The Audubon School Board met in an electronic session Monday evening. During their session, hearings were held with regard to the proposed plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimate of cost for Phase One of the Middle School/High School Improvements. A second hearing was held with regard to the FY21 School Budget.

The Board heard some more details on the roof top HVAC unit replacement, from RDH Engineering President Rick Hiatt. He said two units that are five-to six-years old can be left in place. Two units above the weight room will be replaced; A roof-top unit above the locker room will also be replaced with a energy efficient unit. And, a rooftop unit above the elevator lobby is also set for replacement, with an energy efficient unit. The Board later set the bid letting date as May 6th. A Special Board meeting was tentatively set for May 8th to open the bids.

As for the FY21 Budget, it was approved after the Public Hearing. Superintendent Eric Trager went over all the details. What it boils down to is an increase over the last Fiscal Year, of 21-cents per thousand dollars of taxable property valuation, or from $11.69/$1,000 to $11.90/$1,000 (an increase of 12.6%).

The Audubon School Board also approved a canvass of the votes from the March 3rd Special Election. A $7.5-million bond for updating and remodeling the district facilities passed at that time by approximately 70% to 30%. In his report to the Board Superintendent Trager didn’t sugar coat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future financial picture.

Trager said one of the impacts will come in the form of sales tax revenue, which is expected to take a hit, and affect the District’s SAVE funds “a great deal, going forward.” He said also, “It’s likely that Income Tax at the State level will be down drastically for 2020. It’s also likely that we will see a financial impact on families in our community, which will affect our Free and Reduced Lunch rate” and other areas. “The financial impact of this,” he said, “Is gonna be significant.”

Trager said also, it’s too early to begin discussions on how to cut services or supports for our families and students. I think it’s probably the opposite of that. This is going to have an impact. This is gonna affect our bottom line. This is probably going to reduce our unspent budget authority which we worked hard to turn around. But I also think that this is a time for us to step up and say ‘yeah we’re gonna have to make some tough financial decisions, but NOT today. When we figured out how we support our families and kids through this, that’s the time to do that.”