001Call this May 11th regular session order. I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor? Passes 50. Also need a motion to approve the minutes from the April 20th and May 4th meetings. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? passes 5 Z recognitions. Mr. Carter. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. We have uh several recognitions this evening, so I'd ask that you guys uh come forward. As you do so, I'll point out that the art display this month is provided by students of Dove Creek Middle and their instructor is Leila Burton. Their artwork will be on display at the ISC throughout the month. We thank these talented students for sharing their art with us. First this
002evening, the board will recognize the May Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, Hayden Harrison of Dove Creek Elementary. She is receiving a $50 Visa gift card, fleece blanket, stainless steel mug, and tote from Pete State Federal Credit Union. Additional gift cards from Chops and Hops and Rosy's Hometown Meets and a plaque from Okone County Schools. From her nomination form, Hayden is walking sunshine, bringing positivity, warmth, and light into every space she enters. She greets everyone with a warm smile and a welcoming demeanor, creating an environment where people feel valued and supported. Hayden goes above and beyond when working with teachers, parents, and students. She is eager to help and solve any problems that may come up. She consistently anticipates the needs of the school before they arise, ensuring that operations run smoothly and efficiently. Her organizational
003skills are outstanding and her attention to detail allows her to manage complex financial responsibilities with accuracy and confidence. She does not simply meet expectations. She exceeds them by continuously looking for ways to improve systems. She willingly shares her expertise, supports others in their development, and fosters a collaborative environment where everyone can succeed. The May Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, Hayden Harrison. Next, a board will recognize Maddox Chang and Benjamin Walker of Dove Creek Middle School for earning first place in the food systems division at the 2026 state FFA Agra Science Fair. Brandon Walker serves as their adviser. Next, the board will recognize Carter Stanford of Dove Creek Middle School for earning third place in the environmental natural resources division at the 2026 state FFA aggracience fair. Brandon Walker serves as his adviser. Next award will
004recognize Thomas Bowen of Okone County High School for earning first place in accounting at the DECA state competition and a top 10 finish on the accounting test at the DECA International Development Conference. Josh Bentley serves as his adviser. Congratulations. Next, a board will recognize Ibrahim Imm of OKone County High School for earning third place in human resource management at the DECA state competition. Josh Bentley serves as the adviser. Next, a board will recognize Okone County High school students Kora Jeffcoat and Harper Roth for earning first place gold in interior design at the FCCLA state star event. Christy Glaze serves as the adviser. Next, the board will recognize Okone County High School students Khloe Light and Lily Smith for earning second place in nutrition and wellness at the FCCLA State Star event. Christy Glaze serves as
005the adviser. And that concludes recognitions. um dollar store. >> They have one dollar store for like a dollar. >> How's mama doing? >> Yeah, she's good. Understandable. Yeah. >> Next we have points of pride with Dove Creek Middle. Dr. Eddie Good evening, the members of the Coney County Board of Education and Dr. Butler. On behalf of the student, staff, and community of Dove Creek Middle School, thank you for the opportunity to share a few of our points of pride this evening. At DCMS, we're committed to creating a meaningful opportunities for students to lead, serve, and grow both academically and personally. Tonight, our student council students are excited to highlight the ways that they are building student voice, strengthening school culture, and positively impacting our school community through their leadership and service. I'm going to turn
006this presentation over to our student council and their advisor, uh, Mr. Ben Grasser. Hi, I'm George and this is Dove Creek Student Council's points of pride project. We will be talking about our goals, how student council works, and our achievements. Hi, I'm Ruby and I'm the student council president. Quinn is our vice president. Gabby, Kate, and Ada are our seventh grade representatives. and Payton and George are sixth grade representatives. How student council works is in late August, teachers will select what members they want in their student council that year. Once members are elected, anyone interested in running for a role as an officer can prepare a speech for one of our first student council meetings. After the officers are elected, they help to plan, organize, and run the meetings where we discuss all of our
