WACO directors table top two items on board agenda

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? Seven people signed up to speak at Monday night?s WACO School Board meeting. The seven, who were comprised of faculty members and support staff, were nearly evenly divided in which topic they wanted to address ? the privatization of bus service and the inclusion of three-year-olds in the school?s preschool program ? arguably the top two items on the monthly docket.

After hearing the concerns, WACO directors tabled a decision on both agenda items.

Durham School Services, a nationwide school transportation system, gave a presentation during the board?s March meeting, saying it could cut school transportation costs by 3-5 percent.

That news prompted a briefing last night by Harpo Conrad, chief negotiator for the WACO Education Support Association (WESA) and Sue Ballew, WESA president.

Conrad urged the board to make an ?apples to apples? comparison. ?In comparing any proposal, you have to look at the bottom line,? he said.

According to Conrad, WACO spent $280,584.81 in transportation last year, which included not only bus routes but activity trips, staff mileage and non-district personnel mileage.

He presented several cost-cutting proposals which he said could save the district nearly $27,000 annually in expenditures. The proposals included reduction of one bus driver, elimination of a bus route, reduction of one special-education bus route and installation of gasoline tanks at Crawfordsville.

Having coaches drive athletic teams next year (a move already approved by the board) will save the district another $10,000, bringing the total to savings to roughly $36,748, or a 13-percent transportation savings, Conrad and Ballew said.

Ballew said WACO bus drivers collectively have over 130 years of experience. ?Personal relationships are important,? she began. ?The bus drivers have a good working relationship with the faculty and administration and the drivers know and work with parents and staff.

?Durham said it cold save us 3-5 percent on our costs, but if we work together we can save more by keeping it in house,? Ballew said. ?Having and knowing your own bus drivers is priceless.?

Mark Thompson, director of business development for Durham, said that after studying WACO?s transportation needs further, Durham could save the district $30,983 if two bus routes (one regular and one special education) were eliminated. It was not entirely clear whether or not the figure included the $10,000 reduction for having coaches drive athletic teams to events.

However, Thompson said Durham?s proposal does not include fuel costs and although bus drivers would receive a salary increase, they would not be eligible for IPERS.

The proposal also includes Durham leasing the current WACO bus fleet.

?You have a great group of drivers and we would do everything we could to have and every one of them work for us,? Thompson said. He also noted that bus drivers would be able to draw unemployment during the summer months. ?We want our drivers to claim unemployment because we want them to work for us again in the fall.?

Durham also would provide insurance and maintenance costs on the buses.

Following the presentations, WACO board members were not sure whether they had an exact comparison and consequently, said they would have to study the matter further. ?Our data needs to meet up with their data,? noted board member Todd Meyer.

Another agenda item needing more study and input is a preschool program for three year olds. Currently, the district has a program for four year olds. A committee studying new marketing strategies of the district suggested expanding the program to three year olds in an attempt to attract more students to the district, Tim Graber, board president, reported

WACO Superintendent Pat Coen said that currently the district does not have sufficient space to add three year olds to the mix.

Preschool teacher Shelli Brose added that she has some problems with the suggestion. ?The developmental needs of three and four year olds are very different. We would have some classes with a huge variance of developmental needs. Mixing three and four year olds would be very difficult.?

Board member Jarod Graber asked if there was any guarantee that three-year-old students would come to WACO if it did expand the program.

Brose said that this school year the district had to turn away some four-year-old students because of a lack of room. Next year, the district could have as many as 36 preschool students, she said.

?I would like to see us get every four year old in,? noted Director JoEllen Jepson.

Meyer again suggested that the matter needs more study.

The administration was asked to come up with a recommendation for the preschool program and report back at a future board meeting.

In personnel matters, directors accepted the resignation of Vicki Reynolds, elementary-school principal; teacher Esther Leichty; and heard wrestling coach Sterling Rex. The board also approved a contract for Terry Rogers as assistant boys? basketball coach.

Contract settlements with the WACO Education Association (certified staff) and the WESA (non-certified staff) were approved. The contract with certified staff increased by 1.37 percent. The base teaching salary will increase by $725 annually to $25,874. The pact with non-certified staff rose by 1.85 percent.

?We greatly appreciate them (employees) for working with us,? Coen said.

WACO board members meet again in regular session Monday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the high school media center.