OISD balances budget

Last night, at the regularly scheduled meeting, the OISD School Board approved the 2009-2010 budget report given by Superintendent Richard Scoggin. According to Scoggin, "We are about $82 ahead on the expenditures. When you do the math and all the balances are added together basically, we've got a balanced budget."

Scoggin also spoke to the board, and the packed room, about the tax proposal. Although tabled until "the commissioner signs off on it", it looks like it will be 1.04/18 cents for 15 1/2 years for a total rate of 1.22. This number is lower than originally anticipated. So is the number of years for the pay off. That is good news for the tax payers. With a looming deadline of September 29, Scoggin said, "We will make sure to get it done as soon as possible. We are just waiting on the commissioner".

Members of the Flo group who are seeking de-annexation from OISD attended the meeting and had questions about the budget for Scoggin. They wanted to know how some of the grant monies were obtained and whether or not those monies were guaranted or just proposed. Scoggin assured the group, which included Barbara Johnson, Leon Moore, Maxine Moore, and Clara Dillard, that the applications and such necessary to obtain the grants had not only been completed but the money had already been allotted to OISD before being added to the budget.

Another hot topic of the meeting was the Construction Manager at Risk for the elementary school building project. Tommy Barnes and Cliff Allmond of JE Kingham Construction Company attended the meeting to discuss the proposal and answer questions. Barnes acted as spokesman and explained the process where the Construction Manager at Risk would monitor all aspects of the building process and then give feedback to the board. He said that they would be available to answer questions on an as needed basis, or a scheduled basis, depending on the preference of the board. He went on to say that their duties included developing a list of sub contractors and receiving bids to present to the board. Barnes said, "This is a team project. We are here to do a quality job for the school district". He also assured the board that their "Utmost priority is the children's safety". With the questions out of the way, the board unanimously voted to hire JE Kingham as the Construction Manager at Risk. This move will ensure that their is someone being held directly responsible for every physical aspect of the building project that is trained to do so. JE Kingham was chosen out of six firms who bid.

Also on the agenda was the adoption of the 2010- 2011 appraisal calendar and the nominations for the appraisers. The board voted to keep Scoggin and Principal Judy Thomason in those positions. The board also adopted the 2010-2011 OISD Budget.

The financial statements were discussed and it was determined that the $4.1 million (that's minus the $90,000 already paid out so far for various fees, surveys, etc.) is "in the bank", which means the school can move forward with the elementary building project.

The Board excepted a $1000 donation from the Leon County Coalition at this meeting and approved the budget amendments for 2009-2010.

At this time, the student enrollment is at 207. Scoggin said he knew the number was down "due to the big senior class last year". He also said they expect the number to go up after the Labor Day holiday.

New football schedules were handed out to everyone as there were changes on it. One of the schools had to cancel their season. Oakwood did find a replacement team. Scoggin presented the Board with a gift of a new baseball cap (or football cap?) on behalf of Athletic Director Mike Heckathorn. "So you have something to wear to match your shirts."

In closed session, the Board voted to officially hire Brenda Coleman as the senior English, Theater Arts, and Speech Communications teacher. This position is part time.