Geary School Board met Monday in back to back sessions, one special session to sell the bonds recently passed by voters and the second a regular meeting to handle day to day operations.
The first meeting was conducted in large part by Matthew Reichert a vice president of Stephen Mc-Donald and Associates of Oklahoma City, who has been tasked with undertaking the sale of the $5 million in bonds the school needed to bridge the gap between what the insurance paid for the damage done when the school caught fire and the amount needed to build a new, all inclusive school campus.
That bond issue was passed by a vote of the residents and will be repaid through property taxes.
The district received three bids, which detail the amount of interest charged on the money. The winning bid was from BOK Financial Securities, Inc., out of Oklahoma City. It agreed to 3.45% on the issue. The bond question capped the allowable interest at not more than 10%. The rate offered by BOK translates to the district repaying $1,036,452 in interest. Once construction begins, the contractors have 480 days to complete the project.
Once that meeting was concluded, the board moved directly into the regular session.
Superintendent Sean Buchanan broached the subject of replacing a pair of school vehicles to the board. One was the maintenance vehicle, a 2004 model. Buchanan suggested it be surplused and replaced with a new work truck. The biggest change was going from a two door to a four-door model, in a half-ton configuration. He estimated the cost at around $40,000.
The second vehicle headed to the scrap heap is the ag department pickup. It is a 2019 model with about 130,000 miles on it. That replacement, Buchanan said, will be a one-ton diesel model, but not a dual rear wheel – dually – configuration. It would cost, he estimated, about $60,000. There was no vote on the matter, only a discussion so that the superintendent can access the state contract pricing for the replacements and then bring the exact figures back to the board for the June 1 meeting.
Using the state contract pricing, Buchanan said, allows the board to get direct from the dealer pricing without utilizing the bidding process. It is considered faster and less involved than the bid process, but each is considered acceptable under state statutes.
In other business, the board accepted the resignations of certified teachers Samatha Finney, Patrick Finney and Christian Finney and cafeteria staffer Kristi Bowman.
It agreed to hire Lorinda Wright for the cafeteria and Allison Brown as a psychologist and Cassie Ayers as an elementary teacher.
During his comments, Buchanan disclosed that a deceased Geary resident, Esther Morgan, had left the Geary Education Foundation a behest of more than $175,000. That money may go toward scholarships.
“It shows you how much our community cares about our students,” he said.