KANE COUNTY, UT - Kane School District Business manager Cary Reese, at the Budget Hearing portion of the June 28 meeting of the Kane District Board of Education, made a PowerPoint presentation showcasing the district’s financial health. This comprehensive Power- Point shows revenue and expenditure figures for the District’s Maintenance and Operation (MO) fund, Capital Fund and Food Service fund; as well as detailed information about teacher salaries and benefits, actual property tax collections since 2018, General Obligation Bond payments and Covid-related spending and funds remaining. Reese also shared a balance sheet for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, Original and Final Budgets for FY 2022 and the Original Budget for FY 2023, which began July 1. The PowerPoint and accompanying Excel Spreadsheets are available for public viewing through the District’s BoardDocs link.
Kane School District has not raised the levy percentage assessed to property owners for the past 10 years. Reese presented the 2022-2023 Certified Property Tax Rate of .004187, to the school board at the public hearing. The board approved the FY 2021-2022 Budget as Revised, and FY 2022- 2023 as Proposed and the 2022-2023 Certified Property Tax Rate.
Kane School District Superintendent Ben Dalton announced that thirty people graduated from the district’s Adult Education program on June 25. The program, run by Libby Button, assists adult learners in earning a secondary high school diploma or completing a high school equivalency exam.
Dalton reported that the district has been able to fill staffing needs with local individuals. He updated the board on concurrent enrollment, school construction progress and the Period Products in Schools program. He provided the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC) of the Utah School Boards Association (USBA) 2023 legislative priorities document.
The school board is currently reviewing a memorandum issued by the Utah Office of the Attorney General on June 1, to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), superseding prior memoranda. It provides analysis regarding the legislature’s recent prohibition of obscenity in school libraries. Library books in Utah public schools are prohibited if they are pornographic or indecent as defined under one of three state statutes - Utah Code Annotated § 76-10-1201, § 76-10-1203 and § 76-10- 1227. The USBE and individual Local Education Agencies (LEAs - school districts) must create model policies consistent with these statutes. The memorandum attempts to provide legal guidance in that process.
The board approved the following: Kane School District Early Literacy Plan, Policy DBAA regarding Extra Duty Compensation, Big Water School 2022-23 Calendar, Kane District Human Sexuality Curriculum Review Committee, Policy CG regarding community use of school buildings, Policy DBF regarding substitute teachers and pay, and Policy FF regarding student participation in extracurricular activities. It approved the Kanab High School (KHS) volleyball, regional golf and football schedules and one 150-mile exception for football.
The board accepted the resignations of Kim Swapp (Kanab Elementary School (KES) paraeducator), Wendy Vaughn (KES paraeducator) and Mary Lyn Martinez (Valley Elementary School food service worker). It accepted and announced the retirement of Rod Quarnberg as the Career and Technical Education Director and Laurie Hulet, who served as the school secretary at KES for nearly 25 years.
The board approved the hiring of Nikolette Button as the Kanab Middle School Counselor under the LEA specific license authority, as she plans to obtain an educator license within three years. The LEA specific license approval allows the temporary hiring of an unlicensed person to fill a position when there is an “inadequate supply of highly qualified and suitable licensed applicants.” It also approved the hiring of Craig Brinkerhoff as the KHS Head Baseball Coach and Jaxon Riddle as a seasonal yard crew worker.
Congratulations to all.
