Charles City schools’ CIP registers $1.1 million price tag

Charles City superintendent of schools David Gaston revealed his proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to the school board during Tuesday’s night regular meeting.

Projects for FY2016-17 produced a price tag of $1,082,465 of recommendations. That figure is up $102,993 from the original approved number of $979,472 in last year’s approved CIP.

Director of Operations Jerome Tyler headed the presentation, pointing the attempt to frontload some items that could reap substantial savings in the future.

“We have been looking at the CIP and moving some things around,” Tyler commented. “I believe that what we are doing will benefit us in the long run.”

One of the requests recommended by the director of operations would be to provide teacher instructional laptops in next year’s cycle. According to Tyler, the move would result in savings in the technology field of more than $100,000 due to the computers being compatible with current versions the school is using.

Another major change proposed in the CIP is the removal of one bus in exchange for a seven-person passenger bus and a driver’s education car.

“Currently, we take a bus to our Governor’s Schools for only a few students,” Tyler commented. “By purchasing a van we will see a lot of significant savings in the long run on both transportation costs and fuel.”

Several CIP items from the previous year’s proposal remain intact to be addressed in FY2016-17. Major projects include continuing the One-to-One Technology Initiative ($120,000), renovating the Blue Wing of Charles City Elementary School ($119,981), renovations to the commons area at both the elementary ($78,869) and high school ($252,340), and parking lot repairs due to drainage issues ($90,000).

Two new items also appear on the document to help address operating needs at school facilities. A tab of $29,840 has been requested to address replacing HVAC units inside of the elementary school’s cafeteria and kitchen, while $33,488 is pegged to replace heat pump water sources at 18 units in the school.

In another budget related matter, an original projected shortfall of funding from the state has been reduced significantly.

According to Director of Finance Sue Salg, Governor Terry McAuliffe’s budget proposed a reduction of $141,000 in state funding for county schools. That figure is significantly lower than the original $345,000 that was used in Gaston’s $10.6 million budget proposed in December.

“While it is $200,000 less than what we used to work with on the budget, we are still waiting for the Senate’s recommended budget,” Salg commented. “A lot of our funding was effected by our projected ADM (Average Daily Membership) and the LCI (Local Composite Index.)”

A public hearing on the superintendent’s proposed operating budget and CIP is scheduled for Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. School board members elected to have a second hearing on Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. for those who can’t attend the first one before heading into their regularly scheduled meeting that night.