Faced with a reduction of approximately $60,000 in the Webster County School District’s “Fund 2” budget, Webster County Board of Education members “reluctantly” approved a working budget proposal submitted to them during their regular meeting at the Webster County Board of Education office Monday night.

Webster County Board of Education member Tim McCormick said, somewhat jokingly, that he didn’t see the point of conducting a board vote since all the decisions about the budget fund reduction were being made at the state level.

“Why do they need me to vote?” McCormick asked, as he and other board members laughed.

Board chair James Nance answered the question.

“If I get four others, I won’t need you to,” he said, referring to the other four board members present for the meeting. (Board member E Carolyn Tucker was absent.)

The tone of the discussion turned more serious as Nance blasted state lawmakers over the apparent assertion that education wouldn’t be cut.

“Don’t tell the public you didn’t cut education when you did,” Nance said, referring to the governor and state leaders. “If he can prove us wrong, I’ll come back to you, Dr. Kemp.”

Kemp, the Webster County School District superintendent, said he had “the statistical data to back me up.”

Kemp said so far this year, the state allocations have been reduced by 89 percent in the area of textbook purchases, and other funds that Kemp said could be affected if the deficit worsens, were frozen at the local level before the current school year began.

So far, per-pupil money hasn’t been reduced, Kemp added.

The Webster County School District isn’t the only education program in Webster County feeling the pinch from the economy. Webster County Area Technology Center Principal Lawrence Garrity spoke to the board at the start of its meeting about how Kentucky Tech, the agency that manages the Webster County ATC along with facilities and services in as many as 126 other school districts, is faring in the current economic climate.

According to Garrity, Kentucky Tech wasn’t impacted by the recent across-the-board four percent round of state cuts, but is concerned about the future of the program. He said the state Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTE) had cut funding from the agency’s equipment budget, down from $1.8 million originally at one point to $750,000 currently.

“We appreciate all you have done to support your Kentucky Tech schools,” Garrity read from a prepared statement. “We need your continued support now and tomorrow.”

He said if the cuts continue, getting the tech centers will fall behind on making the equipment purchases needed to keep the programs current with the technology being used in the respective fields.

Garrity said the Webster County ATC serves about 300 students.

Nance pledged the commitment of the Webster County School District and the Board of Education to helping support the Area Technology Center, though no mention of funding support was ever made by Garrity or the board.

“I assure you that this board and this superintendent will do all we can to support the Area Technology Center,” Nance said, adding that if it were closed, finding a place to house the some 300 students who attend courses in that building would be difficult.

Next to speak to the board was Webster County Board of Education Assistant Superintendent Alan Lossner, regarding a proposal on what to do in the event of a swine flu outbreak in Webster County.

He said health officials have been monitoring the spread of the disease closely and are cautioning about the potential for the disease to become a pandemic.

The proposal presented was originally adopted by the city school district in Paducah, and endorsed by both the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Department of Public Health, Lossner said. It establishes schools as safe zones where children who aren’t sick can still attend classes for a few hours a day, and outlines procedures on how the schools will be set up to limit the risk of exposure. Essentially, parents would be responsible for transporting students, and board members agreed that in the event of such an emergency, the district would need to work around parents’ work schedules as much as possible.

Lossner said this plan is preferable to the alternative of closing school, because of the potential problems it creates for the district in terms of having to make up those days. He reminded the board of a similar situation that occurred in the 2008-2009 school year as a result of the winter ice storms, in which some schools in the district had to remain open in the first week of June to meet the state requirements for make-up days.

The board adopted the plan, with the understanding that it is still being modified to fit the Webster County School District’s specific needs. The original document, Lossner said, was designed for a city school and doesn’t take issues like rural transportation into account. Additionally, each individual school must modify the plan to fit better with that facility.

The board then:

•approved the sale of property at 203 Barbour St. in Providence in the amount of $502, and the sale of two other nearby parcels of property in the amount of $1,375 to a different bidder. The Webster County School District inherited the three properties when it accepted a merger agreement with the former Providence Independent School District;

•heard an update from Kemp on an appraisal report regarding the former Providence High School property. Kemp said the report wasn’t complete as of Monday night, but that he expected to have it this week, possibly as early as Tuesday. The appraisal would determine the value of the entire lot, but the board could divide that lot as they choose for purposes of selling it once the appraisal is completed. The city of Providence has previously expressed an interest in acquiring the “Doghouse” gymnasium;

•approved payments to Townsend and Associates in the amount of approximately $6,700, and Alt and Witzig Engineering in the amount of almost $1,200 for work related to the ongoing Webster County High School renovation.

•approved a scheduled payment to WCHS renovation contractor Peyronin in the amount of nearly $1.4 million, as well as a change order to increase the cost of two parts of the project and decrease another, with a total net decrease of almost $3,700;

•approved a series of “consent agenda” items, including various monthly reports and an early graduation request;

•adopted the recommended “indirect cost rates” for FY 2010. The rates are for food service and don’t have to be applied, however according to information provided the board had to adopt them before Oct. 1, or miss the chance to do so;

•approved the purchase of a school bus that district officials said Audubon Area Head Start had pledged to reimburse the district for, up to $87,000; and

•reviewed a list of personnel changes, including the employment of Anthony Dotson, Trojan Academy; April Gregory, Sebree Title I teacher; Robert Browder, Buffy Daily, Lynsie Humphrey, William Murphy, Nancy Reigart, and Russel St. Clair, substitute teachers; Pat Hammack, district-wide Delta Project Specialist; Leslie Kuykendall, Clay instructional assistant; Mattea Cummings, Dixon instructional assistant; Mandy Dock, Dixon instructional assistant; Tabitha Alsbrooks, Providence instructional assistant; Terra Hack, Providence instructional assistant; Travis Hill, Providence instructional assistant; Mary Myers, Providence cook/baker; Heather Smith, Slaughters instructional assistant; Alejandra Frailey, WCHS English as a Second Language instructor; Cecil Tasker, full-time alternate bus driver; Brenda Bryant, substitute instructional assistant; Nycole Ross, substitute cook/baker; Jeremy Collins, WCHS assistant football/power-lifting; and Jennifer Kincaid, Sebree annual; the resignation of Misty Layton, Providence instructional assistant; Angie Thomas, WCHS instructional assistant; Alejandra Frailey, Dixon Title I instructional assistant; and Justin Curry, WCHS assistant football coach; and a change in assignment for Robert McElvain, bus driver; Dennis Langston, maintenance technician/grounds worker; and Ronnie Pride, WCHS assistant football coach.

Near the end of the meeting, board member Steve Henry asked for an update on work at the soccer field. Kemp said loads of dirt had been transported to the site and that work to seed the field with grass will begin once the seed arrives.

The board then went into closed session for the purpose of a student hearing.