FSCC board to review budget for coming year

Fort Scott, Kan. -- The Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees will conduct their regular meeting on Monday following a hearing in which board members will consider the approval of the college's nearly $12 million budget for the 2007-'08 school year.

The budget hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Monday, in the FSCC Heritage Room, 2108 S. Horton St.; and trustees will approve or disapprove the finalized budget, which contains about $6.5 million in budgeted expenses, revenue and transfers, and about $2.1 million in money generated from Bourbon County taxpayers. The local mill levy, 22.35, did not increase from last year.

The 2007-'08 budget also includes more than $690,000 to pay for FSCC faculty salaries after the board and college administrators approved small pay increases for more than 50 full-time and non-certified FSCC instructors and staff earlier this year.

The budget also contains about $3.2 million in vocational education spending, $14,500 in adult education spending, $1.1 million in spending for the FSCC Commercial Truck Driving Program, and $976,000 in expenses on auxiliary enterprises at the college, which include the college bookstore, the student center, the dormitories, and the food service program.

The board plans to conduct and final review before considering the adoption of the 2007-'08 finalized budget.

On Monday, the board will also consider approval of an increase in student tuition and fees (about $150 per student) for the truck driving program for the upcomiing school year. As of Aug. 1, Bourbon County residents who enroll in the truck driving program will pay a yearly cost of $2,224 in tuition and fees; students from other Kansas counties will pay $2,288; students from Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska will pay $2,736; residents of other states will pay $3,184; and international students will pay $3,484.

Effective Sept. 1, those fees will increase to $2,374; $2,438; $2,886; $3,334, and $3,634 per student respectively, due to the addition of a $50 charge per student for the cost of a drug screen, and a $100 per student charge for fuel surcharges in the program, according to FSCC documents.

The board, on Monday, also plans to review and discuss several board policies, including policies on student conduct, the college disciplinary process, the implementation of the disciplinary process, disciplinary appeals procedures, student academic decisions and academic ethics, academic dishonesty policy, the non-academic appeals process, purchasing, bid requirements, the petty cash account, the hiring selection process at FSCC, hiring and promotion, job classification, work hours for exempt employees, work hours for non-exempt employees, and work hours for faculty.

The board also plans to conduct the following business on Monday:

* Approve the July treasurer's report, which showed a $1.9 million starting cash balance, $1.3 million in expenses, $1.3 million in revenue, and a $1.9 million ending cash balance.

* Hear various reports from college officials, including a report from FSCC President Clayton Tatro on a potential partnership with the Kansas Small Business Development Center. FSCC has an opportunity to partner with KSBDC out of Pittsburg State University to enhance the college's impact on small business development and entrepreneurship. FSCC will work with other community colleges in Southeast Kansas to bring a full-time KSBDC counselor to the FSCC campus one or two days each week, an FSCC statement said.

The program will cost between $5,000 and $10,000 per participating college, depending on the number of colleges that participate. The KSBDC has received $1 million as part of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' proposed Rural Development Initiative, which are budget enhancements targeted at rural development across the state, the statement said.

* Hear a report from Tatro on a possible deferred maintenance program at FSCC. Deferred maintenance is the practice of allowing machinery or infrastructure at a college or university to deteriorate by postponing building repair work in order to save costs, labor and/or materials. The failure to perform needed repair, maintenance, and renewal by normal maintenance creates deferred maintenance.

* Consider the resignations of head athletic trainer Brett Macklin and Maximized Individual Learning Laboratory paraprofessional Kay Blythe.

The board has also scheduled an executive session to discuss personnel matters.

Upcoming important dates at FSCC include the return of faculty to work on Aug. 14; an all-school picnic at 5 p.m. Aug. 14 at Gunn Park; the start of day and evening classes at FSCC on Aug. 20; a Kansas Association of Community College Trustees and Council of Presidents meeting on Sept. 7-8, and the Association of Community College Trustees Annual Congress on Sept. 26-29 in San Diego, Calif.