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Oakwood School Board meeting
Leon Moore, acting as a representative of the Flo Community’s Lone Star Rural High School District, asked to read a letter to the board and its visitors during the open forum section of the meeting. This letter, signed by Moore, Barbara Johnson, and James Coker, was a request for annexation and detachment of the Flo community to the Buffalo and Centerville ISDs by the Lone Star Rural High School District. The letter claimed “taxation without representation”, detriment to community togetherness, and transportation problems among the reasons for requesting this separation from OISD. As this item was not on the agenda, the board could not respond to this issue, nor could Moore use more than the allotted 5 minutes to make his case. According to Moore, Centerville ISD was very receptive to having the Flo area re-districted and to have the Flo students enroll in Centerville schools. Moore also mentioned that while he was attending this meeting, other members of the LRHS District were attending the Buffalo School Board meeting to pitch their plea to be re-districted to BISD as well. Top on the agenda for this meeting was the $4.5 million bond to build a new Oakwood Elementary facility. The board has voted to get things underway; beginning with the land survey. Now that the survey is complete, the selection of the architect and the financial company was the next step. The architectural firm of Claycomb Associates was selected. Claycomb came armed with the experience of the recent Elkhart, Palestine, and Fairfield school bond projects on their resume. According to their representative, Kevin Smith, the board is looking at purchasing Fiber Bond building modules with classroom spaces of approximately 840 square foot, including a locking, 5' x 7' walk in closet with adjustable shelves for teacher use. This would more than meet the 36 square foot per child state requirements. The plans have not been finalized as teacher input will come into play as well as the board's vote on placement the classrooms, restrooms, etc. At this meeting, Southwest Securities was authorized to proceed with the fi- nancial plan and schedule of events for the bond sale. Brian Grubbs was on hand to discuss the most effective way to issue the $4.5 million bonds. He explained that, of the $4.5 million, a total maximum of 2% can be assessed for financial fees. With that number in mind, OISD would be looking at having $4,410,000 in the building fund to work with. He assured the board members that, "Over the next 30- 45 days, we will be trying to secure the rate for the bonds. We believe we will be well under budget. We feel we can get you lower than those 19 pennies you asked taxpayers for." During the discussion of the INS budget, Grubbs told the board that the current payback periods are at a 17 year maximum. This means that the board can choose to pay back the loan over the next 17 years at approximately 17 cents or choose higher payments and shorten the note. This pleased the board as their goal was for 15-20 years. A bank out of Palestine is currently considering the Tax Credit Qualified School Loan the board is seeking. Southwest will have a re- sponse from the bank within the next couple of weeks. A special meeting will be held at that time to "lock in the fi- nancing". The board also voted to reimburse itself for the costs incurred over the bond project prior to the delivery of the bonds. This decision included the survey and the impending soil test as well as any other necessities that may arise before the school district receives the bond money. It will ensure that no money is taken away from next year's operating budget. Superintendent Richard Scoggin reported that small summer projects have already been underway in preparation for the upcoming school year. The tile in the old gym was replaced and the floor painted. Prisoners had been brought in to work on the cafeteria. That included repairing the roof and painting. Over the next couple of weeks they will be back to work on the Life Skills building. The backside of the AG Shop has been cleaned up, as well as the area where the old broken down buses were housed. Those buses were recently sold and removed from the property. The same man also bought the school's old 15 passenger van that was no longer fit for travel. The cheerleaders will be repainting the blue panther paw prints on the walkways before the start of the new school year. With the tax collection report, the board learned that an additional $50,000 in taxes more than anticipated had been collected. This news was met with cautious approval. It is possible that this increase could cause the money the school receives from the state to decline slightly. Only time will tell. Also on the agenda was the 2008-2009 District Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas report. OISD received a Superior Achievement rating again this year. In closed session the board voted to accept the resignation of its Dean of Students, Johnnie Taylor. |
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