Cheney School District voters will now be asked to approve two measures this coming February.
At its Sept. 10 meeting, the district’s board of directors approved by a 4-0 vote a resolution for a Feb. 10 vote on renewing the district’s three-year educational programs and operations (a.k.a., Maintenance and Operations) levy. On the same ballot, voters will also be asked to approve a measure to raise $44.8 million in general obligation bonds to begin phase one of the high school’s renovation and expansion project.
If approved, the proposed levy will raise $9.3 million in 2016, $9.5 in 2017 and $9.7 million in 2017 through levy rates of $3.17, $3.14 and $3.11 per $1,000 of assessed property tax valuation. The district’s executive director of finance, Kassidy Probert, said the decrease over time is due to an anticipated increase in assessed property values.
“We will gain funding through the M & O levy, but will see a reduction in the amount,” he said.
The proposed levy rate is an increase over the previous levy approved in 2012. Probert told the board the levy pays for 23 percent of the district’s budget, supporting areas such as counseling services, extracurricular activities, special education and highly capable student programs as well as some transportation costs.
The school board also approved adoption of a pair of labor contracts. The first with the Cheney Education Association included an increase in compensated time for professional development for teachers and revisions to certain class size provisions and overload support. Teachers also will receive an additional $100 per staff member for funding provided for classroom supplies, workshop registrations or for additional hours.
The second contract with the Public School Employees of Cheney provided a 2 percent increase in compensation across Schedule A for classified employees. It also provided improvements in the process for notifying employees of employment status, language revisions for substitute positions and evaluation timelines along with support staff training.
Associate superintendent Sean Dotson told the board the costs of both contracts were included in the district’s 2014-2015 budget, and that both supported the priorities of the district and both organizations.
In other business, the board approved renewal of a cooperative agreement between the district and the city of Cheney for before and after school programs at Snowdon and Windsor elementary schools.
Probert told the board the only change was that Betz Elementary School was no longer part of the agreement.
The cooperative agreement moves the ECHO program to the city’s Wren Pierson Community Center, resulting in what Probert said was an expansion of the program.
The board approved another cooperative agreement between the city and the district to create the Trailblazers After School Program at Betz Elementary. The program was previously only offered at Sunset Elementary in Airway Heights, but the district received a second, five-year federal 21st Century Grant of $250,000 — an increase of $140,000 over the first grant — that allowed them to expand the program.
Finally, the board approved renewal of the district’s contract with the Cheney Police Department to supply a school resource officer. The new contract contained a $2,600 increase as a pass along for compensation increases from the city, and contained a provision that the district reduces the amount of time the officer spends at after school activities such as athletic contests by contracting with a private security company to provide the service.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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