The Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday for the first meeting of the 2016-17 school year to discuss district policies.
While the number of items listed on the agenda is small, they play major roles in the daily operations of the district.
The first item the board will be asked to decide is the 2016 audit.
“We have no documented concerns with our audit again this year,” Superintendent Brad Pollitt said. “The audit provides an overview of the district’s financial activities for the last fiscal year that ended on June 30.”
The board was given the complete audit in the meeting packet, which provides information about the financial activities of the district as a whole and presents a long-term view of the district’s finances.
The board will hear a building update on the two building additions at Smith-Cotton High School.
“We had students for the first time in the new auxiliary gymnasium for classes on Sept. 6,” Pollitt said. “There are a few finishing details that need to be completed but we are pleased to have the students using the facility.
“There are a few minor change orders for construction that the board will be asked to consider,” Pollitt added. “They mainly deal with some additional piping and filler rock for drainage.”
Project manager Robbie Paul, of Septagon Construction wrote in his report submitted to the board that “Building C finishes have started and are working toward an Oct. 10 substantial completion date.”
The board will also be asked to consider a number of policies and regulations that were enacted by the legislature last session.
“The legislative session was very active in terms of education,” Pollitt said. “There are a number of mandatory polices and regulations that must be adopted this year as well as some that will become mandatory in 2018.
“There are also some recommended polices that the board will be asked to consider,” he added.
The board will also discuss a recommendation for a district policy to charge a late fee for district employees who request a release from their contract.
“The pool of available teachers is constantly narrowing,” Pollitt commented. “We realize that there is always a human factor to staff requesting a leave such as if a spouse of a staff member is in the military and is transferred, but on a district standpoint we need to know sooner rather than later if an individual is requesting a release from their contract.
“We are going to discuss charging a fee from the individual if a staff member asked to be released from their contracts after June 15,” he added. “Most schools already have such a plan in place and this is only being discussed at this time by the board.”
Pollitt added that he would be discussing the proposal with his teacher advisory committee to seek their input in the matter.
“If we adopt such a policy the releases will be considered on a case-by-case basis,” Pollitt added.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Heber Hunt Elementary, 600 S. Warren St. For more information, call the central office at 829-6450.