007future goals and how we want to accomplish them. Student council meets every third Thursday of the month. At those meetings, our officers lead them and they talk about what goals and accomplishments we want to fill out through the rest of the year. We organize these accomplishments on a bit.ly website, which all DCMS students can access later. Student council really has two main goals. Number one is to better the student experience and number two is to give students a voice. We achieve those goals by we have podcast called Behind the Armor. It is a school podcast led by student council members. We have a hot chocolate brand called Nights Brew. It is our student led hot chocolate brand. Members from student council sign up and sell hot chocolate every Friday. With the profit from Nights Brew,
008we decide what to do with the funds and how it will benefit our school. And finally, members sign up to volunteer around the school to help schoolwide services. During our second year of Dove Creek, we created a school podcast called Behind the Armor. The purpose was to keep students informed while also highlighting their stories. We host these episodes on a website and we aim to release one per week. Here are some examples of episodes FCA, Cross Country, and Sources of Strength. And of course, AI Dr. Eddie is our biggest fan. This is how we organize our podcast. It is shared with every student council member so everyone can have the opportunity to create a podcast they are interested in. They they start by brainstorming an idea either by themselves or with another person. They then
009write their script and ask any special guests if they want to be part of it. They then go to a recording studio and record their podcast. It the podcast is then sent to our recording to the editing team to add the theme song and any edits. The podcast is then posted to the student council website for everyone to listen to. This is our trailer. Welcome to Behind the Armor, the podcast that takes you beyond the walls of DCMS and into the heart of night life. From student spotlights and school stories to insider interviews and nightly advice, we're here to celebrate everything that makes DCMS a place of pride, learning, and community. Tune in as we uncover the stories, the challenges, and the triumphs that shape our school. This is Behind the Armor, where we put
010the spotlight on real experiences behind every night. Our biggest and number one fundraiser for student council is Nights Brew. Every Friday morning, we sell our non- coffee based hot chocolates with specials every month. Some include peppermint mocha, um, pumpkin spice, and s'mores. We make a big profit. This year, we made around $2,000. And Gabby here is showing us our idea for how to spend our profits. As Kate was saying, this year we collected over $2,000. Now, we had to bring student council to figure out what needed to be changed at our school. We came to the conclusion that we needed new nighttime equipment, new cafeteria, microwaves, and more seating. So, our officers came to Dr. Eddie with this plan in mind. We are now currently ordering three sets of new nighttime equipment, one per grade
011level. Student council members also volunteer around the school to help with schoolwide services. Student council helps out with step up day. Members from student council volunteer to tour the rising sixth graders around the school. Next is Canthon. We collected over 800 cans and members every day went to the cafeteria and created pyramids out of the cans to demonstrate how many cans our schools collected. Another thing that the student council helps out with is secret Santa. Every member goes around teaching students about the goal and what they can do to help reach it. After the gifts come in, members help package and organize. If any other needs come about, the student council is there to help and assist. As a sixth grader, I'm really excited for student council's future and future goals. One of our future
012goals is continuing our progress. Next year we hope to continue behind the armor and continue our fundraiser night. Another one of our goals is to grow our recognition. Though we work hard behind the scenes, we want the student body to be more aware that the student council can make change for the students. And our last goal is to bring students together. Student council aims to unite the student body by providing them a voice in the building. Thank you for listening in to our presentation. Are there any questions? >> I was just going to ask Dr. Eddie what uh the AI generated photo at the front. Who did that? >> It makes me look a lot better. >> What was everybody's favorite topic for podcast? What was your most viral podcast? >> Oh, I have one.
