BROKEN BOW – The Broken Bow School Board met for its regular meeting on Monday night, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. All members were present.
After approving the minutes of the previous meeting, the board heard the treasurer’s report, in which board treasurer J.B. Atkins said that while district revenue was up from last September’s report, it didn’t mean the board was diving headfirst into a pool of gold; expenses for Broken Bow continue to mount.
“This is one of the first years we’ve actually had to spend down on our depreciation fund, which is what we use to buy equipment, curriculum, and those classroom improvements we’ve been talking about. If people think we’re doing this to build our savings account, that’s not the case, we actually ended the year with a little less in our checking account than last year.”
Bids for the Custer School Building were opened; Superintendent Darren Tobey said that roughly 8 businesses or individuals toured the building, leading to 2 sealed bids. The first, from South Fork Premier Properties, was an $11,100 bid.
The second, from the Custer Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), offered $20,000 for the site, with the intent of demolishing the existing structure this winter and dividing the lot into a minimum of 6 parcels, and from there building single-family homes on each site. The bid, while leveling the old school, would keep the district involved by offering construction opportunities for students throughout the construction process. CEDC representative Stuart Fox said that while he wished the bid could save the building outright, it just wasn’t seem possible.
“We would love to renovate the building, and keep it as standing apartments. I wish we could, we all do, but there’s just so many rules and regulations, and unfortunately, it’s just not affordable to do that.”
The board voted unanimously to approve CEDC’s bid.
The board also approved the FBLA’s application for the Leroy Anderson Grant; the grant would cover $6,000 of travel expenses for the organization’s National Fall Leadership Conference in Denver.
A motion to exempt commencement from the school’s drug policy died on the floor; it marked the first time that the current board had a motion fail to carry a second. President Tom Osmond offered to revisit the wording in the policy after its first full year of implementation, as had previously been discussed.
Superintendent Tobey reported that the elementary school had filled its counselor position; the candidate will start on November 1. The date for the next meeting was set for November 21, at which point superintendent evaluations will have been completed by the board. The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.
