NCHS Board Approves Levy

By Alex Haglund

At the November meeting of the Nashville Community High School District Board, held on the evening of Monday, November 20, the board approved the adoption of the 2017, payable 2018 tax levy certificate.

The levy is for $2,620,812, based on an estimated Equalized Assessed Value for property in the district for 2018 of $149,900,757.

The EAV growth, which the increase in the levy from one year to the next is based on is 4.73-percent, and due to that number being under five-percent, a truth in taxation hearing will not be required.

For the current school year, District Bookkeeper Stephanie Bauza stated that she had spoken with the office of the Washington County Treasurer, and the district may be receiving another real estate tax payment before Christmas, which would take care of all of the district’s payments from local funds for the year.

The situation on money coming from the state of Illinois was not as rosy though.

While the district has received a transportation payment during this school year, that was a payment for last school year.

“As of November,” Bauza told the board, “no transportation payments have been made yet for this school year.”

Principal’s Report

Principal Mark Begando spoke to the board, saying, “attendance for the month of October has taken a hit.” He stated that he believed this to be due to the effect on students’ health of the peaks and valleys in the climate through the month.

Begando spoke highly of the NCHS Music Department’s performances of “Shrek: The Musical”

“If you had a chance to see it,” Begando said, “then you know what I am talking about. It was outstanding!”

Begando also made mention of mid-term academics, and stated that as of right now, “25.3-percent of our students are making straight As.” Further, he added that a full two-thirds of the students were making As or Bs.

“When I look at these numbers,” Begando said, “it’s outstanding.”

Athletic Director

NCHS Athletic Director Alicia Heggemeier spoke with the board briefly (the meeting was happening at the same time as the first night of the Nashville Girls Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament).

“We have really had an outstanding fall,” said Heggemeier.

Heggemeier said that in addition to the end of fall sports, and that very night, the beginning of winter sports, she also had several items she was dealing with related to athletic facilities – the championship banners have been pulled down from Assembly Hall, and were in the process of being cleaned and, where applicable, updated with recent achievements.

Victories From The Year So Far…

Also related to NCHS athletic achievements, Heggemeier had recently finished redoing the trophy cases in the hallways near Assembly Hall. A new addition to these cases is one near the front which is now the case for achievements from, “the year so far.”

“We’re so successful though,” Heggemeier told the board,”the concern is, ‘what happens when we run out of space?’ which looks to be happening in the not-too-distant future.”
Schoolwide Title I Plan

Hawkins talked about looking into the possibility of NCHS implementing a schoolwide Title I plan. Title I plans are based on a school district’s populations of students at-or-below the poverty line, with those numbers coming from a district’s utilization of the free-and-reduced lunch program.

Schoolwide plans allow district’s to service their whole student population, not just those students identified by their need.

“The bad news,” Hawkins said, “is that you don’t get any more money. The good news, is that it gives you quite a bit more flexibility in how you use that money.”

Other Items

School Nurse Tiffany Lehde has received new employment elsewhere. She has resigned, effective December 21, the first day of Christmas break. The district will be advertising to seek a new nurse.

The board received an article from Interim Superintendent Thomas Hawkins regarding the creation of additional board committees. The article came from the Oregon School Board Association and, in addition to discussing permanent and ad hoc committees, it also went over other possible committees for school districts.

The board approved cancellation of a contract with AF Comply, a company that furnishes tax forms. These forms are also able to be generated by the district’s payroll/accounting software, so cancelling the contract will save the district money.

The board approved an initial application for a Three Circle grant. It’s a grant for agriculture teachers, and it was brought to Hawkins by NCHS Ag teacher Julie Bond-Ledford.

“It’s my understanding that about 185 ag teachers throughout the state have applied,” said Hawkins. “Hopefully, we’ll hear back that we were awarded it.”

In building and grounds, Hawkins stated that there were several repairs that were done to the floor in Assembly Hall, which had some buckling and separation. The total cost is approximately $1,000.

The board also approved entering into a consulting contract with Kevin Rench and Dennis Fancher to aid the district in the selection of a new, permanent District Superintendent – for more, see page A1 of the November 22, 2017 edition of The Nashville News.