013Um, one of our podcasts we did school spirit, no sorry, school secrets with our technology guy, Coach White, and it was really interesting, but that was one of last year's episodes. >> I liked our Christmas tradition podcast. >> What is the nighttime equipment that you're purchasing? Um, right now we're purchasing volleyballs, footballs, and we're per we're also buying mini soccer goals so kids can play soccer. Um, then we're also buying soccer balls to play with. >> Great job. This is Lisa Thomas and I'm Lisa Vaughn and you can see some of the reasons why we're super proud to serve as assistant principles at Dove Creek Middle. We want to thank you again board members and Dr. Butler for your continued support of Dove Creek Middle School in Okone County Schools. We are incredibly proud of
014our students and the leadership that they demonstrate each day. The work highlighted tonight reflects the culture of excellence, service, and student engagement that makes DCMS such a special place. We appreciate the opportunity to share part of our story with you this evening and are grateful for the investment for your investment in our students, our staff, and community. >> Go Nights. Mike, can we get a picture with y'all? Can we get a picture? Maybe you guys That's pretty good. get all these >> kind. >> Yeah. >> Next we have presentations and discussions. Business services. Mr. Adams. Good evening board members and Dr. Butler. The business services report for May 11th contains eight items of information and two action items for tonight's meeting. The first item of information is the April cash balance report. As of April
01530th, the closing cash balance represents a 5.12% decrease over last month. Our state funding projections are currently stable and our cash balance for April was strong and we are well positioned to still meet our financial obligations for this fiscal year. Our second item of information is a list of all vendor payments made in April. We paid 482 vendors $2.6 million for the month. It was a big month. The third item information is the budget report for April. Revenue for Advalorum tax collection is at 99.5% for the month and 93.1% overall. Revenue and expenditure expenditures would expected to be at 83%. Our monthly report shows us at 83.1. This indicates that we are on target for the period maintaining a balanced financial position. But we will continue to monitor these figures closely as we move towards
016the fiscal year end. The fourth item of information is the East Bloss collections report. We had an increase of 12.93% in collections over last month. We had a small dip of 2.38 decrease over April of last year, but we did get back above the million dollars in collections that we dipped over last month. So that was good news to see. The fifth item information is the east 6 report. Revenues and expenditures have been updated through the end of April. The sixth item of information is our April federal revenue and expenditure update. This report updates on the federal funding allocation and expenditures for the month of April. Remember these funds are reimbursement based and we will continue to see these funds paid out to us throughout the fiscal year. Our seventh item of information we are
017proud to announce is our audit for fiscal year 25 has been su successfully completed with no findings. Our team's commitment to compliance, accuracy, and operational excellence was clearly demonstrated throughout this process. We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards and are pleased to be recognized for our continued diligence. Thank you again to all our teams involved for your dedication and attention to detail and that goes to all of our divisions and departments. Our eighth item of information is the fiscal year 27 tenative budget calendar. The fiscical year 27 tenative budget calendar outlines the key milestone and timelines for developing next year's operating budget, including department submissions, review periods, and board work sessions. These schedule ensures a structured process that supports informed decision-making and aligns resources with district priorities. The budget hearing information on the budget
018hearing dates have been advertised in the legal organ. The budget hearing dates are set for May 21st and May 28th. Both meetings will be held here in the board meeting room at the instructional support center. Action item. Our first action item is our tenative fiscal year 27 budget. But before I get there, I just wanted to talk about our our um some highlights on our homestead exemptions that we now have. So for the new school exemptions that would took effect January 1st of 2025, the standard exemption of $5,000, it was 2,000, they raised it 3,000, so it's now 5,000 for all citizens. Our second one is and that that goes up to 10,000 in the year 2035. Just FYI on that. And then at age 65, property values are now automatically frozen for tax purposes.
