By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green Board of Education met to reorganize this morning for a new year heavy with weighty issues.
Filling their plate are school building issues, the proposed income tax renewal, contract negotiations, possible drug testing, and curriculum questions.
“There are a lot of big decisions,” Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci said Tuesday morning.
The board elected officers for the new year, with Ellen Scholl being named president and Jill Carr being named vice president. The other board members are Bill Clifford, Ginny Stewart and Paul Walker.
One of the biggest issues facing the school board is a decision on whether to build a new consolidated elementary building to the north of the middle and high schools, or renovate the existing elementaries.
“We need to make a decision on where we’re going with facilities,” Scruci said.
A series of community meetings have been held to explain the options and gather public input. However, attendance has been limited, and the school board and superintendent want more citizen involvement.
“I need more community input,” before making a decision, Carr said.
Scruci has gotten one estimate from a professional survey firm, but the price was higher than he had expected at $12,500. The firm informed him that the use of cell phones and lack of landlines makes contacting people much more difficult and costly. Scruci said he would seek estimates from other survey firms.
“We’re trying to get a better pulse on the community,” the superintendent said.
The school board will also hear from at least two more companies offering drug testing of students. The board heard from one company last year, but Scruci said other options are available that screen for more drugs.
The board decided that drug testing should be one of the topics discussed at the monthly school board meetings.
Another topic to be discussed is social media, perhaps at the January board meeting. According to Scruci, safety tips are being given to school staff after some social media accounts have been hacked.
Curriculum will also be a hot topic this year, with the district focusing on trying to improve state testing scores. “We want to ensure our curriculum is helping students achieve what they want to,” Walker said.
And the board continues to hope for changes in state testing requirements.
Collective bargaining with school employees will also be conducted this year, though that will occur privately and not at public board meetings.
And looming over the year is the governor’s biennial budget, Scruci said. “We’re all holding our breath for that,” he said.
The board expressed ongoing frustration with the state’s funding system for schools.
“There are no new funding sources,” Walker said. “We’re relying on state or local dollars,” and the state dollars are shrinking.
“Until we can figure out how we get additional money from the state,” funding will continue to be a struggle, Walker said. The current funding formula penalizes Bowling Green for its part-time college population and housing – skewing the numbers for state money, Scholl and Stewart said.
