Minutes of the March 26, 2008 Smyth County School Called Meeting

The Smyth County School Board met today in a called meeting at 5:00 P.M., in the board meeting room, 121 Bagley Circle, Suite 300, Marion, Virginia, for the purpose of considering the 2008-2009 fiscal year school board budget.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Hall called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

The roll was called by the clerk, and all members were present.

AGENDA

On motion by Ms. Sneed, seconded by Mr. Choate, by 7-0 vote, the agenda was approved as presented.

PRESENTATIONS

Dr. Robinson presented an overview of the 2008-2009 school board budget. He reviewed budget priorities, revenue, and expenditures. The board received copies of the draft 2008-2009 Smyth County Public Schools' Budget Book and the proposed 2008-2009 school board budget. The proposed budget includes:

Approximately three (3) percent raise for employees;
Increase in school board contribution for health insurance from $310.00 to $350.00 per month;
Increase in masters supplement from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00;
Increase in doctoral supplement from $2,500.00 to $2,700.00;
A revised technology specialist salary scale;
A band equipment replacement cycle; and
Various line item expenditure adjustments.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Nicole Holmes, a teacher at Northwood Middle School, thanked the board for all their hard work on the budget.

ACTION ITEMS - MOTION REQUIRED

The board considered adoption of the Smyth County School Board Budget for 2008-2009 contingent upon revenue projections. On motion by Mr. Choate, seconded by Mr. Catron, by 7-0 vote, the board approved the proposed 2008-2009 County School Operating Fund budget in the amount of $50,812,911.00 and the County School Debt and Capital Outlay Fund budget in the amount of $1,446,802.00 contingent upon revenue projections.

The board considered bids for new public address systems at Chilhowie High School, Chilhowie Middle School, and Sugar Grove Combined School. On motion by Mr. Coulthard, seconded by Mr. Choate, by 7-0 vote, the board approved the bid from Dynamark Security, Inc., in the amount of $41,999.00.

The board considered schedules for high school graduations. On motion by Mr. Doane, seconded by Ms. Sneed, by 7-0 vote, the graduation schedules were approved as follows:

School	Graduation
Alternative Education	7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 22 Marion Senior High School Auditorium
Chilhowie High School	6:00 p.m. Friday, June 6 Chilhowie High School Athletic Field (In case of rain, graduation will be held in the Chilhowie High School auditorium and gymnasium.)
Marion Senior High School	10:00 a.m. Saturday, June 7 Marion Senior High School Athletic Field (In case of rain, graduation will be held in the Marion Senior High School gymnasium.)
Northwood High School	7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 5 Northwood High School gymnasium
Smyth Career & Technology Center	6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 3 Chilhowie High School Auditorium

The board considered the following field trip requests:

The FFA at Marion Senior High School to attend the Soil and Water Conservation's Area Envirothon to be held on Friday, April 11, 2008, at Ewing, Virginia;
The FFA at Marion Senior High School to attend the Virginia State FFA Forestry Career Development Event to be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, at Crewe, Virginia;
The FBLA at Northwood High School to attend a Virginia Highlands Community College competition on Thursday, April 24, 2008, (this will be in place of a pre-approved trip to Washington, D.C.);
Two (2) fifth grade classes at Chilhowie Elementary School to visit the State Police Area Headquarters in Wytheville, Virginia, during the first week in June as a reward for character education;
Marion Senior High School Band to attend a band camp from Sunday, July 13, 2008, through Saturday, July 19, 2008, on the campus of East Tennessee State University at Johnson City, Tennessee; and
Northwood High School Band to attend a band camp from Monday, July 21, 2008, through Thursday, July 24, 2008, on the campus of the University of Virginia at Wise.

On motion by Mr. Coulthard, seconded by Mr. Choate, by 7-0 vote, the field trip requests were approved.

The board considered declaring furniture and equipment presented as surplus. On motion by Mr. Coulthard, seconded by Mr. Catron, by 7-0 vote, this was approved.

On motion by Mr. Catron, seconded by Mr. Coulthard, by 7-0 vote, the meeting was adjourned.