The September meeting of the Columbia School Board featured lengthy discussions on a number of subjects, mainly concerning a recently completed audit for the previous school year and the ongoing renovation at Columbia High School.

Action items addressed during the meeting were few, with the board approving the 2024 annual financial report, a bid to purchase a new district truck and the second reading of board policies Press Plus Issue 116.

Prior to the regular meeting, a public hearing was held regarding the board’s plan to issue $15 million in public funding bonds, the money set to be used for the CHS project.

Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode noted this is the second in a series of bond issuances the district is conducting, with $10 million being issued last year and additional rounds of bonds planned for 2025 and 2026.

“The key here is that we’re doing this with the cash flow of the construction project and to keep the bonded interest levy flat, no increase in the taxes there,” Grode said. “We’ll be ready for another large scale project like the high school in 20 years.”

A chunk of the regular meeting was led by Jim Schmersahl of the Schorb & Schmersahl public accountant agency in Columbia, who spoke about the district’s audit for the previous fiscal year.

As in previous years, Schmersahl was positive about the cooperation his office had from district administration as well as the overall position of the district.

Regarding assets and liabilities, he provided a rundown of the district’s bond situation, noting that bonds from 2014, 2017 and 2020 are soon to be paid off, and the district is expected to have higher interest payments on bonds moving forward given the increased cost of borrowing.

On revenues and expenses, Schmersahl pointed to an increase in revenues from local sources largely due to real estate taxes and interest earnings on the district’s bonds.

Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer asked about the district’s position due to a former bookkeeper’s theft from the district. Schmersahl noted his office was required to treat the district as a “high-risk” auditee, though the matter is considered resolved, and controls are in place to prevent such an incident in the future.

Continuing the reports section of the meeting, Parkview Elementary’s Coffee Crew students, led by special education teacher Amy Vollmer, provided refreshments for the board and others in attendance as part of the monthly report.

The Coffee Crew program was at the core of this part of the meeting’s discussion, and it was noted how students learn a number of skills such as following directions and kitchen safety as they take orders and deliver drinks for the school’s teachers each week.

Other aspects of Parkview’s special education work were also touched on, including the practice for Halloween each year which allows students to get a good feel of what to expect when they go out to celebrate the holiday.

Within her monthly report, Columbia Assistant Superintendent of Schools Amanda Ganey said she reached out to district principals for this month’s shout outs, with Michelle Urke of Eagleview Elementary, Donna King of Parkview, Shelly Floerke of Columbia Middle School and Tim Gagen of CHS receiving special mentions.

Ganey also spoke about work in the district’s ag program, with CHS students putting together blueprints and ideas for landscaping projects in the district.

After noting other efforts in the area of district curriculum, Ganey spoke about an upcoming job fair for substitutes taking place Nov. 6 at the district office from 1-5 p.m.

She said department heads will be present at the fair to discuss the positions, with substitutes welcome for all parts of the district including transportation, cafeteria and classroom.

“Normally a district would do this in the summer,” Ganey said. “It would be easier. But we are in need of substitutes. I’m hearing my principals, I’m hearing my teachers say we need some additional support.”

In the superintendent’s report, Grode first noted October is designated as Principals Month and Oct. 20-26 as Principal Appreciation Week. He emphasized the quality of Columbia’s schools and the work that is done among faculty and administration.

“Thinking about the leadership of schools and whatnot, when you see the children today giving us our coffee and doing real service, exchanging the money, the ordering, the making, when you talk about our ag program looking at doing landscape designs and installations, when you look at real-life problems that are able to be solved in our educational organization, I don’t know if there’s anything that’s better than that,” Grode said.

Discussion at the end of the meeting chiefly concerned work at CHS, with Grode first suggesting to the board the possibility of getting new scoreboards for the high school.

As he described, the owner of Digital Scoreboards, a business which recently moved to Columbia, had been in contact about the possibility, offering a deal on new scoreboards.

These boards would provide for special advertising opportunities as well as a new course for the curriculum, with students able to create content to be displayed on a scoreboard.

“The scoreboard with the ad sales and with the curriculum that goes with it provides a nice opportunity where, you buy the scoreboard and it pays itself off through the ad revenues,” Grode said.

Questions raised among the school board included who would be hired to teach such a class, whether to get a new scoreboard for the upcoming competition gym or simply move the old boards around and how much the scoreboards would cost to begin with.

While board members were generally positive about supporting a local business and adding a new option to the curriculum given the college scholarship opportunities that can come with such a skillset, it was agreed discussion would continue as Grode returned to the board with a cost estimate.

Regarding actual CHS construction, it was noted that progress seems slow now but is being made, with Meyer stressing that renovations being made now simply aren’t as apparent as later work will be.

“This is the slow part,” Meyer said. “This is the underground work, this is the dirt work, this is the footings and foundations and that sort of thing, and this goes slow. But all of a sudden, you’re gonna see this thing just fly up probably late January, early February, you’re gonna see a lot of progress very quickly. And then after it gets closed in, it’s gonna slow right back down again because you’re not gonna see that progress.”

School board member Adam Hemken echoed this sentiment, further agreeing with Meyer on how smoothly the construction progress is going in large part thanks to communication between the district, owner’s representative and construction manager.

“The communication is going really well,” Hemken said. “Having the owner’s rep that’s part-time helps us tremendously with staying on top and avoiding potential delays, helping to interpret the construction lingo to those of us that aren’t construction professionals.”

At the end of the meeting, board member Kelly Meurer raised the question of parental involvement with the district’s Scholastic Book Fair, suggesting parents might have differing opinions on what is and isn’t appropriate for their student.

It was indicated between other board members and Grode that a subcommittee on the matter could be organized.