NEW BLOOMFIELD - The New Bloomfield R-3 School District Board of Education approved the budget for the 2021-22 school year during its meeting Thursday.
Additions to the budget include:
An additional elementary teacher added due to class size.
ESSER III money.
An additional interpreter for a total of three.
ESSER money for transportation and technology.
Certified base salary increased from $31,250 to $33,250.
Non-certified base salary increased by 6 percent.
Administration salary increased by 1.5 percent.
Moved Central Office staff to eight hours a day.
An increase in Nichols tuition per student from $1,500 to $2,250.
Moved the elementary librarian to a certified position.
Fuel budget increased from $35,000 to $50,000.
Increased athletic director stipend from $3,200 to $5,000.
Added full-time Parents as Teachers.
"New Bloomfield Schools should end the 2020-21 school year with a fund balance of around 40-45 percent," Superintendent Sarah Wisdom said. "The Board of Education had set a goal for 30 percent fund balance. However, in our unique times, we are blessed to have this fund balance to weather the COVID-19 storm and still provide our students with the best education possible.
"With ESSER I, II, and now III monies, along with grants from the state and county coming in, we have been able to pay for some salaries, cleaning supplies and other materials we need for an average year - this will inflate a fund balance. The time is now to ensure our facilities are where we want them for the future as New Bloomfield continues to show student population growth."
Board members also passed by a unanimous 6-0 vote the district's Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Service Plan for the upcoming school year. The plan showcases the different phases the school district has set in place for safety protocols.
The green phase calls for all students present in school, yellow calls for elementary students on campus using both buildings while middle and high school students will use virtual learning, and red calls for all students learning virtually from home. Other protocols have been issued as well to ensure student and faculty safety, including social distancing, the recommendation to wear masks when social distancing is not an option, temperature checks before entering district buildings and extra cleaning.
"I took the COVID plan that the committee wrote and updated it kind of with what we ended the year doing and adding in the additions that DESE required of us," Wisdom said.
The board also approved the superintendent and Central Office staff to make appropriate end-of-year transfers and amend the 2020-21 district budget to the actual dollar amounts to be in compliance with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines. That would include the classified and certified salary schedules, a 1.5 percent increase pay for administration and a transfer of $250,000 between funds.
Board members received an update on summer projects. Wisdom said the roofing project is underway, but more wet installation has been found and that might be an additional expense. The pavement project is scheduled to start at the end of this month.
The board was given three different estimates for the concession building. One showed a new building that would cost $521,208, one showed the existing building repurposed at a cost of $418,450, and the last showed all site work but only the building shell and concrete of the current building with the interior being finished at a later date by the school costing $335,343.
It was decided to create a work group consisting of three board members: Craig Abbott, Gina Clark and Josh Woods. They will meet with Wisdom and builders to discuss further designs, then will bring a proposal back to the board on which option to choose.
The board's next meeting will be at 6 p.m. July 15 in the Central Office meeting room.