The Columbia School Board on Thursday evening hosted a public hearing on its start-of-year budget, discussed developments with high school renovations and touched on a number of other items – though the loss that the district and community suffered at the start of the month was also addressed.

At the start of the regular meeting, Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer requested a moment of silence given the passing of Crawford Bryant and the injuries suffered by his fellow students on Sept. 1.

Columbia Assistant Superintendent of Schools Amanda Ganey also addressed the tragedy during her report, using her monthly district shout out to highlight the outpouring of support from the community as well as other school districts in the area.

“It’s a community shout out because with everything that has happened over the past month, I think we all can agree that the educational community that came together as well as the Columbia community was tremendous and truly amazing,” Ganey said.

Board member Naureen Freirdich and board vice president Lisa Schumacher also spoke at the end of the meeting, noting that the district has received compliments from members of the community on how the situation was handled – particularly Bryant’s celebration of life.

The largest item on the agenda for the board was a public hearing for the budget, with Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode voicing a positive outlook.

He offered a brief summary of the budget, noting total revenues are projected at $21,140,835 and expenditures are expected to total $21,264,388, resulting in a deficit of $123,553. The district’s beginning fund balance, however, is expected to leave the district with a balance of $17,607,316 at the end of the year.

“We have a very healthy budget,” Grode said. “I’d love to say that these numbers are spot on, but as we amend the budget at the end of every year, it’s up or down based on things that happen during the year. I think this tentative budget is solid, and it’s about where we’ve always been.”

Meyer chimed in following Grode’s presentation, commending fellow board members for their work in getting the district to where it is financially.

“Our financial position is a huge thanks to this board of education and the hard work that you guys all do, your due diligence in every packet, going through all this stuff,” Meyer said. “And administration as well.”

Action items addressed by the board included the approval of the previously discussed budget as well as approval of a resolution declaring intent to issue up to $15 million in funding bonds, the next step in the district’s bond process following debt certificates which were sold over the summer.

It was noted that a representative of the Stifel brokerage firm would be present at the November board meeting to discuss the bond matter before the final approval.

Among the more substantial action items was approval of a change order for the utilities of the Columbia High School expansion project.

It was noted, though this item was labeled as Change Order #002 on the agenda, this was purely for Poettker Construction’s records, and this change order was actually the first approved by the school.

The change order itself concerned sewer lines, with one additional drain accounted for in the locker rooms and the school’s sewer lines being found to be deeper than previously expected.

The board also approved a phase one flooring and auditorium package for the project, with Grode explaining these items were separated from the initial phase one package  as some specifics needed further attention.

“These two things, the flooring and the auditorium, because we’re looking at details and whatnot, they were not brought in the first big package,” Grode said. “We had all the other stuff that was brought in, but there was more due diligence that needed to be done with these two areas. That due diligence has been done, and so at this point we would recommend that the auditorium and flooring packages get approved for the project.”

This bid was awarded to Poettker for just over $2 million.

Also concerning the CHS expansion, the board approved a guaranteed maximum price amendment from Poettker of about $28 million.

Meyer and board member Adam Hemken spoke amid the approval of these three items to note the specificity and attention to detail involved in the process as well as the renovation’s overall progress.

“The first week of October, they’re gonna start some of the foundation work, and you’ll start seeing some of the actual building stuff happening instead of just dirtwork and sub-surface work,” Hemken said.

Other approved action items included the purchase of a new bus and the first reading of board policies Press Plus Issue 116.

Regarding other meeting discussion, Grode’s report began with a summary of progress made and hurdles encountered with salary reports amid the district’s financial software transition.

Grode also discussed an ordinance concerning vaping in schools that was recently approved by the Columbia City Council.

“One of the high school’s… when you look at data, the number one reason students are outside of school or missing school is because they get caught with a vape so they get an out-of-school suspension,” Grode said. “How do you discourage kids from doing that while keeping them in school?”

The city ordinance allows the district’s school resource officer to be contacted in order to issue a citation should a student be found vaping during school. This student might then be issued a fine or made to do some community service outside of school.

While Ganey opened her report addressing the tragedy over Labor Day weekend, she also spoke about curriculum work, including efforts from administration to consider data from IAR and SAT testing.

This month’s faculty presentation featured Eagleview Elementary Principal Erica Venne and Kindergarten teacher Sarah Chudd speaking about progress the district’s younger students have been making in the past month of school.

They also shared two videos featuring interviews with Eagleview students speaking about how they’re learning to help and respect others along with other school activities.