Tonight's special joint session of the King George County School Board and the Board of Supervisors began at 6:04 pm, shortly after Supervisor Cedell Brooks arrived. There was no public comment.
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Ruby Brabo started things off with the newly elected officials making short introductions. Jeff Bueche (pronounced BUSH) is the new Supervisor for the James Monroe District, replacing Jim Howard. Cathy Binder is also a new Supervisor and will represent the Shiloh District replacing Cedell Brooks. Gina Panciera will replace Mike Rose as the Shiloh District's representative for the School Board.
Chairwoman Brabo then went to the heart of tonight's meeting by announcing that the Board of Supervisors will be moving to a two year budget cycle for the county. She also noted that, according to law, only one year can be voted on and approved. The second year would be more of a draft or projected budget.
The discussion then began between both boards with most of the talking being done by Dr. Robert Benson, Superintendent of Schools, T. C. Collins, Chairman of the School Board, and Chairwoman Brabo. Other attendees did add to the discussion as well as ask or answer questions throughout the meeting.
The general consensus seemed to be that the two year budget was acceptable by both boards with the assurances that the Supervisors could only approve one year at a time and that the second year would likely see some changes. Despite those changes being expected, there was still some concern over not knowing exactly what those changes would be. One example given for expected but unknown changes was the funding the schools received from the State and Federal governments. The amount of these funds change yearly based on attendance and the budgets of those government entities.
Chairwoman Brabo also announced that the Board of Supervisors would like to appoint five citizen advisors to help with the two year budget discussions. Her expectation was that these citizens would drive discussions and help bring new ideas to the table as well as communicate back to the community about the budget. She did clarify that even though these citizens would participate in the meetings, they would not be able to vote on the budget. She also stated that if a citizen would like to be on the committee, they should speak to the Supervisor for their district that will represent them in 2018.
Next on the Agenda was a request for the County Administrator, Dr. Neiman Young, and Dr. Benson to work together to develop a list of property owned by the School Board and property owned by the County but leased or used by the School Board. This brought about a request from Chairman Collins to get a final answer from the Board of Supervisors on their offer to sell the County part or all of the old King George Middle School. He said the School Board made the offer last year but never heard back from the County.
The final two items on the Agenda were about Capital Improvement Projects and Cost Cutting Ideas. The School Board said they had no major improvements planned other than those already in progress (such as the new track, bus replacement, and the improvements at King George Middle School). In regards to reducing costs, both Boards agreed that the goal was to think outside the box and reduce waste. Dr. Benson said the schools are already working on this in some areas and gave the example that the schools no longer provided printed paystubs for teachers and instead used an online platform.
The joint meeting concluded with both Boards adjourning at 6:30 pm.
Meeting Attendees:*
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Chairwoman, Board of Supervisors)
Jim Howard (Board of Supervisors)
Cedell Brooks (Board of Supervisors)
Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Dr. Robert Benson (School Superintendent)
T. C. Collins (Chairman, School Board)
Tammy Indseth (School Board)
Kristin Tolliver (School Board)
Gayle Hock (School Board)
Cathy Binder (Supervisor-elect)
Jeff Bueche (Supervisor-elect)
Gina Panciera (School Board-elect)
*Other officials were present but not introduced.
Meeting Agenda [Editor's Note: No Agenda was found online however one was handed out to those present. We scanned our copy for your review.]
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on December 19, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Ruby Brabo started things off with the newly elected officials making short introductions. Jeff Bueche (pronounced BUSH) is the new Supervisor for the James Monroe District, replacing Jim Howard. Cathy Binder is also a new Supervisor and will represent the Shiloh District replacing Cedell Brooks. Gina Panciera will replace Mike Rose as the Shiloh District's representative for the School Board.
Chairwoman Brabo then went to the heart of tonight's meeting by announcing that the Board of Supervisors will be moving to a two year budget cycle for the county. She also noted that, according to law, only one year can be voted on and approved. The second year would be more of a draft or projected budget.
The discussion then began between both boards with most of the talking being done by Dr. Robert Benson, Superintendent of Schools, T. C. Collins, Chairman of the School Board, and Chairwoman Brabo. Other attendees did add to the discussion as well as ask or answer questions throughout the meeting.
The general consensus seemed to be that the two year budget was acceptable by both boards with the assurances that the Supervisors could only approve one year at a time and that the second year would likely see some changes. Despite those changes being expected, there was still some concern over not knowing exactly what those changes would be. One example given for expected but unknown changes was the funding the schools received from the State and Federal governments. The amount of these funds change yearly based on attendance and the budgets of those government entities.
Chairwoman Brabo also announced that the Board of Supervisors would like to appoint five citizen advisors to help with the two year budget discussions. Her expectation was that these citizens would drive discussions and help bring new ideas to the table as well as communicate back to the community about the budget. She did clarify that even though these citizens would participate in the meetings, they would not be able to vote on the budget. She also stated that if a citizen would like to be on the committee, they should speak to the Supervisor for their district that will represent them in 2018.
Next on the Agenda was a request for the County Administrator, Dr. Neiman Young, and Dr. Benson to work together to develop a list of property owned by the School Board and property owned by the County but leased or used by the School Board. This brought about a request from Chairman Collins to get a final answer from the Board of Supervisors on their offer to sell the County part or all of the old King George Middle School. He said the School Board made the offer last year but never heard back from the County.
The final two items on the Agenda were about Capital Improvement Projects and Cost Cutting Ideas. The School Board said they had no major improvements planned other than those already in progress (such as the new track, bus replacement, and the improvements at King George Middle School). In regards to reducing costs, both Boards agreed that the goal was to think outside the box and reduce waste. Dr. Benson said the schools are already working on this in some areas and gave the example that the schools no longer provided printed paystubs for teachers and instead used an online platform.
The joint meeting concluded with both Boards adjourning at 6:30 pm.
Meeting Attendees:*
John Jenkins (Board of Supervisors)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Chairwoman, Board of Supervisors)
Jim Howard (Board of Supervisors)
Cedell Brooks (Board of Supervisors)
Dr. Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Dr. Robert Benson (School Superintendent)
T. C. Collins (Chairman, School Board)
Tammy Indseth (School Board)
Kristin Tolliver (School Board)
Gayle Hock (School Board)
Cathy Binder (Supervisor-elect)
Jeff Bueche (Supervisor-elect)
Gina Panciera (School Board-elect)
*Other officials were present but not introduced.
Meeting Agenda [Editor's Note: No Agenda was found online however one was handed out to those present. We scanned our copy for your review.]
Next Meeting:
The Board of Supervisors will next meet on December 19, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Board of Supervisors Meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment