Safety, construction, the annual audit and music were among the topics of the December 21 meeting of the Hallsville R-IV Board of Education.
Regarding new construction, which will ultimately include a new wing to the middle school, a new track around the district’s football field and as a bid-alternate, a locker room shell, John Downs, R-IV superintendent, said the board voted to accept the first bid package.
The first approved bid was for pre-cast concrete, Downs said, to be used in the building of the new middle school wing. The 477.182 bid was submitted by St. Louis Prestress.
The district’s plans call for the new wing to hold eight classrooms.
The January and February board meetings will deal with additional construction project-related bids, he said.
The upcoming bids will address other aspects of the project, including:
• artificial turf on the football field
• replacing the lights at the football field
• paving the stadium’s concourse
• paving a portion of the stadium parking lot
The board also discussed alternative financing for the construction, specifically a lease-purchase arrangement to fund the middle school wing.
“We bonded $6 million,’ Downs said. “But the cost of construction is going up, so we are exploring avenues to generate additional funding.”
The district received a clean audit from the firm of Gerding, Korte and Chitwood, Downs said. “There were no findings, it was a clean audit and that is good,” he said. According to the audit’s statement of net position, as of June 30, the district had $38,324,077 in total assets and $15,095,000 in total liabilities.
For the previous fiscal year, the district’s total general fund receipts were $ 7,043,883. It total disbursements were: 6,088,802
The special revenue fund, also known as the Teacher fund, showed $ 8,208,182 in receipts and $8,208,182 in disbursements, which included wages and retirement.
The audit also showed the district paid $ 1,234,196 in debt service.
Under the heading of safety, Ty Sides, middle school principal and safety coordinator discussed aspect of the school resource officers report. High points included, the addition of more cameras, staff safety trainings scheduled and the board agreeing with his request to purchase and implement an emergency alert system “App.”
For the complete article, see this week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard
