ANNA — Finances dominated the conversation during the July 10 meeting of the Anna Board of Education. From the treasurer’s report to assessment results, the board members focused on the dollars and cents behind the outer workings of the school.
In a planned move, the first of the asbestos tiles in the Anna School have been removed, and by Aug. 8, all of the hazardous material should be gone, with full access to the building returned.
Superintendent Andy Bixler reported that the first of five sections has been started on the project, but questioned whether these five weeks leading up to Aug. 8 were part of the 18 months bid by Robertson Construction Services. Both other bids for the same project were for 24 months, sparking concern about finances — specifically who needed to pay for the extra work if it was not finished in the bidded time.
“It depends who is at fault (for the delay),” Bixler said.
The project is partially funded by an income tax and property tax levy passed in 2016, and will add 30-40 years to the existing life of the buildings. It is costing approximately $20,000,000 and is also supported financially by the state due to it being in partnership with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
“Anna Schools will be one of the last area schools to have an OSFC project and the first to have it paid off,” Bixler said in February.
In the treasurer’s report, Kathy Doseck discussed several budget items. She said the school fiscal year ended with a about $7,938,000. She also said the foundation forecast has no increase over the next two years, leaving the school with $3,800 per student enrolled.
“If nothing changes with students moving in and out, over the next three years we’re going to graduate over 100 students each year,” Bixler said. “Each year one of those leaves, we’re replacing it with traditionally 90 kindergartens, but more recently, more like 80.”
Doseck also noted that College Credit Plus has started deducting their fees, at $1,099, which is higher than expected. She ended by reporting that the investments in OFCC funds have made $67,000 in interest.
Concerns over health insurance were also topic of conversation. Anna Schools is part of the Shelby County Health Insurance Consortium, and rates have been climbing.
“We’re trying to find other options,” Bixler informed the board members.
The other options he mentioned was a larger health insurance consortium, the Education Purchasing Council (EPC) and partially self-insuring.
Bixler also shared the overall results from this year’s assessments. Anna failed statewide passage levels in two spots: 8th-grade language arts by one point and 7th-grade math by 23.
The school’s preliminary performance index was 103.3, up from last year at 100.9, and in past years the final performance index has been higher. This index number indicates the overall performance of the district, ranging from 0 to 120, with 100 being the goal. In 2014, Anna’s performance index ranked it 67th in the state. The highest ranking district in Shelby County was Russia, at 16.
Bixler noted in his report that this year the tests were more stringent, and the statewide passage levels were raised from 75 percent to 80. He also noted that students switched from taking tests with pencils and paper to computers.
The board approved a motion to participate in the EPC bus purchasing program, approved the $1,500 per year GAAP contract for accounting and approved several supplemental contracts to fill out the football program. Those contracts were:
• Casey Wical, varsity assistant football coach
• Brian Wical, varsity assistant football coach
• Chris Duncan, junior high football coach
• Jeff Sandoe, freshman football coach
• Anthony Marino, freshman football coach
The board briefly discussed board goals, and met in executive session to discuss employment.
The next Anna Board of Education meeting is Aug. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the middle school, room 209.
