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Advance School Board weighs funding options on FEMA safe room, approves purchase of learning center
Advance school board members had a number of building-related issues to discuss at the Monday, Dec. 15, 2014 meeting.
Advance R-IV has been notified that they qualify for a new safe room. Thomas Pisarkiewicz, a CPA from the bonding company of HLJ Hart, outlined the issues involved with the funding of a new safe room.
However, the issue involves more than the acceptance of the FEMA grant for the building of a storm shelter.
"We have been approved for a safe room the size of the one at Bloomfield," explained Superintendent Stan Seiler.
School board members have toured the Bloomfield facility, which they feel is not large enough to fully accommodate local needs for both a community storm shelter and additional classroom space.
Pisarkiewicz, whose company has worked with the Advance district since 1995, led the board through the options involved in adding extra local funding to increase the size of a basic safe room in the district.
Work is also progressing on the new vocational agriculture building, which has a projected finish date of June, 2015.
In closed session, the board approved the purchase of the Advance Early Learning Center facility from the Bank of Advance for the purchase price of $142,500. The purchase includes not only the facility, but all materials, furniture, playground equipment and one acre of land that the building sits on.
"This is a terrific opportunity for the district to fulfill its obligation of educating all students of our community to the best level possible, and the creation of a fully licensed all day preschool for three and four year old students is directly in line with our mission," explained Seiler.
Superintendent Seiler added that the Board of Education has been exploring this possibility for several months and has toured the facility twice before making the decision. The district has also been in close contact with officials from the Early Learning Section of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to gain as much information as possible.
Purchase of this facility will now allow the district to qualify for Missouri PreSchool Project grants that will help offset some of the operational cost and create a fully certified full day preschool program for three and four year old students.
"While the building needs some minor updating, we know that Gerald Payne built it, so we know it was built right," Seiler said. "This was really a 'no-brainer decision,' but knowing who built it made the decision even easier."
The former Advance Learning Center closed abruptly several months ago, leaving a large void of child care services in the community.
David Kennedy, Board President, summed up his feelings by stating, "I'm excited about expanding our preschool because it will help the families of young children in our community. This is a "win -- win - win" situation for our school district, our families and especially our kids."
In the superintendent's report, attendance has been good (95 percent), until the recent flu epidemic. The week of finals saw a 91 percent. Students who missed their finals due to the Type A flu will be allowed to take them after they return from Christmas break. Superintendent Seiler explained that whenever the attendance dips to 82 or 83 percent, the school takes a financial hit. (Classes let out early on Friday, Dec. 19, so the district lost no days.) Seiler also reported that finances were good.
In the high school principal's report, Mrs. Shana Kight distributed copies of the school newsletter, which contained a schedule of events, information about state testing, attendance policies, announcement of the Robotics competition at the Show Me Center on Jan. 3, information on school lunches and after-school tutoring, and the counselor's newsletter, which gives specific scholarship information.
Mr. James Hamlin also distributed the elementary newsletter, listing activities for the rest of the year.
In other business, the board approved a change in the school calendar, switching the January meeting of the 3-school professional development consortium to Jan. 19. The change will affect only staff, not students.
Jan. 20, 2015 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for the filing for the April 2015 school board election. The positions of Linda Eggimann and Charlie Mayo are up. At press time, Charlie Mayo and Jim Below had filed.