The school system has received final approval for a FEMA grant to fund an addition to DeKalb West School has been secured, and the school system is ready to begin construction of eight “tornado safe” classrooms.
The Board of Education gave tentative approval to hire Kaatz, Binkley, Jones & Morris of Mount Juliet as the architects for the project at Thursday night’s meeting, pending approval once the contract has been reviewed and accepted by the board.
David Brown, a representative of Kaatz, Binkley, Jones & Morris, delivered the good news to the board.
“We got our final approval letters from the state and FEMA, and the last of the hoops to jump through were approved for our grant at DeKalb West,” Brown told the board.
Brown said that the grant approval took longer than first expected.
“It’s about eight weeks later than I thought it would be,” he told the board. “We submitted it in March. We had heard from the state that everything looked good and that they were passing you on to Atlanta. It’s what we've been waiting for and we can now move ahead with the project,” Brown said.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) had already approved more than $1.5 million in grant money for the safe rooms at DWS, but the board has been awaiting final approval by FEMA in Atlanta.
The project is budgeted to use $600,000 in local funding to match a 12.5 percent FEMA grant for building the new classrooms.
The new addition is planned for the front of the school, and will include the eight new classrooms, restrooms, a new secure entrance, an office, clinic, conference room, guidance and teacher work area.
The county commission approved funding for the plan in July, budgeting a $3.4 million note to cover the $600,000 grant match and an $850,000 cafeteria and kitchen renovation project at DWS along with roof repairs to DeKalb Middle School, DeKalb West, and Smithville Elementary School.
Meanwhile, the board adopted a resolution to prevent another write-up on next year’s state audit report.
The school system was written up in this year’s audit for a school federal projects fund cash overdraft in the amount of $96,023.
Director of Schools Mark Willoughby said the overdraft was caused when the school system did not receive its federal reimbursement of grant expenditures in time to cover the balance.
To prevent a reoccurance next year, the board adopted a resolution to transfer $80,000 from the local option sales tax sinking fund to the federal projects fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 to cover any potential overdraft.
The resolution reads:
“Whereas, federal projects grants operate on a reimbursement basis and funds are requested from the State of Tennessee by DeKalb County for non-payroll expenditures on a monthly basis; and
“Whereas, the federal projects fund operates with a cash deficit at various times throughout the fiscal year due to a slow turn-around time for reimbursements from the State of Tennessee; and
“Whereas, generally accepted accounting principles consider a cash deficit in any fund to be a significant deficiency in internal control; and
“Whereas, DeKalb County does not desire to operate any fund with a cash deficit.
“Now therefore, be it resolved, by the Board of Education of DeKalb County, a school district in Tennessee, meeting in regular session on Nov. 8, 2012, and by the county commission of DeKalb County that:
“•Section 1. Local option sales tax-sinking fund shall transfer $80,000 to the federal projects funds following approval of this resolution by both parties.
“•Section 2. The $80,000 transfer shall remain in the federal projects fund as a designated fund balance from the local option sales tax-sinking fund and may be repaid at any time as noted in a resolution passed by the board of education and county commission.
“•Section 3. This resolution will take effect upon the approval of both governing parties. The Secretary of the Board of Education shall include this resolution in the minutes of the DeKalb County School System. The DeKalb County Clerk shall include this resolution in the minutes of DeKalb County.”
The board also adopted a resolution to ask the federal government to amend the Budget Control Act.
Willoughby said that if no action is taken, drastic cuts and massive tax increases are coming in January under the act.
The resolution reads:
“Whereas, a world-class public education is essential for the future success of our nation and today's school children; and
“Whereas, the Budget Control Act of 2011 includes a provision to impose $1.2 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts to almost all federal programs including education that would become effective January 2, 2013; and
“Whereas, these across-the-board budget cuts would impact school districts during the 2013-14 school year, with the exception of the Impact Aid program, with which a reduction would become effective this school year; and
“Whereas, these across-the-board budget cuts, also known as sequestration, would impact education by a reduction in funds of 8.2 percent or more and could result in larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, possible four-day school weeks, loss of extracurricular activities, and teacher and staff lay-offs; and
“Whereas, sequestration would impact almost every public school system in the nation and the millions of students educated through programs such as Title I grants for disadvantaged students, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, English Language Acquisition, Career and Technical Educational, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and more; and
“Whereas, DeKalb County, as well as other public schools, would be impacted nationwide by an estimated $2.7 billion loss from just three programs alone, Title I grants, IDEA special education state grants and Head Start that serve a combined 30.7 million children; and
“Whereas, federal funding for K-12 programs was already reduced by more than $835 million in fiscal year 2011, and state and local funding for education continues to be impacted by budget cuts and lower local property tax revenues; and
“Whereas, states and local governments have very limited capacity to absorb further budget cuts from sequestration, as DeKalb County has already implemented cuts commensurate to state and local budget conditions;
“Now Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the DeKalb County commission urges congress and the administration to amend the Budget Control Act to mitigate the drastic cuts to education that would affect our students and communities, and to protect education as an investment critical to economic stability and American competitiveness.
“Adopted this the eighth day of November 2012, by the DeKalb County Board of Education, Smithville. A copy of this resolution shall be included in the minutes of the DeKalb County School System, and sent to the National School Board Association.”