FRLS to have budget surplus

FORT RECOVERY — The financial picture for Fort Recovery Local Schools just keeps looking brighter.
During her five-year financial forecast, treasurer Lori Koch told Fort Recovery School Board at its meeting Tuesday that the school district’s cash balance at the end of 2016 is projected at $4.88 million, which is up more than $2 million over a span of three years.
The board also heard a presentation from several elementary school teachers about how new technology is being utilized in their classrooms.
Koch projected that Fort Recovery will have a $1.12 million budget surplus for fiscal 2016, which ends June 30. I had a $610,000 surplus in 2015.
She said the biggest reason for the financial boon is an increase in state funding, which has climbed to more than $5 million after sitting at less than $4.5 million in 2012. About 55 percent of Fort Recovery’s general fund budget comes from the state, with the rest supported by property and income taxes.
“That is very, extremely unusual,” Koch said of the surplus, noting that changes to the way “Current Agricultural Use Value” is calculated have also resulted in more tax dollars. “We have never seen that before and we will probably never see that again.”
But finances are expected to continue to look strong over the next several years, with budget surpluses projected for 2017 and 2018. If those hold true, the general fund balance would rise to almost $6 million.
The balance was at $2.7 million in 2013.
The increase from the state has been a welcome change, Koch said, as Fort Recovery had argued that it had been under-funded for years. She noted that about 10 years ago 25-percent cuts were made across the board in order to stay financially sound.
Board members Jose Faller, Aaron Guggenbiller, Amy Bihn, Dave Hull and Ginny Fortkamp approved the forecast, which will now be sent to the Ohio Board of Education.
Also Monday, teachers Michelle Stammen (second grade), Jamie Albers (first grade) and Susan Bertke (kindergarten) shared some of the ways they’re using free apps on the iPads the district purchased this year.
Stammen demonstrated Plickers, an app that allows her to program questions and track students’ answers in real time.
She explained that doing so gives her immediate feedback and the ability to focus on concepts that aren’t being understood either by the class as a whole or individual students.
Albers showed the board HMH readers, a program that allows students to record themselves while reading, and Bertke demonstrated Sketchio, which she uses when students are practicing writing.
The teachers all thanked the board for providing the iPads, which they said have helped enhance the learning experience in their classes.
“We’re just barely dipping our toes in this but it’s pretty exciting,” said elementary school principal Tracy Hein-Evers.
In other business, the board:
•Heard from superintendent Justin Firks that efforts toward building a facility at Tri-State Lake Campus for Tri-Star 2.0 — a partnership between nine school districts that focuses on career technical education — with hopes of having a levy on the March ballot.
•Approved Jeff Hobbs, Matt Triplett, Hein-Evers and Firks as credentialed teacher evaluators. Also approved Firks as a credentialed principal evaluator.
•Hired Jeff Vaughn as high school softball coach and Mark Hubbard as junior varsity girls basketball coach. Also accepted volunteer coaches Amber Guggenbiller (high school girls bowling), Chris Bihn (assistant boys basketball) and Anthony Rogers (junior high girls basketball).
•Heard from Firks that athletics director Kurt Rammel is continuing to work on gathering information about filling in low spots and grading the football field. He said he expects the work to be done either late this fall or in the spring, noting that such work has not been done on the field since the football program started 23 years ago.
•Approved a fifth grade gifted students field trip May 12 and 13 to Chicago.
•Paid $6,853 to Home Field Advantage and $7,608 to Rettig Music for athletics equipment and musical supplies respectively.
•Accepted donations of $369.57 from Fort Recovery Boy Scouts to the baseball fund and $40 anonymously to help pay for the middle school Washington, D.C., trip.
•Got a reminder from Firks that Ohio School Board Association’s Capital Conference is scheduled for Nov. 8 through 11 in Columbus.
•Scheduled a policy committee meeting for 5 p.m. Monday to discuss updates.