The Royall School Board held its monthly meeting on Monday night. One of the topics that was discussed was going to bond on the Energy Exemption Plan.
With the Energy Exemption Plan, the district can do energy-related projects without having to go to referendum. However, that money is only geared toward the projects the district selects.
Superintendent Mark Gruen said that the board had several options on how long they wanted to pay off the debt; eight years, ten years, or 15 years. Gruen said that he and Business Manager Jeff Lankey advised going with the ten year plan because it gave room for flexibility and the debt could still be paid off in eight years if everything went well. Lankey and Gruen had planned on going to bond at a later date, but the interest rates were at historical lows. Gruen said it would be better to go to bond now than wait any longer. Right now, the district has been borrowing from Royal Bank as the district needs the money, rather than bonding right out of the gate, which has saved them about $30,000 of interest. Lankey said the district is the only district to have done a borrowing as they went. It has only had to do two borrowings from Royal Bank. The idea is that after the district closes on the bond in May, it will be able to pay back the money it borrowed from Royal Bank from the plan’s proceeds. After that the rest of the $2.4 million will be in the district’s Fund 44, which is the Capital Improvements Fund, and then pay off the projects that continue to be done over the summer. After the discussion, the board agreed that the ten year plan was the best option for the project.
Later, Buildings and Grounds Director Tim Marshall gave updates on the progress of the Energy Exemption Plan. He said that the Monday after graduation, the roof and the sidewalks will start coming on and being worked on. The roof is projected to be finished be for school starts. Marshall said he did request that if the crew were to fall behind schedule on the roof, there will be additional crews brought in to make sure it’s finished in time for the start of school. Marshall said that signs have been put up on the sides of the buildings, cameras have been placed inside the high school and middle school. Cameras will also be placed in the elementary school.
Other items the board took action on:
- Approved administrative and supervisor contracts
- Approved switching dental insurance to Delta for 2015-2016 at no rate increase
- Approved Policy #461.00 Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarship
- Approved Policy #462.00 Technical Excellence Scholarship
- Approved Johnson & Block & Associates as the auditors for fiscal year 2015-2016
- Approved CESA 4 and CESA 5 contracts
- Approved 2015-2016 Calendar
- Set the May School Board meeting for May 26 at 6pm