019And at age 75, homeowners receive an additional $10,000 exemption. So these changes became effective January 21st, 2025, and apply to both county and school district taxes. So the bottom line, these updates provide greater tax relief and predictability, particularly for our senior residents, while impacting future reserve revenue considerations for the school system. And as I mentioned in last month's regular session, Aone County Schools received a five-star FESA rating. Again, we're the only school district in the state that achieved this five-star rating. And this slide that that's up on the screen compares us with our district Rhysa peers. So, Aone County is currently ranked 10th out of 13 in the system. This places us in the lower third of comparable districts and our low per pupil expenditure reflects disciplined stewardship of our taxpayer dollars for Aone County
020Schools. This recogn recognition reflects a continued commitment to strong student achievement, responsible budgeting, and excellent stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Again, this is a combined effort of our CCRPI scores and in the three-year history of the financials. So it it's an outstanding testament to what goes on in all of our schools as OCS continues to provide a strong return on investment for the Eoni County community. While OCS continues to provide a strong return on investment for Aone County, the fiscical year 27 tenative budget development process also required the district to make significant reductions and adjustments to maintain long-term financial stability. The following slide outlines the significant budget reductions in the fiscal year 27 tenative budget. We're going to start off with overall budget reductions that include 14 total OCS employees. This would have been 23 if
021we hadn't had the mandated literacy that came through and enacted as law. So that added nine. So the net effect would have been 23, but we have we're at 14. Um, so as I mentioned, that total reduction includes the the addition of the nine instructional coaches that meets that literacy law. And this this slide also reflects an overall reduction in the fiscal year 27 operating budget, which we're going to be at 90% personal services, 10% operating. So that 10% operating, we reduced that amount by 3.27% or approximately $431,000. I want to recognize our staff and leadership teams for their work in identifying thoughtful targeted reductions. This was not a simple exercise. These adjustments reflect intentional decision-making make to protect core services while improving efficiencies. We also appreciate the continued partnership with the sheriff's office and
022county commissioners and working collaboratively to manage these costs. We're able to reduce the SRO program by $436,000. Again, this is a commitment to both safety and fiscal responsibility. Importantly, we were able to achieve this while maintaining our focus on student outcomes, safety, and staff support. This slide illustrates staffing reductions aligned with enrollment decreases we've experienced in Aone County. This represents a net reduction of 30 positions, which would have been 39 if the literacy coaches were included, reflecting this district's ongoing efforts to rightsize staffing in response to student population trends and maintain a fiscal balance for the fisc year 27 tenative budget. New mandatory budget requirements include health insurance increases, teachers retirement increases, 18% increase in utility cost, and an increase to our local fair share QB withholdings. Our first mandatory requirement for the state health
023insurance increase. The governor's proposed budget include an increase in the employer health insurance contribution for both certified and classified staff. The House and Senate finalized proposal includes the certified and classified employee rate increasing from 1885 a month to 1935 a month starting July 1st for a cost of $35,000. I want to make a note here for you all. We've talked about this a little bit, but you know the state's contribution for the included in the 27 budget there was a 9% reduction in state agencies contributions toward health insurance for state agencies. This provides context for y'all. Custodian position earning approximately $40,000 at the University of North Georgia here in Watkinsville cost the college about $8,100 in health insurance contributions. While the same position in Aone County schools costs approximately $23,220, highlighting the significantly higher benefit
024costs school districts must absorb. So just wanted to make you all aware of that. So if I'm if I'm hearing that right, you're saying that not all state insurance is going up. It's basically just educational expenses. So anybody that's involved in education is going up by this amount while other state agencies are lower in their insurance cost. >> 9% decrease in in what their rate was. They pay on a percentage basis towards their the salary that a position makes or an FD and that's how they they do it there in the state. And what you just explained is that it cost us more to get the same level of custodial work as it would cost say Athens Tech >> if you if you had the same salary making 40,000 roughly $40,000 you'd have that delta
025between the 23 and the $8,000 about $15,000 difference >> and that just looking at the certified and classified positions. So certified there can be some reimbursement from the state on that. >> Yes. However, on the classified, which are going to be the custodial positions that we don't outsource or um said differently, sort of non-teers, um that cost is wholly borne by the local taxpayers. >> That's correct. >> Okay. >> U the next slide shows our history of health insurance in increases to the classified employer contribution. Since 2012, the local cost for health insurance has increased $6.8 billion. Our second requirement for the fiscical year 2017 tenative budget is a teacher retirement increase. The governor's proposed budget increased the TRS employer contribution from 21.91% to 22.32% for a cost of $248,000. Again, this slide shows us
