Reviewing Past Decisions The Board of Education has gone through a lot lately and they are finding a way to come and work together BY SAMMIE HERR sammie.herr17@gmail.com
Throughout the past year or so, FHSD has gone through some tough times. The Board of Education dealt with and made a lot of decisions regarding how the district would function. Although there were some accomplishments, the board is looking for a way to work through these problems. “I definitely think we don’t have a spending problem,” board treasurer Chad Lange said. “I’ve been on the board for about a year and there hasn’t been a whole lot of spending, maybe because we don’t have the funds but everything is well for us. We follow our budgets and are more attentive to seeing our district and how the way it runs. We’re here to educate kids and that’s our main focus. With increasing changes in technology, stuff is more expensive now, and with less money we have to go further.” The Board voted in January 2016 at a meeting not to move forward with a tax levy in April 2016. The discussion on this topic mainly aimed on the need for more communication and the timing of the issue given the defeat of Proposition Y. The district believes supplementary proceeds are needed to preserve class sizes, programs and staffing. However, at a school board meeting in April, the board decided unanimously not to put a new tax levy in as a discussion item for any board meetings through the end of the school year. This means the issue of a new tax levy will not be discussed for a long time. “Are we going to have some hard times coming up? Absolutely,” director Sandra Ferguson said. “We still have a deficit. We’re getting ready to begin working on the budget and there will be some more cuts. What those cuts look like and what those cuts are, I don’t know.” In the month of August 2015 voters from the FHSD community rejected Proposition Y. With 66 percent of voters voting it down, it did not pass. The Board of Education believed that Proposition Y would have helped close the funding gap and provide resources to maintain and improve programs and services. “I think the public’s misconception is why Prop Y failed so miserably,” vice president Renee Cope said. “We did a survey of the community and that survey told us that the community would support a new tax levy. We started thinking about how fast we could get information out and there was a group who ran a campaign against [Proposition Y]. They thought that it was the wrong timing and the wrong amount and that they didn’t understand our school finances very well. The information they put out was not completely accurate.”
School Board President Mark Lafata prepares to start the meeting on April 21 by doing a roll call with all of the directors responding with “Aye,” During this meeting, the board discussed many topics, including budgets and drop out recoveries. (Photo by Jared Kinnard)
Swapping Coke for Pepsi With the next school year coming up, a new contract was made for the vending machines in the FHSD BY SAMMIE HERR sammie.herr17@gmail.com
In February, a request for proposal was posted to the district website for an up-to-date five year contract for vended and concession beverages starting in July of this year. Proposals were sent in by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and AVendCO. The district will only be selling Pepsi products next year. “We don’t expect any major impact,” finances director Kevin Supple said. “Our snack vendor is the same vendor as the beverages. All that’s really happening is that [the beverages are] being changed from Coke to Pepsi.” Before the school year of 2011-2012, a decision was made by the school board members to separate the elements of beverage service agreements. Separated into three different contracts, the aim for the school board was to allow activities directors and booster clubs more input on the school’s concessions. The previous five year contract was given to Coca-Cola. The current concession
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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY SAMMIE HERR
05.04.16
beverage contract has been given to PepsiCo. “We get the money from the vending machines and we use that money to benefit the schools,” food services director Mike Sloan said. “Then we give it to the schools so they can split it up and do different things. I believe they split it up by enrollment in the schools.” The proposals that were submitted for the new contract were reflected on and were deemed capable of meeting the General Conditions and Specifications. All three of the companies met the nutrition requirements of the district’s policy and the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. The proposal submitted by PepsiCo gives the district more of a financial aid and it meets terms with federal, state and district wellness policies. “We chose the one who gave us the most funds,” director Sandra Ferguson said. “They have extra things they give each school so that’s how we chose which contract which ended up being PepsiCo.”