Meeting Date: January 27, 2020
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: School Board of Highlands County, 426 School Street, Sebring, FL 33870 Large Conference Room

Welcome: In Chair Matthews’ absence, Assistant Superintendent, Mike Averyt, opened the meeting at 5:30 PM, and did roll call.

Members present: Chet Brojek, Maritza Telesky, Diane Juve, Tiffany Green, John Shoop, and Wendy Amos.

Members absent: Jason Biance, David Burnham, Velma Lumpkin, Curt Matthews, Jennifer Waltman, Joe Wright.

District Staff present: Mike Averyt, Willie Hills, Harry Howes, Darrell Layfield, and Board Member Donna Howerton.

Approval of Minutes: A motion and second was made to approve the minutes of the December 9th meeting. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote.

Revenue and Expenditures Report: Mike Averyt discussed a handout he provided of income and expenditures for the period ending December 31, 2019. Revenue collected amounted to $17,548,771, with a monthly average of $499,466. Expenditures amounted to $14,296,952. The report broke down the expenditures by category, and another by school site. The reports are attached.

2020-2021 Capital Projects: Mike Averyt discussed that Board Walk-throughs were January 16th and 17th at every school site. Committee Vice-Chair Diane Juve attended all walk-throughs and shared her observations. Mr. Averyt distributed a list of capital projects with the roof repair at KLC being the most expensive repair. Additional requests of principals are included in the list. A Board Workshop is scheduled for February 4th, to discuss with and hear recommendations from the board. Mr. Averyt invited the Committee to attend the workshop.

Chet Brojek inquired about the $3,000,000 balance. Mr. Averyt stated that $2.7-$2.8 million was encumbered for buses. A copy of the Capital Projects List is attached.

Mr. Averyt added that $7.6 million was received from the half-cent sales tax receipts. He explained that a State Safety Allocation replaced PECO funds, which were used for many facilities upgrades. The safety funds come with a mandate to be spent on safety upgrades alone. This limits the district on some upgrades that were paid previously by PECO funds. These upgrades will now be funded through the general fund. Mr. Averyt addressed individual questions posed by the members about specific upgrades, which included discussion about the roof at KLC.

Department Updates: Each department representative in attendance updated the Committee on the progress of projects within their departments.

Other Business: There was no new business discussed.

Next Meeting & Adjournment: The next meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee was tentatively set for April 13, 2020. A motion and second were made to adjourn. Motion passed by unanimous vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:55 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Wester
Secretary to the Superintendent
Minutes transcribed from audio-recorded meeting