ELDRED — The Otto-Eldred School Board voted to keep Cindy Murphy as president and Matthew Windsor as vice president during the board’s reorganizational meeting on Tuesday night.
The board also set meeting dates for next year; the first one will be held on Jan. 10.
In old business, the board received an update from Superintendent Matt Splain on the recommended changes to operations of the Intermediate Unit Nine Healthcare Trust.
The IU9 board will be presented next week with recommendations to address concerns brought to the trust. The Otto-Eldred School Board was in full support of the recommendations, which included an allocation of surplus to districts in the “black” for the last 10 years, variable price renewal based upon a district’s experience, and increase plan design flexibility.
Any approved changes to the trust would be in effect for the 2017-18 school year.
Meanwhile, the board approved a planned transfer of $300,000 to the capital reserve fund.
In other news, approval was granted to proceed with the final round of masonry repair projects at both school buildings. The board also gave approval to solicit bids for LED lighting upgrades in the high school building.
School officials said a guaranteed energy savings project will be put on hold until the backlog of PlanCon reimbursement payments are received, which are expected to be this winter.
The board also approved a resolution not to raise taxes about the Act 1 Index. Failure to adopt the resolution would have required an early budget adoption. The resolution does not raise property taxes, it is an Act 1 requirement that limits any potential tax increase.
In staffing and volunteer requests, Sam Behan was approved as a long-term learning support substitute for the remainder of the school year at the elementary. Kristen Ramsey was added as a show choir volunteer.
Also, the varsity cheerleading squad requested to compete in the Kane Cheerleading Competition in February. The board approved the request and agreed to provide transportation with the understanding they will report back to board in March with any plans to form a competitive cheering squad for 2017-18.
Meanwhile, it was announced that the elementary school is currently having an art supply collection now until Dec 21. Items such as crayons, markers, coloring books and paint sets, among other items, are being collected to be donated to the Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y.
In other activities, the first grade Christmas program will be held at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 21 in the elementary school. Also, the high school chorus and band concert will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 14-15 in the high school auditorium. Meanwhile, the Randy Stebbins Memorial Basketball Tournament will be held on Dec. 16-17.
