Columbiana superintendent: BOE needs to act now on MS HVAC
COLUMBIANA–The Columbiana school board will need to decide soon whether to embark on a project to install air conditioning at South Side Middle School, Superintendent Don Mook said.
The rooftop air conditioning units are estimated to cost just over $1 million, according to a proposal from Gardiner Trane that Mook presented to the board last week.
The superintendent made a similar presentation in December.
He said the project could be completed in four phases, but as long as the district commits to the entire project up front.
He also said that if the board commits to the entire project, the cost estimates as they are now would be locked in. Should the board opt to finance the project in phases, the costs will not be locked in.
He said the board will need to make a decision on the project at its next meeting in order to be able to order the units in March to have them installed and operating by next summer.
He believes the air conditioning will improve student performance, since it is difficult for students to concentrate when they are sitting in 85-degree classrooms during the final school months.
How to finance the project is something that the board will really need to home in on, since Mook believes the district loses money through open enrollment and doesn’t receive as much state funding as other districts because of its property values.
He said the district is “penalized” under the state funding system because of its higher property values and went on to explain that the state does not award funding to districts based on per-student but continues to rely heavily on property values.
“Our ability to raise local funds is greater than some other areas of the county,” he said.
He pointed out that relying on property values to award state funding has been declared unconstitutional four times, and said that the district is now in a position where it has to compete with other districts for open enrollment students.
“We rely heavily on local dollars … now we are trying to fix our facilities with minimal local dollars,” he said. “I think the rural districts, us included, get the short end of the stick when it comes to state dollars.”
The district received roughly $3 million in state funding for this budget cycle and is projected to see an increase of $312,751 over the next two-year state budget, however, Mook said that could change to more or less in the future.
The district operates on a $10 million overall budget.
Treasurer Kathy Davies said the step and wage increases for staff already factored into the new district budget will likely eat up some of the additional state funding.
She added that while the district does have a $3.1 million carryover from last year, that will likely be spent within four months, since the district’s expenditures account for roughly $700,000 to $800,000 a month.
She also explained that because the district is on a cap through the state funding formula, it lost money because the cap was lowered by 2.5 percent.
“We lose money because we are too wealthy as far as property taxes go,” she said.
While income taxes did increase for the district this year, real estate taxes dipped, she added.
She said she is looking forward to the new TownCenter and Marketplace at Firestone Farms developments along state Routes 7 and 14 and believes that will benefit the district financially, but cautioned that the district can’t expect new monies to pay for projects at this time.
She said the district should dip into what is already available.
Board president Scott Caron said he believes the district should finance the project as money becomes available.
The board may make a decision at its next meeting.