Ed Sorgen will serve another one-year term as the president of the Joseph City Unified Schools Governing Board, following a vote of the board at last week’s regular monthly meeting.
The board also renewed Sherri Hill’s position as clerk of the board for an additional year. No other board positions were up for renewal.
In other preparations for the new year, the governing board voted to change the regular monthly meeting to 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month (except for February’s meeting, which will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14).
In other business, the board recognized Joseph City’s state champion football team. The Wildcats ended a perfect season by earning the state title for the third year in a row. The team is number one in Arizona, and is ranked No. 22 nationally in its division.
The board approved a cost-saving resolution from Midstate Energy of Phoenix, which includes a laundry list of energy-efficiency recommendations the company believes will save the district about $70,000 annually in utility costs.
Asked if he expected Midstate to come up with such extensive savings for the district, Superintendent Robert Klein replied, “I was rather surprised, because we’ve done quite a bit on our own to cut energy costs. I didn’t expect them to say we could save that much more.”
In recent years, the district has used bond funding to make a number of improvements to district facilities, including replacing nearly all of the windows in the district and installing new HVAC units.
Among Midstate’s recommendations are to replace nine of the district’s older HVAC units, install an energy management system district-wide with demand control capability, upgrade light fixtures and outdoor lighting, install occupancy sensors for HVAC and light control, install vending machine power management and make improvements to the existing buildings, such as replacing weather stripping. Midstate’s plan includes “energy behavioral management,” which includes education and training in areas of energy conservation, which would be targeted at faculty and students.
Klein says the improvements should be complete within the next year.
The board granted approval for the music department to proceed with a fundraising dinner and musical show on Feb. 14, and for the Joseph City High School Baseball Club to sell discount cards during the months of February and March.
Wendy Fenn was appointed a substitute teacher for the upcoming year, and while the board accepted Adam Lee’s resignation as a fleet maintenance worker and bus driver, they opted to keep him on as a substitute bus driver.
Board members also voted to revise the 2012 district salary schedule because of the recent increase of Arizona’s minimum wage from $7.35 to $7.65. They included a $15 per day increase in substitute teacher wages as part of the salary schedule adjustment.
