Monday, September 15, 2014

Board Briefs from September 10, 2014 Work Session

This information includes highlights of information received by the Ladue Board of Education at the September 10, 2014 Work Session.  This is an unofficial record.  Official minutes of each Board meeting are posted on the district website and are available for viewing at the Administrative Center after the Board approves them, typically two weeks after the meeting.

Board President Remarks
Board of Education President Jeff Kopolow announced that all schools in the district, including the Ladue Early Childhood Center, celebrated Ladue Horton Watkins High School recently being ranked #1 in Missouri and #7 in the Midwest in The Daily Beast's recent Top High Schools rankings.  Board members funded and delivered cakes to all eight schools to acknowledge that the educational journey begins long before students enter high school, and staff members at every school and in every capacity have reason to feel pride in this recognition.  Board members also visited the high school to personally serve their cake and thank the Ladue Horton Watkins High School staff for their contributions to providing the opportunity for success for all students.
Superintendent Remarks
  • Superintendent Dr. Donna Jahnke also thanked the Board for their personal gestures of appreciation to staff members for the recent Top High Schools recognition.  
  • Dr. Jahnke and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Laura Brock will be visiting Sixth Grade Camp at Camp Mihaska next week.  Sixth Grade Camp is a long-standing tradition for Ladue Middle School (LMS) and Dr. Jahnke thanked Mark Biernbaum, Industrial Technology teacher at LMS, for his continuing coordination of this outstanding program.  "Mihaska - Once We Were Five, Now We Are One! - Sixth Grade Camp" recently received "Promising Practice" recognition from the Character Education Partnership, the same group that recognizes National Schools of Character.
WORK SESSION

Operating Fund Levy and Debt Service Fund Levy.  The Board of Education will be setting the operating fund levy and the debt service fund levy at the September 22, 2014 Business Meeting.  To prepare the Board for this decision, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Dr. Jason Buckner presented information to the Board and led a discussion regarding the options available to the Board for setting these levies.

Operating Fund Levy.   State regulations allow school district's to increase the operating tax levy in order to maintain the level of revenue generated in prior years.  Therefore, each year, school districts are advised of their operating tax levy "ceiling."  The Ladue School District passed Prop 1 in April 2012, approving an operating tax levy of $3.24.  When the Board of Education set the levy later that year, assessments had decreased and the ceiling was raised to approximately $3.33.  (The amount that would need to be levied in order to generate the revenue that $3.24 would have generated in the previous year.)  However, the Board chose to set the levy at the amount approved by voters.  

Again in 2013, the ceiling was set at approximately $3.32, and the Board maintained the levy at $3.24, acknowledging they would likely need to consider raising the levy in future years to maintain district revenue at existing levels, should property assessments not increase.  (See Board Briefs from September 23, 2013.)

This year, the ceiling was set at approximately $3.33.  Earlier in the year, the Board approved the Preliminary 2014-15 Budget which used an operating fund levy of $3.31 in order to estimate anticipated property tax revenue for the 2014-15 school year.

Debt Service Levy.  Each year, school districts set their debt service levy within certain parameters defined by the state in order to generate sufficient revenue to repay existing debt (principal and interest) in the coming year for previously passed bond referendums.   The defined parameters for the Ladue School District would allow the debt service levy to be set as high as $.792.  However, by utilizing a portion of the reserves in the existing debt service fund and setting the debt service levy at $.39, as it has been in the last two years, the district will have the funds available to make required payments in the coming year. 

Board Work Goals.  President Kopolow led the Board in a discussion of the 2014-15 Board Work Plan, which outlines the goals, tasks and core values that will guide the Board's work during the 2014-15 school year.  This work plan will be further discussed and approved at the September 22, 2014 Board of Education Business Meeting.


Tentative Agenda Items for Business Meeting on Monday, September 22, 2014

ACTION
  • Operating Budget and Debt Service Levies Hearing and Approval
  • 2014-15 Board of Education Goals/Work Plan
  • Additional Patron Appointments to Board Advisory Committees
INFORMATION
  • Transportation/2014-15 Bus Routes/Mileage
  • Communications Report
  • Focus for Board Advisory Committees
  • Strategic Plan Update/Changes
The next Board of Education meeting will be a Business Meeting on September 22, 2014 at 7 p.m. and will be held at the Administrative Center, 9703 Conway Road.