Eastern Hancock considers bond issue

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By Jessica Karins | Daily Reporter

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Eastern Hancock School Board is considering bond financing of about $1.8 million to fund future capital projects.

With 2009 and 2014 bonds maturing in 2019, the school board was told Monday night, the maximum balance for 2020 debt services fund will be approximately $525,000. Unless the corporation increases its expenditures, its lower debt obligation will mean that its tax rate, and therefore its revenue, will decrease.

Eastern Hancock’s director of business and operations, Adam Kinder, said taking out a new bond this year rather than waiting would help keep tax rates level, rather than creating a decrease in 2019 followed by an increase in 2020 or 2021.

According to a document from Baker Tilly, a financial firm that presented the proposal to the board at its meeting Monday night, the general obligation bond would be used to pay for “renovation of and improvements to Eastern Hancock High School, Eastern Hancock Middle School and Eastern Hancock Elementary School, including athletic and site improvements throughout the School Corporation and the purchase of technology and equipment.”

General obligation bonds are debt backed by the credit of the school corporation and can be used to pay for any capital improvements to school property. The capacity of the bond would be $1,820,000.

A hearing on the district’s 2020 budget, which will include a discussion of potential capital improvements projects, will be held next month. If the board decides to move forward with the bond proposal, it will hold a final vote on the resolution Oct. 14 and begin selling bonds Oct. 23.

The bond discussion was part of a wide-ranging agenda at the school board’s first full meeting of the school year.

Former Eastern Hancock Middle and High School principal David Pfaff’s new contract as the district’s interim superintendent became official. The board unanimously approved an 11-month contract dated retroactively to Aug. 1.

Pfaff retired last spring but returned to the district following the unexpected resignation of superintendent Vicki McGuire just weeks before the start of the 2019-20 school year. Pfaff’s salary will be $104,280.

The board also approved new employees and substitute teachers for the upcoming school year, as well as coaches and sponsors for extracurricular activities. A pay raise for school resource officers was also approved; Pfaff said the change is intended to ensure that the pay for off-duty police officers who work at the corporation is comparable to what is offered at other area schools. SROs’ hourly pay will increase from $25 to $27.50.

The meeting also included a brief public hearing opening negotiations on teacher salaries between the corporation and the Eastern Hancock Educators Association. A new state law requires school corporations to hold such hearings before negotiations begin, allowing members of the public to provide feedback on the topic of teacher compensation.

Board members also heard that Eastern Hancock’s current student population for the school year is 1,176 in kindergarten through high school. This includes 127 new students and 135 departures, whether due to graduation or other reasons. The district’s funding for the year will be based on a formal student count Sept. 15.