School district tax rates will remain the same as last year’s levy, despite the board voting twice to approve the four percent above compensating increase, following action taken at the board of education’s regular meeting held Monday evening.

The board had approved the four percent increase at 44.3 cents on real and personal property at last month’s meeting on a 3-2 vote and again during a work session last Thursday afternoon on a 4-1 vote. However, the budget was rejected by the Kentucky Department of Education due to a technical error in advertising the public hearing on the issue, according to Finance Director Mike Reeves.

Reeves explained the KDE rejected the budget because the hearing deadline was advertised “too early” and apparently too long. Apparently the KDE had set in place a seven to 10 day window to advertise for a public hearing on the issue and Reeves said the district apparently advertised too early to allow the public time to comment on the proposed rates.

Reeves said about five other school districts had made the same mistake and the Department of Education allowed no exceptions, thus had to revert back to the same rates as last year.

During Monday’s meeting, with four of five members present (board member Jeff Sams and Superintendent Charlotte Nasief were both absent due to family and/or personal illness), the board voted to amend board order 2017-09-2959 which had set the rates earlier and to amend the tax levy as follows for the 2017-18 school year: 42.6 cents per $100 on real property, 42.7 on personal property, 53 cents on motor vehicle and three percent on utilities.

The motion to amend the order and re-set the rates back to last year’s level was made by board member Kevin Marcum, seconded by board chairperson Paula Key and passed by unanimous vote.

Reeves said after the meeting that although the reduction in the proposed rates would mean less revenue for the district, the school system would get by some how and noted that SEEK funding was not affected by the 17 percent state cuts in education.

The finance director further noted he was unaware about the KDE advertising specifications and thought the district was following statutes in the manner in which the public hearings had been advertised.

Later in the meeting, the board also heard the monthly finance report from Reeves and approved the 2017-18 working budget, with the general fund amount being $14,460,761., close to last year’s total.

In other business, the board recognized several recent school district retirees, each of whom made some farewell comments to the board and those in attendance, while being presented a plaque of appreciation by the board.

After voting to approve previous board meeting minutes, they approved a family medical leave for Katrina Smith through October 21; approved between meeting disbursements, voted to pay claims and bills and approved several school sponsored trips.

Board chairperson Key then gave the monthly personnel report, as follows:

* Certified hired: Shawna Huddleston, teacher at Albany Elementary School.

* Certified resignations: Josh Moons, Athletic Director at the middle school.

* Substitute teachers: Donna Spears, CCHS; Amber Patrick, Jessica Guthrie and Zackrey Pharis, district-wide.

* Classified retired: Bobby Reneau, bus driver.

* Classified resignation: Keri McDaniel, bus driver.

* Classified hired: Keri McDaniel, Food Service Assistant Director.

* Classified transfer: Jeremy Wright from tull-time substitute bus driver to regular driver.

The board also approved a Memorandum of Agreement between Berea College (GEAR-UP Program) and the school board and voted to declare two school buses as surplus properly and advertise the sale of said buses via sealed bids.

They also voted to establish a classified Head Custodian position for the Clinton Center at a rate of pay of $13.88 per hour, eight hours per day, 241 days per year, to begin once the Center acquisition takes place.

Director of Pupil Personnel Julie York then gave the attendance report for the first full month of school, which ran through August 24.

The attendance for the month was up .42 percent, from 96.12 last year to 96.54 this year, and enrollment being unchanged at 1,716 students for both periods.

The school with the highest average daily attendance (ADA) was the middle school at 97.15 for the month and the Early Childhood Center had the most improved attendance compared to the same month a year ago.

Prior to adjourning, the board also entered into a closed session on a student disciplinary matter with no announcement of actions, if any taken, made public upon returning to open session.

The school board’s next work session is scheduled for Thursday, October 12 at 4:30 p.m. and regular business meeting Monday, October 16 at 5 p.m., both at the Central Office board room and both are open to the general public.

Work session

Clinton County Board of Education held a work session last Thursday afternoon, September 14. In conjunction with the work session was a public hearing on the school tax rates.

The board heard a presentation from CCMS and CCHS principals Angela Sloan and Stacey Evans, respectively pertaining to the district-wide athletic director position, which they had advocated for the previous month.

Since that time, however, Evans noted that Nick Irwin, who is also a teacher at Clear Creek Academy, had realized he did not have the time to serve as AD district-wide due to the time it took for those duties and board members noted the classroom time at the Academy was more important.

At the end of the session, the board voted, by unanimous vote, to abolish the district-wide AD position and Irwin and Josh Moons will resume the post at the high school and middle school, respectively.

Sid Scott II, district-wide Technology Coordinator also addressed the board in regards to filling a position in the technology department. He noted that long-time technology technician Frankie Butler was retiring at the end of the month and recommended that Tyler Shearer, who is now working in a classified position, be hired in Butler’s place in a certified role. Someone else could be hired to fill Shearer’s classified spot.

Scott said that with Butler making approximately $73,000 due to his years of experience, compared to what Shearer would be making after five years experience, around $50,000, the district would actually be saving a little over $20,000 annually. He noted Shearer has been doing great work in his job and made the recommendation he be hired to replace Butler.

Board member Sams made the motion to transfer Shearer to that position and establish a classified position to fill Shearer’s current job, which passed by unanimous vote.

Director of Transportation Russell Decker also addressed the board pertaining to older equipment. He noted the most pressing was the need for a trash truck, noting he had found one in Virginia that had only 27,000 miles at a cost of $29,500.

The board agreed that since the vehicle cost was in excess of $20,000, they would go through the two-week bid process prior to taking final action.