The Pattonsburg R-2 Board of Education presented the 2009-2010 salary schedule during their regular meeting held June 21. The salary schedule will give teachers their annual increment raise plus a $500 increase in the base, bringing the base to $26,500.
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The non-certified employees received a 2.9% increase. This amount was applied to all salaries not on a salary schedule.
The 2010-2011 proposed budget was approved at $2,241,671. A healthy reserve has been accumulated and left in place. The following items were considerations in creating the 2010-2011 budget:
1) Less state aid in the budget, due to legislative and executive cut-backs; 2) Repair and maintenance concerns for the building, with concentration on the high school and tile work; 3) Decrease in investment earnings on interest; 4) Technology improvements throughout the school district; and 5) Competitive salaries to compete with area schools.
The tuition rate for non-resident students was set at $3,200.
The end of the year budget amendments and transfers for the 2009-2010 budget were approved. The board approved to transfer money from Fund 1 to Fund 2 to zero out that account and to physically transfer money from Fund 1 to Fund 3 at the bank to equal all the payments received (taxes, interest, etc.) that are earmarked for Fund 3.
The final transfer will be the transfer of the MOHEFA money (the money that goes from DESE directly to the institution that makes our bond payments) from Fund 3 (debt service) back to Fund 1. This will be done physically at the bank as Fund 3 monies are in a separate account from monies in Funds 1 (general account), Fund 2 (teacher salary account), and Fund 4 (capital projects account).
Two CD’s in excess of $200,000 were renewed at BTC Bank
The R-2 board and Superintendent Johnnie Silkett discussed cutbacks to the state education budget recently issued by the governor.
Mr. Silkett told the board that the cuts have hurt school districts across Northwest Missouri. The governor has cut the whole budget for the Regional Professional Development Centers across the state. The Northwest RPDC has been a life-line to many rural schools in the region, because nearly 100% of the teacher training comes from this department.
The other concerns were the deep cuts into the transportation budget (50% of what was already cut from the legislators) and the elimination of the health grant which has helped rural schools afford a nurse part-time.
These cuts will greatly impact the smaller school districts across Missouri. The larger schools in St. Louis and Kansas City have their own professional development departments and their busses do not travel the miles schools in the rural areas do.
"This leads me to believe the voices of the residents in the rural areas of the state are not being heard when it comes to the funding of our schools," said Mr. Silkett. "It is vital that rural residents, in the smaller school districts, get involved and get their voices heard, in order to continue to keep our small area schools."
The July board meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 19, 2010.