All normal for Blevins School Board

By Staff, 02/14/17 9:43 AM

BLEVINS – Things returned to normal for the Blevins School Board at its February meeting Monday night.

There were no television cameras or protestors to be seen. This allowed the board to handle school business without interruption.

Superintendent Billy Lee told the board the district has more than $2 million, but these numbers are misleading because they show collections for increasing enrollment. The state predicted the Blevins district would grow by six students this year, but, as Lee told the panel, only two new students have enrolled in the district so far. He said these funds won’t be spent as they may have to be paid back.

From there the three new board members filled out their financial statements of interest before being asked to approve the purchase of smart board replacements from White River Solutions. Lee said the purchase had already been approved, but he wanted it in the minutes before the district spent $28,978. He told the board these new boards are more interactive and are the next generation of smart boards.

Bids were accepted for two school buses, an air compressor and an old welder. Lee told the board the Texas man who had submitted the winning bid for the buses earlier this year failed to come and get them and couldn’t be reached by phone. Therefore, the buses were put back up for bid. The buses were sold for $2,101 and $1,501 respectively, while the welder went to the same buyer who bid $50 for it. The only bid for the air compressor was $200. All bids were accepted.

Lee gave the board a good news, bad news scenario. He said the district received $6,800 for allowing a two-inch gas pipeline to be dug along the right-of-way. However, in a case of miscommunication, the district wound up with a bill for $8,179 for the repair of a bus.

According to Lee, the bus was taken to Big Rig, LLC, where it was to be checked out to find out what was wrong. Before any work was to be done, the business was supposed to notify the district of what it found and would cost to repair. But, the district, instead, was called when all repairs were made and given a bill for $8,179. Lee told the board had the district been called, he would not have allowed the repairs to be made as the district has an engine that could have been put in the bus for less money. He said he will make sure the district gets a warranty on the work before the bill is paid.

The final order of business was an hour-long executive session with the board discussing the contracts of the district’s two principals, Lisa Doss and Jeffrey Steed. When all was said and done both had their contracts extended for their current positions.