PARSONS – A reduction to the state aid caused Tucker County BOE members to find a way to cut their budget, mid-year, but $50,471. Dave Lambert, Tucker County BOE Treasurer and Chief School Business Official, said he scoured the county’s budget to identify some of the areas the expenditures could be coming in light.

“I tried to identify some opportunities for savings,” Lambert said. “There are four options I am presenting. You can’t come into a situation half way through the year and have a $50,000 reduction and call it easy.”
Lambert said option one takes into account current expense trends and tries to spread reduction over as many items as possible.
“Basically what I did was review the chart of accounts and tried to identify sources where at the midway point of the year we were coming in at less than 50 percent of our total projected expenditures,” Lambert said. “I tried to list pros and cons. There are 25 line items to get to the $50,000. That averages about $2,000 per item and includes such things as Central Office Supplies, Board Member Services and Travel, Central Office Travel.”
Lambert told BOE members said there are variables and said some of the accounts could go up such as utility costs going up if there is a particularly cold winter.
“Option 2 would be to say on ‘x’ date, we are going to stop paying for substitutes,” Lambert said. “We also know the logistical issues that come with that – the potential of not having instruction in the classroom. While we could say this, and it would be a guaranteed $50,000 by six weeks, we would have to have the buy – in of the entire staff.”
Lambert said option 3 would be very difficult.
“It places the majority of the offset at the county and school level by reducing the amount of Step 7 funds allocated for daily operations, books and technology,” Lambert said.
Option 4 creates a short term fix to a long term problem.
“This would absorb the entire cost by using the available fund balance we have generated over the past 6.5 years,” Lambert said. “We have used the fund balance in the past two years to cover the cost of the HVAC project at the high school and we know that is going to reduce.”
Lambert said they were under a deadline to choose an option.
“The deadline was on the 16, but we have an extension because we meet on the 9th,’ Lambert said.
BOE members voted unanimously to accept option 1.

Also during Monday’s meeting, BOE members approved employment of the following:

Elizabeth Moore, substitute teacher for 2016 to 2017 pending certification and background check;
Tina Carr, substitute teacher for 2016 to 2017 pending certification and background check;
Nick Hovatter as electrician II/plumber II/general maintenance effective Jan.17 pending background check; and Nick Hovatter as maintenance substitute effective Dec. 20 pending background check.
BOE members approved the removal of Gary Joseph Meloy as substitute custodian effective Dec. 20.
Tucker BOE members also voted to approve the sale of bus 7A as surplus property, as it is no longer suitable for students.
The next Tucker County BOE meeting is slated for 4:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Tucker County BOE Office.