BURTON SCHOOL BOARD DISCUSSES OPTIONS AFTER BOND ISSUE FAILURE

  

The Burton School Board began discussion of what direction they will go after the failure of the school improvement bond issue.  The 18 million dollar bond issue was rejected by district voters 556 to 389 last week.  Board President Demetrius Colvin said he is in favor of moving forward with another bond election, but breaking the improvements into smaller pieces, not just the whole pie at once.  Board member Felton Cox said that he feels the board needs to look at keeping the current football field, but relocate the parking so that classrooms could be built in that area.  School Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy reminded the board members that the next election that a bond issue could be on is May 6th of next year and January 16th is the last date to file to put a bond issue on the ballot.  She also stated that the architect and the bond advisor had already been contacted to look into other options.  The board agreed to continue the discussion at their next meeting on December 15th at 5pm.

In other action, the board approved two resolutions aimed at putting pressure on the next state legislature.  One is supporting a coalition of districts experiencing a value decline in their tax base, and the other seeks to adjust the appropriation of funds to small school districts.

The board also heard a report from Richard Gibbens of Way Service on the energy usage by the district.  Burton ISD contracted with Way in 2014 to identify what lighting and heating and air conditioning needed to be replaced in order to save electricity.  Last year, the district saved $33,000 in energy costs due to the changes.  Because this was greater than the amount predicted by Way, the district received the “Green Pig” award from the state.