by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County School Board devoted a good portion of the Feb. 15 meeting to financial business, Huntland School’s request for a credit card among the decisions weighed. The English as a Second Language and Special Education directors provided an overview of the programs during the “Department Spotlight” portion of the meeting.

“I recommend both Huntland and Franklin County High School having credit card accounts,” said Deputy Director of Finances Jenny Phillips. “They have school groups that take students to conferences. The issue we ran into with Huntland this past year is hotels are not accepting checks anymore.” The board approved the request. The district already has a credit card policy, and Phillips will work with Huntland to draft a “restricted use” policy for the school. Director of Schools Cary Holman stressed the cards would be “for travel only.”

Alerting the board to another Huntland School issue, Phillips said the budget included $667,000 for a new roof at the school, with the estimated cost $1.1 million, leaving a shortfall of $435,000. “We can do two parts of it with what we have budgeted,” Phillips said. “If we bid it out both individually and as a whole, we can decide if we just want to do part of it now, and move the rest into next year, or if we can get a better deal doing it all at one time.” The board approved bidding out the project to facilitate a decision on how to proceed.

Phillips also alerted the board to a dramatic increase in insurance costs. “Workman’s comp insurance, vehicle insurance, and building insurance have all skyrocketed,” Phillips said. “We have a shortfall of about $145,000.” Phillips will present a budget amendment next month to address the cost increase.

Updating the board on revenue, Phillips said, sales tax revenue was down $20,000-$30,000 due to the sales tax holiday and to sales tax revenue from Lowes going to Decherd when it should have gone to Winchester and the county schools. [See Messenger, Dec. 15, 2023] “We’re still within a few percentage points of where we need to be,” Phillips reassured the board. Repayment on the Decherd error is underway.

In her overview of the ESL program, Director Jenny Crabtree said, “The ESL population is constantly growing.” At present 211 students were enrolled in ESL, an increase of 34 students since October. When English is not the language spoken at home, new students are assessed to determine if ESL instruction is needed. Twelve different language backgrounds are represented in the ESL group. Instruction focuses on “English immersion,” Crabtree said. With just five instructors and a recommended 35:1 teacher-student ratio, a sixth instructor will need to be hired for next year.

“With a smaller group, you can impact a students progress at a higher rate,” said Toby Guinn in her overview of the district’s SPED program. For pre-school and intervention, the student-teacher ratio is 1:10. SPED serves students beginning at age three up to age 21, if the student has not graduated from high school. The goal is to give students “the skills to have a full-time job or go to college or a TCAT,” Guinn said. A grant program helps students get a driver’s license, crucial for employment. At the end of the 2023 school year, SPED served over 900 students. This year, 123 new students qualified for the program.

The board reviewed results from the recent board self-evaluation. Most responses fell in the “acceptable” to “excellent” range, with only three of nine categories having “need for improvement” responses. Board chair Cleijo Walker proposed quarterly workshops to focus on issues commented on in those categories.

The board honored the Franklin County 4-H Consumer Decision Making Team for its first-place win at the Jan. 19 national competition in San Antonio, Texas. Consumer Decision Making (CDM) is a competitive 4-H event where participants demonstrate financial management and consumer decision-making skills. Team members Lily Boswell, Madelyn Harrell, Amelia Maxon, and Samantha Pfister competed against 48 other states. “This is the first championship Franklin County has ever had since the beginning of 4-H in 1902,” said Franklin County 4-H Extension Agent Hunter Isbell.

Walker announced the retirement of Human Resources Supervisor Linda Foster. “It’s been a hard decision,” Foster said. “But it’s time.” Foster has served in the district office for almost 50 years. [See “Fifty-Year Career with Franklin County Schools”].