During the March 9 meeting of the Snowflake Unified School District Governing Board, Superintendent Merrell presented salary proposals to the governing board.
“Certainly this year is a much more fun year than we’ve had, because we were looking at cuts for so many years,” said Merrell.
The proposal included a two percent increase for certified staff, a step increase for non-classified staff and a 50-cent increase for support staff. The governing board had discussed the issue in a work session prior to the board meeting, so there was little discussion and unanimously approved the new salary proposals.
The governing board also approved the hiring of three new positions for the 2017-18 school year. The positions are a music teacher at Snowflake Junior High School who will also teach at the intermediate schools, a special education teacher at Snowflake High School and an increase from a half time tech to a full-time position.
The board also approved the reclassification request in the business office. Merrell explained that all but one of the staff are classified the same and if they reclassify the one position it would put all staff on the same level, making it so they can share jobs. Merrell said that the cost to reclassify one employee is $107 annually.
Over the last couple of years, the district began repainting the schools, going to a darker color than white. After discussing with the superintendent, Facility’s Supervisor Darren Perkins recommended that this year they paint the rest of the high school, the activity’s building and concession stand.
Perkins recommended approval of the project and awarding Riddle Painting and Coating the bid, which was approved by the board.
Each year SUSD must have a line of credit that Business Manager Mark Ollerton said they try never to use. “Several years ago, the County Treasurer requested that the districts in Navajo County establish a line of credit with the bank of their choosing. “The Arizona State Government withholds state aid revenue until the fiscal year has ended and then in July of the new fiscal year they release the back pay of state aid,” Ollerton explained, adding that it is a poor account practice by the state because it takes cash that the district should be expending in the current fiscal year and forces the district to potentially run in a negative cash balance.
Consequently, the district has utilized the $2,500,000 line of credit so the county would not register warrants. The governing board unanimously approved the line of credit.
In other business, the governing board approved the Snowflake High School fee schedule.
