rejected.
8) Financial Reports - Two reports were accepted by the board: Gann Limit and Unaudited Actuals. Financial officer reported that the district is spending more than it is taking in and this was before the earthquake. Repairs in response to the earthquake will require even more spending. Funds are strong at this point, but the current spending pattern could cause some issues down the line if royalty revenue does not return to normal.
9) Facility Repair Funding - At this point there are several possibilities. It is likely that the district will receive at least some financial assistance from the state, but the extent of that assistance is uncertain at this point.
10) Two MOUs were approved and one was tabled. One approved MOU had to do with a contract extension for the TCEA (classified union) and the other approved MOU had to do with unusual circumstances involving an extra duty position. The tabled MOU had to do with a new certificated position. Some language on that MOU and/or the related job description needs some reworking.
NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING: October 11, 2019