Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Board of Education met Tuesday night at the Butler County Education Complex.  The Board recognized several students for recent achievements, particularly those involved in the Bowling Green Technical College Regional Competition of Skills USA.  Damon Cockrell was 2nd place in Carpentry; Carrington Harpe, 3rd place in Carpentry; Caleb Hunt, 3rd place in Related Technical Math; Alex Hudnall, 1st place in Industrial Motor Controls; Zach Felty, 1st place in both HVAC and Job Skill Demonstration; Paul Staples, 3rd Place in Welding; and Landon Lynch, 3rd place in Residential Wiring.  Felty, Cockrell, and Hudnall will advance to State Competition on April 2-5 in Louisville.  Hudnall and Lynch were present to receive their recognition.  Also, Sierra Woodcock was recognized for her winning essay in the Butler County Conservation District; Haley Penrod for winning the BCMS Geo-Bee and advancing to state competition on April 5; and Raeleigh Parrish for being District Winner in the Jim Claypool Conservation Art Contest.  Woodcock, Penrod, and Parrish were present to receive their recognition.

Treasurer Eric Elms reported that the School District’s balance at the beginning of February was $1,490,100; it ended the month with a balance of $1,398,706.  Elms told the Board that the ending balance was about $268,000 better than at the end of February a year ago.

Superintendent Scott Howard praised the principals at each school in the District for watching their budgets carefully.  Howard said he was hopeful that the federal sequestration will be resolved before it does much damage to school budgets.  In discussions on the FY 14 tentative District budget, Elms told the Board that the District was underfunded, but while he said the “cuts are real,” Elms was still relatively happy with the budget and that it looks “pretty decent.”  The Board approved the tentative FY 14 budget.

The Board took up an amendment to the FY 13 school calendar.  Howard proposed using three banked days so the final day of the calendar year would be May 24.  The Board approved the recommendation.

The low bid for a new freezer by C&T Design and Equipment for the Food Service was considered.  Howard said the Food Service had the largest facility in the District and the smallest, oldest freezer.  The Board approved C&T Design’s bid.

Howard told the Board that he had met with SpyGlass, a company that analyzes electric and phone expenses to identify any areas where money could be saved.  SpyGlass needed two months worth of bills to do an analysis.  Howard and Curriculum Coordinator Vonda Jennings told the Board that work was in process revamping the Butler County Schools Mission/Vision statement.  Howard thanked the staffs of BCMS and BCHS for the recent Cancer Assistance Faculty Basketball Game; BCMS won the game, but more importantly the game raised around $4,000 for Cancer Assistance Inc.

In other actions, the Board approved FY 14 tentative SBDM allocations and approved a declaration of intent to adopt the state growth evaluation system.  Numerous trips were approved by the Board, including BCHS tennis team trips to the Centennial Tennis Center Mini-Camp in Nashville on April 3 and to Evansville’s Wesselman Park for a match against Evansville Memorial High School on April 5; BCHS softball trips to the Battle by the Creek Tournament March 22-23 in Paintsville, the Woodford County Spring Break Escape Tournament April 5-6 in Versailles, and the Sports Warehouse Catholic Classic Tournament in Owensboro May 3-4; and a BCHS baseball trip to the Wood Bat Classic Tournament in Shelbyville April 4-6.  The most discussed trip was a proposed trip to Spain for BCHS students during spring break 2014; Howard said this “100% guided” trip would be a great opportunity for students who could go.  The Board approved the trip.