When it met in regular session Monday, the Watonga School Board agreed to give its certified teachers and support staff the same $1,000 stipend it has offered for the past three years. The contract requires a $500 stipend at the beginning of the school year but the board bumped the amount at the superintendent’s suggestion. “They deserve it,” Kyle Hilterbran said. The stipend will be delivered to staffers at the first inservice day. In other business, the board took a tour of the new gym construction. The work has progressed to the point where decisions on interior accoutrements must be made. Specifically, Hilterbran wondered whether there should be trophy cases built into an exterior hall, separately from the proposed football alumni hall of fame.
There are additional questions about the exterior of some of the existing buildings which are humbled by comparison to the new construction. The board seemed to agree that the ag building, maintenance sheds and new bus barn should get a new coat of paint, as should the doors and exterior stairwells on the old gym.
Hilterbran told the board the field house and locker room could be bricked part of the way up with the remainder faced with exterior insulation and finish system, or EFIS, to mimic the gym. However, it would be expensive, about $90,000 for the brick alone.
When the gym was still in the design phase, some items on the wish list were removed so that the project could stay in budget. However, now the board finances are in the enviable position of being able to add back items that had been eliminated earlier. One of those items could be the brick and EFIS exterior on the old field house.
The old gym is also part of the discussion. Its east and north sides were never meant to be exposed to public view; it was the side facing the parking lot. Now it will be highly visible as fans and visitors access both the football field and the new gym.
School board president Dwight McGee spelled it out for the other members.
“We have beautiful buildings here and here,” he said, pointing to the buildings going up and awaiting paint or façade work. “And here we have the pig in the middle of the pen.”
Member Andy Wigington agreed. “This is the ugliest building in town,” he said, indicating the north side, where the heating and cooling systems reside. In the end, the board gave the superintendent their opinions on what they would like to see happen, with the brick and EFIS façade, paint and perhaps a barrier wall or fence to disguise the exterior air handlers for the old gym. From those marching orders Hilterbran will bring back estimates and timelines.
The district financials showed money in the kitty, both for running the schools and to add back previously cut items.
Overall revenue for the just completed fiscal year was slightly over $17 million, including more than $4 million in insurance settlements and $1.5 million in ESSR – elementary and secondary school emergency relief – funds. With those one-time funds discounted, the district income was still more than $11 million.
Hilterbran estimated the carryover into next year will be more than $12 million. He also noted that the district had just been awarded a security grant of $96,000 per year for the next three years and he reiterated the schools will provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. That expense will be paid for through federal funding and is also in place for the next three years.