R-I Board Pauses Business For Musical Interlude

A routine meeting of the Doniphan R-I board Nov. 12 was made less ordinary by a sample selection from the high school choir, along with an update from two choir members.

Lane Collins and Mayce Maness addressed the board, describing their club as a musical “community,” which is “passionate, dedicated, and competitive.”

Through sharing of music on events such as Valentine’s Day, Veterans Day, and Heritage Days, Maness said, “We celebrate our culture and our history, and our voices have become a part of our community’s identity.”

Collins stated, the club is “a safe place, a support system in every sense” which has “shaped who we are and who we are becoming. We are more than just a group...we’re a family,” he said.

For a nice change of pace the board was invited to step away from the meeting for a brief acapella selection by the choir, led by director Rebecca Swafford.

Returning to the regular business agenda, the board heard that the annual 2023-2024 went “smoothly.”

“We had no trouble gathering any of the audit evidence that we needed to be able to attach the work to the financial statements,” said Auditor Mike Catlett.

Catlett of Catlett and Associates, LLC, who conducted the audit, told the board that the Covid money is about to run its course. “We are heading to a place where things will start to return to normal.”

Catlett said although the extra money “was nice to have,” it complicated the reporting process.

“There was nothing that I saw which made me feel obligated to communicate it to the board, nothing serious. If there had been, you would have been told about it long before now,” he said.

During action items the board approved the 2023-2024 audit as presented and budget amendments.

Superintendent Owen said, “In June you approved an expenditure budget of $20.5 million with revenues of $20.5 million, leaving a projected balance of $6.7 million. That would have left the ending balance at $16,000.

“Now, as we move further into the year, I am requesting a budget revision of expenditures and revenues of $20.6 million which will leave a projected balance of $6.5 million and an ending balance of about $20,000,” said Owen.

“We’ve saved about $4,000. Some of the reasons for these changes insofar as expenditures, there were some things we expected to come out of last year’s budget but projects were either extended or some payments came in late.”

That list included the final payment on the gym floor, completion of the bus parking lot, and the fiber-optic cable project which connected the bus garage, the baseball concessions and career center to the network.

The community development block grant of $500K for the career center was listed as a source of revenue, but also an expenditure. “That money actually flows through the county. “It is a wash financially but throws off the budget by $500,000,” Owen said. “We have cut some things from the budget this year, too. We are looking to remove $150,000 we budgeted for the purchase of a bus we have leased. We are rolling that over into next year.”

Another $30,000 is being cut from the paper budget. “The district has a surplus and that should carry us over for the rest of the year without buying more,” he said.

Owen added, “Classroom trust funds are trending a little higher than what was expected and the district received the teacher’s baseline salary grant, which was also not anticipated.

“DESE was late in a payment that was supposed to come in June, so that wound up going onto this year’s budget, and we sold the masonry house, another unexpected source of revenue we didn’t expect.”

Owen warned, “This is still a very tight budget, however. I plan to bring another budget amendment before the board in the spring. We still have several unknowns.”

Chief among those unknowns are tax revenues and the final expenses for the career center.

Ashley DeBerry reported on MAP/EOC testing results, which showed typical highs and lows, pinpointing areas that need some work and areas which showed improvement. (See related article next week).

Under action items, the board approved policy #2875, which pertains to the district’s allergy prevention and response plan. This was presented for consideration during the October meeting. A slight change was made in the wording, in regard to the EPIPENS supply. Some of the parents prefer to provide their own, rather than use them from the district’s supply, and that will be permitted. That part of the plan will be amended.

The board approved opening and closing dates for the 2025 municipal election. Candidate filing will begin Dec. 10 and end Dec. 31, during school hours, excluding holidays and dates and times the school is not in session.

The board approved the annual secretary board report (ASBR), a yearly financial summary which had already been approved by DESE, but was also required to be approved by the board.

The district will be participating in a program through which it can offer inhouse training for substitute teachers at no cost.

In the past substitute teachers have paid for the training to get their certificates and background checks. “We will be able to customize their training, and hopefully we will get some more substitute teachers,” said Owen.

Lastly, Superintendent Owen reported that school will be closed Nov. 18-29 for the fall break for deer season and Thanksgiving.