Bronaugh R-7 board receives energy audit results

Nevada Daily Mail

"Some time back I received a call from 360 Energy Engineers out of Lawrence, Kan., to do a free energy audit of our facilities," said David Copeland, district superintendent. "Tonight, we shall review their findings and options."

A written report addressed four areas: utilization of ground source heating to replace propane; upgrade of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in existing areas and adding air conditioning to the gymnasium; upgrade lighting from fluorescent units to light-emitting diodes and changing from manually controlled thermostats to those that provide read outs and can be adjusted on a computer.

Later during a break, board president, Ryan Linn said, "I'm glad we had this done but right now there is no way we could undertake any of the larger projects while the smaller ones would probably be a lot cheaper if done by local contractors."

Travis Wait, the vocational-agriculture and Future Farmers of America teacher presented a program evaluation.

"Missouri has 331 FFA chapters and for the fourth year in a row, ours is a top 50 chapter and had a dairy evaluation team that earned a group 1 rating out of 65 teams, said Wait. For six years straight, Bronaugh has had a Star finalist at state and this year Cole Diggins was selected as the State Star in Agriscience. Besides the full scholarship earned by Cole, some $11,500 worth of agricultural scholarships were earned by seniors through their direct involvement with Bronaugh Vo-Ag and our FFA chapter."

The next agenda item was a review of the Claim Care agreement. Under the existing contract, Claim Care Inc., helps the district apply for and receive reimbursement for costs and services for students receiving individualized education programs, commonly referred to as special education students.

Claims are filed for Medicare services through Missouri HealthNet and from the High Need Fund operated by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Schools. The High Need Fund provides funding for special education students whose costs exceed three times the district's current expenditure per average daily attendance.

"While tonight I'm not ready to present you with options," said Copeland "I did want to put you on notice of my concerns with our present agreement. This involves so few students and the agreement's cost is significant enough that it makes me want to look at other options and visit this next month."

Principal Jordan Dickey reported that "elementary attendance is 96 percent and the high school is at 94. Field day and the talent show went very well. At both you could see older students helping younger ones and at the risk of using an over worn word, it was truly heartwarming!"

"It's been a while since the district updated its curricula," said Dickey. "With the adoption of the new Missouri Learning Standards, several teachers and I will be working hard over the summer to prepare our curricula in time so teachers can prepare to teach according to them. The standards begin this fall while testing on them begins with the 2017-18 school year."

"We'll work on next year's budget at the June meeting. I like to get as close to June 30 as possible so that our numbers are as accurate as possible."

"I want to look at our transportation contract," added Copeland. "Maybe we can consolidate our bus routes from 3 to 2. I also want to look at purchasing a fleet vehicle such as a suburban from state surplus. A teacher could drive a small group without a commercial driving license and the district would not have to pay a whole day's cost for a bus and driver."

"The end of the year dinner for faculty, staff and their families was well received and a lot of fun," said Copeland. "I think every staff member came away with an award or door prize. Holding it on the evening of our last day of classes was a nice way to round out the school year."

"I've been in charge of some fair sized districts," said Copeland "but without a doubt, this has been the best year of my career. Now I know why you like it here so much. This place is really special!"