026the history of TRS employer rate increases. Since 2011, TRS contributions have increased over $5.9 million for certified staff. Next, I'd like to share a video with you on how Georgia school are funded. This will help provide important context for the state's funding structure, including how local and state dollars work together to support our schools. Deb, will you go ahead and play? Push play. >> The decades old law that dictates how the state of Georgia disperses money to schools sits at the heart of most education policy discussions in the state. This video will answer the question, how does Georgia funds schools? Georgia's public schools are funded through a law passed in 1985 called the Quality Basic Education Act or QBE. At its most basic, QBE takes the total number of students and uses that number to
027decide how much to pay out for school employee salaries, known as direct instructional cost and indirect cost, and other expenses needed to run a school, known as categorical grants. Before sending that amount down to each district, QBE subtracts out what the state thinks each district should be paying on its own, called local fair share. We'll talk through each of those buckets here, but first, it's key to understand how QBE counts students. Twice a year, every school in the state counts the number of students present and notes what classes the students are in. Think general ed, gifted, or special education. These programs are funded differently based on things like what the state believes the appropriate class size should be. To account for students in different programs, the state divides up the day, then combines the pieces
028based on the programs they're in. The result is titled full-time equivalent students or FTEES. By counting FTEES, the state can find out how many teachers need to be paid. Teacher salaries make up the bulk of the first bucket in the QBE formula, direct instructional cost. Each year, Georgia's General Assembly comes up with a base dollar amount to fund for each student. In 2019, it is $2,620.77. Every program that the state of Georgia pays for is given a weight. When QB was created, it was decided that general education high school students were the least expensive to educate and assigned them a weight of one. Middle school, by comparison, is weighted slightly higher. At its most basic, if you had 100 high schoolers and 100 middle schoolers after multiplying by each of the weights and the base
029amount, the middle school would be given just under $300,000, while the high school would get 262,000. Once school systems replicate this process for each program, the final dollar amount is how much each should be given for direct instructional cost. The next bucket is indirect cost. These are things that affect the students but aren't the classroom teachers. Think libraries, school maintenance, and salaries for principles. The funds for these positions are tied to the number of schools within the system and the number of FTEEs in those schools. Here's what this looks like in practice for Faget County in the 2018 2019 school year. You can see the calculation for direct instructional cost and indirect cost. At the bottom of these two buckets is a QB formula earnings. Although the state says that Faget County Public Schools need
030$128 million for these costs, this is not the amount the district will receive. To understand why, it's important to look back over 30 years. Before QBE, it was local taxes, not state money, that paid the most for schools. When QBE was being created, there was a fear that some local districts would just stop paying for schools altogether and make the state pay for everything. So lawmakers built in the requirement that each school system taxes their district five mills or $5 for every $1,000 of property value. This is known as local fair share or required local effort or five mill share. It's got a lot of names. So before the state sends down all the dollars needed to run a school system, it deducts the local fair share. After the calculation of direct and indirect educational
031cost and the subtraction of the local fair share, the state provides the fourth bucket, categorical grants. These grants are for services such as paying school nurses or sparsity, which would help smaller districts pay for overhead fixed costs like air conditioning. School bus transportation is also funded through categorical grants, although the state has paid a significantly lower percentage of the cost since 1991 when it paid over half. Equalization grants are also in this bucket. The state provides this money to districts that have less ability to raise money through property taxes. Even though every district has to tax five mills for education, there is nothing stopping them from taxing more. Equalization grants are given to districts with a lower tax base to ensure that all districts can provide a basic public education. There's much more to QBE,
032but that's the basics for how Georgia funds schools. The Quality Basic Education Act was ahead of its time, but that was a long time ago. By reference, you're watching an online video about a formula that was written when less than 10% of all houses in the US even had a computer. The same basic formula that dictated where over 9.6 6 billion went in 2019. To learn more about where those billions of dollars came from, as well as where they're going, head to gbpi.org. >> Thought that would be a good point. So you share that video with yourself to give not only y'all but the public an understanding of the what goes into the QBE formula and particular that local fair share. So that's what I want to talk about next is our local fair share.
