South Adams School Board is considering a new way to compensate its members in the hopes of better attendance this year.
The board discussing changing its pay schedule for 2019 to a combination of per-meeting payments and six-month stipends.
It also reviewed the budget for 2019.
At the meeting Tuesday, board president Arlene Amstutz introduced a policy that would change how board members are paid. Currently, board members receive $1,000 every six months for a total yearly salary of $2,000.
With Amstutz’s proposed policy, board members would be paid $100 per monthly meeting they attend, up to $1,200, and would receive a payment of $400 every six months. It should provide an incentive for members to attend meetings, she said.
“There’s been several meetings where we barely squeaked through with a quorum, and so that limits our discussions when we’re talking,” Amstutz said. “Last year there was only one meeting that we were all here at one time.”
Initial opinions on the policy seemed to be split between the board members who were present. Vice president John Mann and John Buckingham agreed with Amstutz, while Mitch Sprunger, Amy Orr and Landon Patterson were skeptical it would work as an enticement. Julie Mansfield was absent.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Mann said. “I think if you’re committed to your people you will be here, unless an emergency or something comes up.”
Sprunger said he only misses meetings when he has to travel for business. He said he doesn’t need to be incentivized to attend meetings, but was concerned that he, Pattterson and Mann ran unopposed for their school board seats in 2018.
“I don’t think anybody here is in it for the money so having a stipend as an enticement to come, it doesn’t matter one way or another to me,” Sprunger said. “There’s no enticement to be on the board.
“That’s frightening to me that we were unopposed.”
Ultimately, the board decided the policy warranted further discussion and tabled the matter.
The board also discussed the budget for 2019, which was certified at $15,844,280, down from $16,330,490 in 2018. The assessed valuation was up to almost $415 million, compared to $413 million in 2018. With a tax rate of $1.02 per $100 of the assessed valuation, the tax levy is $4.2 million, down about $40,000 from 2018.
In other business, the board:
•Re-elected Amstutz as president, Mann as vice president and Patterson as secretary.
•Appointed Rebecca Biberstein as recording secretary and treasurer, Annette Schwartz as deputy treasurer, Amber Schwartz as extra-curricular treasurer and Tim Baker as the board’s attorney; established security bonds of $50,000 for the treasurer, $30,000 for the deputy treasurer and $30,000 for extra-curricular treasurer; designated The Berne Witness as the school’s official medium of communication; and opted to keep school board meetings scheduled for 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month.
•Reviewed the health insurance compliance report. South Adams contributed $1.43 million for insurance costs in 2018, and its average cost per employee was $11,487. This amount cannot exceed the state’s average cost per employee for insurance, which in 2018 was $13,178, by more than 12 percent. As South Adams’ cost was 0.87 percent that of the state’s, the district is in good standing.
•Received the property tax revenue report for 2018. The school’s certified levy for the year was $4.27 million; it received $4.11 million. The overall percent collected was 96.3 percent, which superintendent Scott Litwiller said is typical. The missing money is a result of tax credits, tax caps and unpaid taxes, he said.
•Approved the first reading of several policies, including adding computer science to the mandatory curriculum and updating the reproductive health and family planning and human sexuality instruction policy to require notification of parents before providing instruction to students and to allow parents to opt their children out of the class. Other policies received minor wording updates.
•Appointed Litwiller to the Educational Service Center’s Risk Funding Trust board and approved a second amended and restated agreement with the trust. At its meeting last month, the board selected a bid from ESCRFT, which is classified as a protected self-insurance pool, to provide the school’s property and liability insurance and worker’s compensation.
•Accepted donations from Living Water United Church for $274.15 for school lunches for elementary students. Also allocated a total of $1,880 in donations from an anonymous couple and Performance Services: $626.67 will go toward the High School student account for incentives and awards, $400 to the middle school STEM Club, $226.67 to the middle school general student account for incentives and awards, and $626.67 to the elementary school RAH RAH Celebrations program for reading incentives.
•Appointed personnel for the school’s musical, “Seussical.” Steve Tatman is the drama director, Curt Amstutz is the musical producer, Jennifer Thomson is the vocal director, Karen Moser is the pianist, Caley Dull is the choreographer, Jill Baker is the technical director and Abby Lehman is the costumer. Also appointed Mason Sell as a volunteer coach for the SkillsUSA Precision Machining contest.
•Approved a 1.5-percent raise for classified staff beginning Jan. 1 of this year.
•After the board meeting, there was a Board of Finance annual meeting. Amstutz was elected president and Patterson secretary, and Litwiller gave an investment report.
The school had an average balance of a little over $5.8 million at Bank of Geneva (now Farmers & Merchants State Bank) in 2018, earning $25,500 in interest. Also, its interest rate has been raised to 1 percent from 0.4 percent. At Bank of Berne, South Adams had an average balance of about $32,000, earning $9.73 in interest. The interest rate is 0.3 percent.
