South Central School Board socially distances during Wednesday night’s board meeting in the Middle School Cafeteria. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
The South Central School District Board has approved a $1.9-million working cash bond for the next four years.
Superintendent Kerry Herdes says the bond will serve as insurance if there is a cutback in state funding due to the defeat of the Fair Tax in the November general election.
“The dust settles and we don’t have to use that money then we use it for projects or stop doing a bond. We are trying to do it this time over 4 years and make that money go as far as we possibly can so we don’t have to do it for a while. That’s been our philosophy and we know that the Governor predicted somewhere around a 15% cut in revenue for this fiscal year. To us that’s $435,000 that we don’t have and will have to pull out. So we are trying to save some of that money and not cut programs.”
The board also approved its annual property tax levy. It is 4.99-percent higher than what was collected this year but under the 5-percent level, a Truth in Taxation Hearing would be required. Herdes expects the district tax rate to remain at $4.51 per hundred dollars assessed valuation.
The board agreed to follow a change in CDC guidelines that would allow those on quarantine to come back to school in ten days instead of 14 if they have no symptoms. Herdes says there is a less than a one-percent chance of transmission after the ten-day period if symptoms have not developed. He noted the importance that change could mean to some students who have been quarantined up to four times during the first half of the school year. Instead of having to stay on remote learning a total of 56 days, the time could be cut to 40.
Herdes says their number on quarantine and with positive COVID-19 tests are beginning to come down. The number on quarantine is down from a high of 85 to 90 into the 70s. Only one staff member remains out from a positive COVID test, while the number of students out with positive COVID tests has dropped from seven to four.
Herdes says there are only a few cases where the actual transmission of COVID could have occurred at the school as their precautions are working well. He commended the janitors and the entire staff for doing a good job.
