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West Franklin OKs capital outlay spending

By BRIAN WILLIAMS, Herald Staff Writer

The West Franklin USD 287 Board of Education decided to invest in the present and the future Monday night.

During its monthly meeting the board approved spending almost $145,000 from its capital outlay fund for new computers and maintenance and equipment at its existing facilities.

The fund has a budget of $200,000 which covers yearly repairs and needs. A four-mill levy, which was passed April 13, has put an additional $150,000 into it this year, Dotson Bradbury, superintendent, said. A mill represents taxes paid on each $1,000 of property valuation, which, in Kansas, is 11.5 percent of a home’s appraised market value.

Updating computers is an area in which the district has fallen behind, Bradbury said. It has been at least five years since the district has bought computers as a group. Purchases since then have been for repairs, he told the board.

“The true reality is we ought to be setting aside $100,000 a year [for computers], but we can’t do that now,” Bradbury said.

More are needed and the district has some computers that were running on the older Windows 2000 operating systems, he said.

“I think we’ve procrastinated long enough. We need to step up and make sure our kids get a good education,” Stacy Hower, board member, said.

The remaining $94,948 was authorized for improvements to facilities and equipment that Bradbury termed as the district’s “most pressing needs.”

Included is $16,215 for repairs to the roofs of Appanoose Elementary School, Williamsburg Elementary School, West Franklin Middle School and West Franklin High School.

The district allowed $30,000 for air conditioning work that is already under way. As long as no unforeseen problems are found with two units at the middle school, the cost should be less than $25,000.

Also included is $6,000 to install a rock wall around the lagoon at Appanoose. The lagoon which was built in 1987 at a cost of $45,000 was expected to last 25 years. The dikes are deteriorating and either will need the reinforcement or a new lagoon will need to be built, Richard Adler, district transportation director, said.

The board authorized the purchase of three new 20-inch floor sweeper units and one 26-inch unit at a total cost of about $20,000.

The district’s existing units are about eight years old and are falling apart, staff said. The new units are self-propelled and dry the floor after cleaning it. In addition to being less laborious for the custodial staff, Adler estimated an hour a day could be saved.

New paint for the exterior of Williamsburg Elementary School was approved at $5,210. New windows for the building were discussed but the board wanted to see more figures before deciding.

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