033It's it's a required contribution that we have to make. Um it represents the baseline level of local effort expected from each school district as part of participation in the state funding system. Again, it's required to equal up to five mills of property tax. It's been part of Georgia's QB funding structure since 1985, but it ensures local participation in public public education funding. So, there's some key facts and why it matters up here for y'all. Strong steady growth in local fair share. Aone Countyy's local fair share has increased consistently due to growth in local property tax digest and rising local wealth factors within Georgia's QBE formula. The local fair share has grown $6.6 million over the last eight years representing 84% total increase with an average annual growth rate of approximately 9 to 10%. As local
034fair share increases, the state reduces QB earnings proportionately, reflecting the assumption that local communities have greater capacity to fund education through local resources. Again, this next slide is that history of local fair share showing the increase of 6.6 million from 2020 to 2027. The fiscical year 27 tenative budget includes an increase in state local fair share QB withholdings of $730,000 for a total of $14.4 million for fiscal year 27. Next, I'd like to talk about additional considerations for the fiscical year 27 tenative budget. Those are salary enhancements, school food nutrition program, and salary improvements. Our first consideration for the fiscal year 27 tenative budget is salary scale enhancements for our TST2s nurses and athletic coaches supplements for a total of $399,000 to support recruitment and retention efforts in critical areas. Again, after reviewing salary studies,
035these these areas were identified as high priority areas for us and that's why these were done and chosen. And I believe you remember few months back Justin did already do the teachers and nursing scales with y'all and you all approved those already for this year. So moving forward, this is for next year in the budget. Our second consideration for the 27 tenative budget is projected school nutrition revenue shortfall of approximately $250,000. To address this this gap, the district is imp implementing a combination of menu adjustments and targeted price increases. These increases reflect a 25% increase in meal prices to help recoup cost. In order to fully offset these funds, meal prices would have needed to increase by approximately 75 cents. However, we determined that such an increase would place too much of a burden on
036a Coney County schools families. These actions are expected to offset the anticipated shortfall while maintaining quality meal services for students. The school nutrition program is being proactively managed to remain financially stable without requiring additional funding support. Our third consideration is a 2% salary improvement for all of Coney County School staff. This adjustment is intended to support employee retention and remain competitive in our regional market. Our staff are our most significant resource and compensation is a key factor in maintaining a high quality workforce. This sli this slide shows a history of our salary improvements for the school district for the last 11 years including what has been proposed for fiscal year 27. Here we have a summary of all our requirements and considerations for the fiscal year 27 tenative budget with expenditures of $2.9 million. Of
037this 2.9 million, about 550,000 is mandatory increases by the state. So how are we going to pay for all this? So this is kind of overview of our tax digest. Uh we've experienced in a in a steady growth since 2014 and we based our estimates for this year on a three% increase in the tax digest. That represents about $3.9 billion on the figures we've been tenatively given by the tax commissioner. The fiscical year 27 continuation budget totals 119.5 million representing the cost to maintain current program staffing levels and operational commitments from the prior year. With our additional requirements and considerations, an additional 2.9 is included to address mandatory increases and adjustments for the upcoming fiscal year. The total fiscal year 27 tenative expenditures combining both components ex will bring us to 122.4 million reflecting the
038full scope of anticipated funding needed for fiscal year 27. The current millage rate is 13.962 mills. We're proposing a full roll back rate of 13.813 mills. This is based on preliminary data that we received from the tax commissioner. This reflects the calculated full row back required under state law to maintain revenue neutrality. Our fund balance position, the district's estimated total fund balance to end this fiscal year will be 544.6 million, reflecting a strong overall financial position. available unassigned reserves after accounting for committed and assigned funds. The estimated assigned fund balance is 32.7, providing us flexibility to support cash flow needs if needed, our financial stability, and any unforeseen needs that come up. And we all remember what happened out at North of Coney this year with our storm water. Just to talk a little bit
