The Sept. 9 meeting of the Callaway Board of Education began with public hearings to present the district’s 2024-25 budget and tax request. The hearings were an opportunity for Superintendent JD Furrow to present the budget and tax asking to the public, and for patrons to ask any questions they may have. There was no public comment on either.

Later in the meeting the proposed budget and levy were approved. “This year we had plenty of state funds coming in that our revenue growth was taken care of through that, so we didn’t have to tax more. In fact, we actually dropped our taxes by $90,000,” said Furrow.

The approved 2024-25 budget is as follows: * General Fund Tax Asking - $3,232,429 ($4,019 less than 23-24) * General Fund Levy – 0.649884 (0.01945 less than 23-24) * Special Building Fund Tax Asking - $50,000 ($86,364 less than 23-24) * Special Building Fund Levy – 0.010053 (0.018149 less than 23-24) Furrow shared that with state foundation aid and special education reimbursement included this represents a 3.66% overall growth in revenue for the 2024-25 school year.

Following the public hearings the board went into their regular meeting, which began with a presentation from Kristy Bartak from Nebraska State Bank on a different option for investing the district’s funds to maximize interest income.

The program is called CDAR and is exclusively for public funds that will not be in circulation. “They are kind of like CDs but specifically for public institutions,” Furrow explained. “We were able to invest a million dollars and that will increase our interest income by

cont. PAGE 3 - School Board the end of the year by about $30,000.”

Teacher Lynette Svenson addressed the board concerning the policy pertaining to teacher overload – those teachers who are doing extra duties. That policy is being reviewed and revised and will be presented to the board at the October meeting.

During his superintendent report Furrow facilitated a discussion on implementing a Random Drug Testing policy for the school. The board instructed Mr. Furrow, Mr. Birkel, and Mrs. Jesseph to gather information and report back to them. Once that information has been reviewed the board will make a decision on whether or not they want to implement a policy for random drug testing in the school.

Furrow informed the board that the district will be part of a three-year special education audit, updated the board on building and grounds improvements and projects, and reported on a new student administrative council that he started. He has six students, a boy and girl from each class.

“Anytime we have issues coming up on setting practices in the school and things like that I will use them to get the kids’ perspective. It’s a great group of kids,” Furrow said.

Those students are CJ Quandt, Abby Bailey, Erin Fitzgerald, Conner Paulsen, Braxton Anderson, and Tiersa Johnson.

The board concluded the meeting with a closed session discussing protocol for attendance at school events and functions. No action was taken following the executive session.

The next meeting of the Callaway Board of Education will be Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.