Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott district in good shape for summer doldrums

Even with $200,000 less than last year is in the bank, the Prescott School District is in good shape, according to Prescott Superintendent Ron Wright.

Wright told the Prescott School Board at its regular monthly meeting, Tuesday, July 17, the district still has a certificate of deposit worth $500,000 in the bank.

During the summer of 2000, he said, the district had to cash in one of its CDs to make it through until the state's funding kicked in.

Work on the gymnasium continues, with the district having already paid $1,279,998.60 in construction costs, and owing $753,714.15.

However, Wright said, this will not be a problem for the district, and there will be money left to furnish the gym with, without having to dip into operating funds.

In discussing the district's budget, Wright said the year ended with an $83,000 deficit.

Budgets, he told the board, are nothing more than guesswork.

Last year, the district came up $200,000 short, but this was due to raises given to teachers. These raises had not been planned for in the initial budget, but were given after Gov. Mike Huckabee promised all teachers in the state a $3,000 raise over two years.

The problem with this year's budget, he said, was the unexpected jump in the price of natural gas. The price of this utility nearly tripled, with the district's bill being 71 percent higher than expected.

"Natural gas is a killer," Wright said, "especially with a storm like we had this winter.

Along with higher natural gas prices, the district had phone bills higher than anticipated.

However, Wright has entered the district into an agreement with CenturyTel. This agreement includes cellular phones for all principals, with 100 minutes a month for $9.

These cell phones, he said, will be used for school use only.

This, Wright said, should help cut the district's phone bill in half.

"I negotiated a better deal," he said. "There's a lot of competition in phone companies now."

At this time, though, the district's long distance service is with LDDS. Wright is working with CenturyTel to try and get a better deal. "If they come back with a better deal, we'll likely change phone companies."

Had it not been for the increase in natural gas prices and the phone bill, he said, the district would have been under budget for the year.

With this in mind, the board changed the school policy on making long distance phone calls.

Before, calls could be made, with the caller paying for the call later. However, the auditors said this was a "no-no" and had to be changed.

Now, with the policy change, no long distance calls can be made for non-school business on school phones.

Those needing to make such calls can either call collect, or use a phone card, but the call cannot be billed to the district.

The board examined bids on six school buses and three trucks the district had let for bids. It accepted the high bids on all vehicles, selling all but one no bids were received for.

The total of the eight bids was $1,709. "This exceeded my expectations," Wright said. "I thought we'd be lucky to get $1,000 for them."

Early in the bid opening it looked as if he'd be right, as one bidder purchased a 1974 Ford pickup for $57. Winning bidders had 10 days to pay for their vehicles and remove them from school property.

Wright said board member Jeff Haynes, who is a licensed physical therapist, also does occupational therapy.

However, he and another physical therapist submitted bids to work with the district.

Wright said he wanted to make sure everything was aboveboard and there were no conflicts of interest. To make sure, he called the supervisor of auditors in Little Rock to make sure it would be all right.

It was.

Haynes, in his bid, agreed to provide services to the district for what Medicaid pays.

The other bidder pointed out there were aspects of the requirements they didn't want to do.

"I want to make sure we're doing the proper thing," Wright said, "and disclosing everything. Nothing is being done under the table, and the board needs to be aware of this."

Haynes, who initially asked if he needed to leave the room during this discussion, said his business would do the work for what Medicaid pays, and wouldn't gouge the district.

The paperwork will be filed electronically, with Haynes's staff dealing with the doctors, as the school isn't geared to do it.

In addition, Haynes said, if the patient has private insurance, his staff will work for what the insurance company pays, again handling the billing and paperwork.

Haynes also does physical and occupational therapy for the Hope, Spring Hill and Delight school districts.

Another policy change made during the meeting dealt with the per diem meal rate.

The former policy specified how much anyone attending a conference could spend on each meal. However, it was pointed out some people don't eat three meals a day, and were being penalized.

The board removed the per meal cost, changing the policy to allow those on out-of-town business a flat rate of $35 for meals per day.

However, in order to be reimbursed, those making such trips must bring back meal receipts.

Following an executive session, the board approve hiring Brad Nivens as an assistant football coach, John William will be the new math teacher at Prescott High School, and Carmen Breshears will teach Spanish at PHS.

The board also accepted the resignation of Jackie Norvell as secretary at McRae Middle School, and reassigned Karen Jobe as the full-time receptionist in the superintendent's office.

A recommendation was rescinded from a previous meeting, removing Miki Findley as the PHS Spanish teacher. Findley chose to remain at her position with the Mineral Springs School District.