039about the committed and assigned fund balances. The 12.07 million committed fund balance is dedicated to the east general obligation bonds reflecting our legally committed resources for previously approved capital financing. Again, we did get that approved to be in the fiscal year or in East East seven, but until those funds are collected, this just sets aside money in case that money does not come to fruition that we have dedicated to pay our debt that we owe for the next two years. Again, these funds will be paid for ELOS 7 when the funds are available. The assigned fund balance is designated for specific planned uses until east collections become available, allowing the district to move forward with projects without issuing additional bonds. This approach provides flexibility to begin critical capital projects while maintaining financial stability and avoiding
040the need for issuing additional debt. We did have to go through the process of the legal ch that we had to go to post all that information. That was just part of the process to keep that flexibility in case we do have a downturn in the economy. But we have no plans at this time to recommend selling those bonds. But if we didn't do what we needed to do, we couldn't have that flexibility down the road. The estimated unassigned fund balance at 6:30 26 provides a strong beginning position entering fiscal year 27 with projected revenues of 120.6 6 million and expenditures of 122.5. The budget reflects a planned use of fund balance to support operations while still maintaining our FL financial flexibility. The estimating unassigned fund balance at 63027 is 30.9 million, reflecting a planned
041and controlled reduction while still maintaining reserve level in case of unforeseen needs or financial fluctuations. This slide shows the district's tenative average monthly expenditures of 9.7 million for fiscal year 27 with an estimated beginning fund balance equating to approximately 3.3 months of operating expenses. And you know that's about 26.9% of the budget. And recently in the laws that changed for homestead exemption, they increased that reserve that schools can keep to 25%. So we're borderline there. We do have this the Swiss waiver. We're exempt from that as well, but just we're almost 1.9% over what the state's now recommending. And as a reminder, best business practices are three to months of reserves, which supports financial stability and our ability to manage unforeseen circumstances. Our second action item is the fiscal year 27 tenative budget for federal
042funds for your consideration. This budget includes 6.3 million in anticipated revenues and expenditures. The federal funds represent approximately 5.2% of the overall budget and includes an average about nine programs each fiscal year. And again, these are reimbursement based requiring the district to front the expenditures and receive payments as a lag throughout the fiscal year. And that concludes my report unless the board has any questions. >> I have a few questions. >> Yes, sir. >> So, um just a few points just to clarify. Um early in the presentation, you were sharing um some of the um reduction in expenses. One of those was pertaining to the SRO program. >> Yes, sir. >> Just to confirm, um that reduction will not cause a will not cause a school to lose an SRO officer. So, we will still
043continue that strong partnership. Um, okay. So, just say thank you um to the the staff for working closely with Sheriff Hail and then also with the commission um on ways to be able to to refine that program. Thank you very much for that. Um you also talked about 18% power increase. Um believe that's primarily um going to be energy related. Do we know when that will be effective? >> I believe it's effective July 1st. >> July 1st. Okay. Um I was really excited to read through the audits um the east bloss and also our on our general fund. Um has that yet been posted on our website? >> Yes. Yes sir. On our website >> your idea of excitement. >> Well it's exciting whenever you read it and it's um >> to Yeah. Well it
044it shows good results so it does. That was very good. >> We're very proud of that. Um, and then on that QBE video, um, where can people find where that can be posted? >> We're we're going to get that linked up to our web page also. Okay. We'll have that up there. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, if I'm understanding your the the comments regarding the QBE formula and then also some of the costs associated with uh statemandated changes. Is it fair just to say that there's an increase in statemandated cost and a reduction in state contributions? So that's going to push more of the system cost to our local taxpayers. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. And then um when I think about the five mil fair share, do you know if
045that five mil fair share contribution is calculated before local exemptions or after local exemptions? Specifically thinking back to the 10 ballot items plus the new ex um exemptions that we supported and then also were approved by the Okone taxpayers. >> My understanding is before any exemptions are done. >> Okay. >> That they do that. But I'll verify that for you. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. >> Yes sir. >> And is it based on actual property tax growth or that 3% >> is that's actual tax digest growth. Yes. There could be a growing gap there if you're calculating it before that. And we're, you know, it keeps getting higher and we keep getting capped off. >> Exactly. >> And it's things to consider as we go forward. These are decisions that we need to keep in
