KISD juggles uncertain finances, needs

Kilgore school officials will remember the past year as one of uncertainty.

With the state’s education funding still up in the air and a school bond issue in the tank, KISD administrators are looking for guidance from the board of trustees.

After months of studies by an appointed “facilities review”committee, the district’s $23,500,000 school bond was soundly defeated by a 658 465 margin.

Superintendent Jerry Roberts said there are issues that still need to be addressed in regards to renovations to the campuses and these issues would be sent back to the school board for their consideration.

“There are no immediate plans for any alternatives to the bond,” said Roberts after the election. “This will be up to the school board to decide what direction to take at this time.”

In August of 2005 Roberts said Gov. Rick Perry’s executive orders for pay raises, textbooks and 65 percent instructional funding and no reliable interpretation of any of those, “at best things are chaotic and unstable in Austin.”

Revard Pfeffer, KISD director of business services, said it is not unusual to be unsure of state funding but things are even more unsure this year. “The funding formula is just unknown and with Gov. Perry taking education into his own hands the funding and where it comes from has changed,” said Pfeffer.

Earlier this month the state’s Supreme Court ruled the current system old funding public education is unconstitutional. The legislature will be called into yet another special session to address the issue; the session will begin after the primary elections in March.

In addition, Pfeffer said, school attendance is down and KISD is estimating a loss of $200,000 based on these numbers. “Also, the state technology allotment decreased from $30 per refined ADA to $27.14 per refined ADA, which cost KISD $11,000 in funding,” said Pfeffer. “Based on all of these changes, KISD projected a 2005-2006 budget with a deficit of $664,304.”

Pfeffer said KISD, as of August, had $6.5 million in the general fund and the local deficit can be funded from there but warned that the teacher pay raises will still be there next year with another deficit looming.

“Using money from the fund balance for this deficit and next year and money for projected construction could easily take the fund balance from $6.5 million to $4.5 in less than a year,” said Pfeffer.

CONSTRUCTION

The most critical pieces of the rejected bond issue are being funded with money from the district’s bank account.

In October, Pheffer announced that plans for the new SAILS building were progressing. “We needed a piece of property adjacent to the property we already own to progress to the building stage,” said Pheffer. KISD purchased the property for $45,000.

Roberts said now that the property has been acquired the next step was to decide what type of building to build and the cost effectiveness of each. “We are going to look at regular construction and pre-fab units before deciding how to proceed,” said Roberts. “Once we decide what type of building, we will come back to the board for further direction and proceed from there.”

Roberts said construction could start as early as December or January.

Other planned construction includes a new dressing room at Driller Park.

Pat Nault, head of the booster club, proposed a state-of-the-art facility to match the other facilities at Driller Park.

Nault said the booster club would put up $10,000 and asked the district to pay the final $16,600 that would be needed to complete the building.

Roberts told the board that there would be also additional nominal fees associated with the building that the school district would incur but would recommend the board to approve the construction.

Roberts also told the board that once the building is finished, ownership will be transferred to the City of Kilgore because of the lease agreement with the city for Driller Park.

KHS baseball coach Tim Harkrider said the facility will provide showers, dressing rooms and lockers for the baseball team.

Trustees unanimously agreed to help build the new facility. Nault said he hopes the project will be completed in February.

When (KISD) trustees met in December, the main topic of discussion was campus-wide construction projects.

Roberts said the district is considering projects for all campuses and then looks to prioritize those projects based on need and cost.

Roberts said the most pressing project is a new pump station at Maude Laird Middle School. “This pump is over 30 years old and had to be repaired recently,” said Roberts. “The pump handles all the waste and water for the school and if it goes out the school will have to be shut down until it could be replaced.”

Roberts said the project could cost as much as $50,000 but must be funded.

“We are also are looking at how to proceed on the new SAILS facility,” said Roberts. “He and Revard (Pfeffer) are looking at costs on different building options and will present those to the board.

Roberts said other projects at the top of the wish list are a new or renovated Vocational/Agricultural building, new tennis and soccer dressing facilities and science labs for Kilgore Intermediate School.

Pfeffer said a house, recently purchased to make room the new SAILS facility, will be moved to a residential lot the district already owns and then sold. “This money will help offset the cost of the new dressing room facilities for the tennis and soccer teams,” said Pheffer.

Other projects presented for discussion, said Pfeffer, were completion of field leveling and fences at the new soccer practice fields, remodeling the athletic director’s office, athletic field house renovations, renovations to Elder Alternative School, new bus lane at Maude Laird Middle School, new phone system for the district, wiring for computers at Chandler Elementary School, expanding kitchen and cafeteria at Chandler, climate controlled physical activity area at Kilgore Heights Elementary School along with updated rest room facilities, renovations to the administration building and general landscaping and signage for the district.

Pfeffer said the district is completing Chandler’s roof project this school year, adding $294,000 to the current budget.

Roberts said there are a lot of factors to be considered before any one of these projects are started. Those factors include time of year, cost and what the project will do for the school district in both the long and short term.

Pheffer said the money to complete these projects will come out of the fund balance. “Even if we spend four or five million dollars we have the money available and most of these projects are low-dollar costs,” said Pfeffer.