MAJOR ITEM ON APRIL 21 SCHOOL BOARD AGENDA FOR SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOLS INCLUDE BOARD VOTE, BOND REFERENDUM ELECTION

You can’t have LED light without electrons, and to that end the Galaxy blinked out last Wednesday, before returning the very next day in full strength.

Just to be clear, that’s a sign, or rather, the model surname stamped on an outside sign which briefly lost power at Park High, following a Tuesday night storm and resulting power outage The outage at Park, which was fixed by Thursday, resulted from tree branches that fell and needed to be cleared, after which the system was “re-energized,” per an Xcel Energy customer service representative. With students met by door signs telling them that Park High School was closed for the day and that they should “log into technology,” the school day went forward, if not quite on-site.

Looking forward meanwhile to the April 21 school board meeting, several items are worthy of note.

Among them and covered in detail before in the Jour- nal is the vote on a proposed long-range facilities plan.

Among the details of the plan are a call for closing Newport Elementary and conversion of Crestview Elementary into use for a South Washington County Alternative High School, another elementary being built for Crestview students and the attendance boundary moving with it as well. Should the school board for South Washington County School approve the plan as presented, the next move will bring a bond referendum in the fall. Director of Communications and Community Development Pepe Barton had the following to say when reached for comment on the long-range facilities plan.

“ Last fall, the school board approved a guiding change document that outlined the creation of one long-range facility plan. The facility leadership team used this document to guide its work,” she said. “They also worked with a steering committee, community and staff task force and a design team to help determine the most efficient means to repurpose existing buildings or address student growth through new construction. The facility leadership team in consultation with the superintendent is the team that put forth the current facility plan. The school board has final approval of the plan.”

Deemed as necessary in view of the long-range facilities plan proposal is approval of a resolution for GO (General Obligation) bonds and the calling of a special election this fall, approval of a revised budget also among items of note for April 21. The bond in question would be for $462.66 million and related to the long-range facilities plan.

“Bond funding is the only method to raise enough funds for construction and must be approved by voters,” Barton said long-range facilities plan to be proposed for board approval April 21. “This funding does not take away from education funding.”

Regarding district education funding, Barton laid out the following breakdown: • 25.93% Local Levies (includes the operating levy approved last fall)

• 71.02% State Aids

• 1.81% Federal AidsA proposed gym with room for three courts would be placed on the south side of the side, while alternative gym sites to the west would require adjustments to a nearby road. Plan graphic by LHB Architects of Superior.

• 1.24% Other Local Additionally, Barton said that students kindergarten through 6th grade are counted as 1.0 while grades 7 to 12 are counted as 1.2 by the district when calculating funding.

As to the revised budget presented at the April 21 meeting, it calls for $269,481,756 in general fund revenue with a corresponding $268,676,958 in Expenditures with a fund balance (the left over part) of $18,669,815, or 6.9 percent of total revenues. This effectively represents long-term savings surplus, as the difference between presently budgeted revenues and expenditures is just $804,798, or 4.3 percent of the total fund balance in the general fund.

The food service budget revision, meanwhile, calculates at $12,564,758 in total revenues and calls for $11,11,544,870 in total expenditures, leaving a balance of $2,093,688, or 18.1 percent of the total revised food service budget.

As to the community education fund, the revised budget calculates for $13,028,740 in revenues and $12,582,334, with a left over fund balance of $604,697 or 4.8 percent.

Regarding the building construction fund, the revised budget calculates $34,405,000 in revenues and $14,655,026 in expenditures, for a fund balance with savings of $38,527,964.

For debt service, meanwhile, the revised budget calculates $36,778,227 in revenues and $32,378,889 in expenditures, with a left over fund balance of $10,312,043.

Closing out the revised budget in macro scale is the Internal service fund, with just $3,00 in total revenues and $53,750 in expenditures, leaving a fund balance of $100,402.

Check back next week for the after meeting followup. In the meantime, here’s the short list for policy update proposals:

• 209 Code of Ethics (two additions)

• 404.1 Staff Identification badges (minor edit)

• 408 Subpoena of School District Employee (minor edits), and

• 412 Travel and Expense Reimbursement (minor additions).

The April 21 board meeting is open to the public, meetings being held in the District Service Center at 7362 East Point Douglas Road. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.