046light as we, you know, this year we could look at the full roll back rate, but next year that possibility depending on what that tax digest continues to do. Well, I do want to take a second though to celebrate you, Peter, and the team really for this thorough presentation because from the video to the detail of all the different slides has been great, but the positionality of that, you know, two years in a row now, we we've looked at that full roll back and is it fair to say I don't know when the last time there was a full roll back before that, but it had been several years. Is that right? >> Yes, sir. I think that the lowest last year was our lowest in about 30 years and I'm not sure we we've
047taken a full roll back rate before that. I'd have to go back and look at the history of it, but we couldn't look at when we looked at it, we couldn't see one before. >> Well, with the increasing pressures on our school system and the rising cost of things that are outside of our control from healthcare to retirement and all those pieces, I think that's very noteworthy that we're in that position. So, thank you for that. But also, you know, you all have found efficiencies within the budget. That's right. >> In so many different ways. But if you don't mind talking a little bit about the staff reduction to become, you know, a little more in line with the demands on the school system. Sure. I want to underline, you said that's through attrition that
048no one's losing their job. >> That's correct. Nobody's nobody's losing their jobs. Everything we for those positions will be through attrition >> that we've done. >> And how were those jobs identified those positions? >> Again, we looked pair of pros was one that we looked at. We reduced those amount. And then the other's just through the the teachers that'll be through attrition that we've not filled or the need that we've had. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes sir. >> I got one thing too. We talk about all the costs like you said going up so on and so forth and for a reduction with our operating expense $431,000 I think is what I saw about 3%. Way to go team. >> Good job. >> That's something else. >> Yes it is. I thought I appreciate
049your thorough presentation and just ever since I've been on the board, it's important that we always understand the costs that are mandatory that we have no control over and so we're having budget increase that we don't. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Excellent job. Thank you. >> I do have one more line for y'all. I do ask the superintendent to to recommend approval to adopt the tenative fiscal year 27 general fund budget with a tenative full roll back millage rate of 13.813 mills and a tenative the tenative fiscal year 27 federal fund budget as presented. >> Thank you Mr. Adams. Next we have communications to the board. Mr. Carpet >> Mr. Rel. No one has signed up this evening. >> Thank you. Next item Dr. Butler. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Item A is
050the CTAE local plan and grants and we would recommend this be approved as presented. >> Get a motion. >> So move. >> Mr. Tool. >> Second. >> Have Mr. Hammock first. All in favor? >> Pass. 50. >> Item B is the Rocky Branch Elementary School water heaters. We would recommend Ferguson Enterprises LLC with a proposal cost of $27,300. This bid is covered under the Omnia contract number 2138. >> Need a motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. >> Mr. Tool. All in favor? Passes 50. >> Item C is the updated bus GPS system. We would recommend Pathwise with a proposal bid of $64,921 and Pathwise is a sole source for this product. >> Miss Parish. >> Second, Mr. Hammond. All in favor passes 5-0. >> Mr. Chairman, if it pleases the board, we
051can take items D, E, F, and G together as they are all out of town field trips. >> Yes. >> D is the Okone County High School girls basketball field trip to Spartanberg, South Carolina. E, F, and G are all FBLA field trips to San Antonio, Texas for the National FBA Conference. And that's Aony County High School, Aoney County Middle School, and Dove Creek Middle School. Motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. >> Item H is the tenative FY27 general fund budget. And we would recommend approval of this budget as presented. >> Need a motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor? Passes 5-0. >> And then item I is the tenative FY27 federal funds budget. And we
052would recommend approval of that budget as presented as well. >> Get a motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. We do have a need to enter executive session. I need a motion to do so. >> Like I can make a motion for the board to adjourn to executive session to discuss or deliberate matters as described on the affidavit to be attached to the minutes. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? Passes 5-0. We're adjourned to executive session.