Today's Finance Committee Meeting covered discussion of electric buses, a delayed budget, and fund balances.
Dennis
I attended in hopes of Dennis updates, but there were none.
After the meeting, I asked Director of Buildings & Grounds, Kent Metzger, if he got the clearance to talk to me. He shook his head "no".
At the July 11th Board of Education Meeting, I had asked Superintendent Dr. Clark about the process of scheduling Dennis inspections, and she said "that's a question for Kent Metzger," and that I could ask if he'd like to talk.
At that meeting, Metzger declined to take questions, and said he would check with Clark.
Today, Metzger told me that he checked with Clark on July 11th, but did not get the go-ahead to speak with me.
Electric Buses
Dr. Mike Curry, Chief Operations Officer, reported that Alltown Bus Service, purchased by Beacon Mobility, would like a non-binding letter of support to purchase electric buses.
Dr. Curry recommended providing such a letter, and Board President Bill Clevenger, the only Board Member present, was okay with this.
Alltown would manage their own electric charging infrastructure and have backup gasoline buses. Dr. Curry did say there's a possibility Alltown would not win the next bid for bus services, which would make this "moot".
Funds, Budget, Audit
Dr. Curry reported that an audit is underway, by FORVIS, a national Accounting company with a local Decatur firm.
Dr. Curry hoped to have a budget ready for the August 8th meeting, but says they will take a deeper dive in September, then get the approval done. He said some of the new folks didn't understand their budget responsibilities, and he was delayed due to being sick previously.
Most of the fund balances are better than expected, with $33 million in the Education Fund, nearly $8 million more than the District's estimate for June 30, 2023. The Tort Immunity/Judgement Fund was $4.8 million, just $700,000 shy of estimate, and Social Security/Medicare was about $230,000 short of the $552,240 estimate.
Dr. Curry also discussed Illinois Municipal Retirement Funds (IMRF), but I didn't understand. You can watch the video for details.
Property Investments
At the previous Finance Committee Meeting, the District discussed possible acquisition of a property at 1501 E Eldorado to house a Data Center, Research Department, and Student Services.
First Mid Bank owns the property, is asking $225,000, and there was "Discussion of asking bank to gift property to district".
Clevenger was set to coordinate a meeting with First Mid Bank, and the minutes show "Zach Shields could be part of meeting as well." I have not pursued updated information on this.
The "Tech Academy would become vacant", and the District was "looking at approximately $5 million to renovate the Tech Academy," according to the Minutes.
Several other items were discussed at the May 30th, 2023 Finance meeting, and minutes should be uploaded to the District Website soon.
Board President Bill Clevenger and Board Member Mark Reynolds were both present at the May 30th Finance meeting. No other Board Members were present.
Sources
Audio interviews will be uploaded in the coming days. Due to time constraints, we have not yet uploaded them.