Harrisburg School Board leaning toward repairing high school
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Harrisburg School Board is leaning toward issuing bonds and exploring a county sales tax to pay for needed repairs to Harrisburg High School.
The repairs at the 100-year-old building have been an item of discussion for a couple months. Given the age of the building, preliminary talk centered on whether to consider repairs or replacement. The price tag for repairs is high -- about $4 million to fix high-priority problems at the high school and $8.3 million total across the district -- but the price of a new building could come in much higher.
School Architect Ed Kerkhover told board members the district could get some more years out of the building with a renovation, particularly of problems that allow moisture into the structure.
Board members agreed in general to start with Superintendent Dennis Smith's recommendation to issue Health, Life and Safety Bonds for $8.3 million in repairs across all the buildings in the district and Taylor Field, which would bring the district's total debt within $1 million of the debt ceiling. The plan would involve repair of all Priority One items across the district at $5.5 million; Priority Two repairs at HHS except for a wood floor at HHS for $2.7 million; and several problem areas at East Side, West Side and Harrisburg Middle School.
The board asked Smith to have a bonding agent come to the next meeting
and Kerkhover to get some HLS proposals prepared.
"I don't see how we can kick Priority One down the road anymore," Scott Berry said.
Board members considered seriously a relatively new law allowing a one-cent countywide sales tax on certain items. If passed by voters, the tax would be allocated among all four school districts in the county. Proceeds of the tax may be used for building construction, renovation and maintenance.
Dean West said a sales tax would be a more fair way to raise money than real-estate taxes.
Preliminary estimates indicate a one-cent sales tax could raise $950,000 annually for the Harrisburg School District alone, Smith said.
West asked Smith to see if there is any interest among other county school districts in pursuing a ballot measure.
It was not immediately clear whether the board would use proceeds from a sales tax to pay off HLS bonds or as a supplement to the bonds, although there was general talk of using the sales tax to keep property taxes as low as possible. In any case, proceeds from the sales tax would not flow into the Distirct for about two years, so quick action would require bonds.
The price of a $8.3 million HLS bond issue could be steep for taxpayers. A $5 million bond would add $76 per year to the tax on a $100,000 home, Berry said. Numbers were not quoted for a $8.3 million bond -- the annual cost to taxpayers would also depend upon how the bond is structured.
Construction trades
The board decided to discontinue the construction trades program and emphasize vocational agricultural programs. The move resulted in the layoff of Brian Rick, the construction trades teacher, effective at the end of the school year.
HHS Principal Karen Crank argued for the change in emphasis, saying there are things that can be done in agriculture that can't be done in any other program. Bigger agriculture programs can also trigger more outside funding.
"There's more money to tap into," Crank said.
Many of the technological applications students learn can be taught in agriculture classes. Agriculture is not just "sows, cows and plows" anymore, Crank said.
The district currently has one agriculture teacher, so another may be hired.
Rick and three of his students gave a presentation earlier in the evening of classroom activities from the construction trades program. The three students designed new high schools, or renovations, using Auto CAD computer-aided drafting computer programs. Board members agreed the designs were extremely impressive.
Teacher priorities
A presentation by Science Department Chairwoman Janet Hughes for another full-time science teacher at HHS touched off discussion of setting priorities for hiring teachers in the future.
The Science Department has been shorthanded since Tony Holler left about five years ago, Hughes said. Budget problems have made it difficult to justify a new hire in recent years, but class sizes are beginning to rise and the incoming freshman class is very large. Class sizes may run 27 to 29 kids in Biology I, Hughes said. The science teachers would like to reduce those class sizes, especially since the incoming freshmen don't have lab experience, Hughes said.
West asked if the science position is the district's highest priority in terms of hiring new teachers.
"I would like to know what cards are in my hand before I pick one," West said.
Other building principals are asking for teachers - East Side Principal Bryce Jerrell has spoken to the board in recent months about needing teachers at East Side. A part-time high school social studies teacher was also mentioned in the meeting. Board members wondered whether the district can afford zero, one or two new teachers next year. Smith warned the board the state and federal funding situation is cloudy in the near future. Stimulus money is still coming into the district, but it won't last forever. It might make more sense to spend stimulus money on one-time purchases rather than a long-term investment like additional faculty.
Board members decided to put together a priority list and get a better overall picture of needs and finances before hiring any new teachers.
Closed session
Most decisions about keeping, laying off or dismissing faculty are made at the March meeting since notification is required 60 days before the end of the school year. Tenure and employment decisions for non-tenured teachers are considered at the March meeting.
Five teachers were granted tenure, including Amanda Stone, Chellie McGuire, Angela Bennett, Brandon Phillips and Richard Dwyer. All the second, third and fourth-year non-tenured teachers were offered employment for another year and are on track for tenure.
Denise Traxler and Judy Oglesby were hired as aides.
Kim Davis won the bid for an HMS language arts teaching position.
Ann Rider, a speech therapist, was reassigned from East Side to West Side.
Several resignations were approved, including April Horning as HHS girls basketball coach; Erik Griffin as HHS girls assistant basketball coach; Denise Clayton as a volunteer assistant coach for HHS girls basketball; Myra Bascomb retired as a secretary at HHS; and Gabe Angelly as an assistant football coach and Student Council sponsor at HHS. Angelly is taking an administrative position next year.