Board approves lower tax levy, outsources custodial positions

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 9/18/24

The North Bend Central Board of Education held three meetings Sept. 9. The first was a budget hearing at 7:30 p.m. followed by the hearing to set final tax request. Finally the regular monthly meeting with the budget the first item of business.

Property valuation has increased 13%, so the board was able to request a tax rate of .578733 per $100 of valuation. This is down from last year’s .641937 and the lowest tax request in at least the previous four years.

“I feel we are spending wisely,” superintendent Patrick Ningen said. “The levy has decreased the last couple of years while the valuations have gone up every year.”

Facilities director Roy Wright spoke about the maintenance staff, which ideally would be staffed by five people.

“We have been fully staffed one day since Jan. 6 when I started to work here,” Wright said.

Wright said they have trouble getting people to apply for maintenance and custodial positions. There are three good daytime people, he said, but the evening shifts have seen a lot of turnover and been hard to fill. Classrooms are cleaned during the evening shift when they are empty.

As a result, Wright proposed looking outside the building to fill those positions. He suggested contracting with ServiceMaster out of Columbus who would furnish two people for each evening shift for $81,430 a year. There would be financial benefits for the school to compensate for the cost increase from hiring individuals.

Wright has talked to other schools about ServiceMaster and they gave good reviews. The board approved contracting with ServiceMaster for the night custodian positions.

There is a problem with finding time to clean the weight room since it is open from early morning to late evening. Teacher Aaron Sterup has taken on the task to clean and disinfect for three hours a week with compensation.

Wright also proposed offering compensation to teachers or community members who would be willing to clean up after ball games.

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