January 8, 2024 Regular Board of Education Meeting

Mr. Grubbs read a proclamation declaring January 2024 as Board Appreciation Month and thanked each board member for their dedication and service to the Crestview Local School District.  Each Board member was presented a certificate and proclamation. 

Mr. Gubbs also presented on the Rover Pipeline.  There is a fight over the amount of tax dollars Energy Transfer must pay its constituents.  He reported that Energy Transfer, the owner and installer of the Rover Pipeline, estimated the pipeline to cost them $4.3 billion for the project.  Due to many factors, weather being one of them, the project cost $6.3 billion, more than 2 billion over their estimates.  They also estimated they would pay $135 million in taxes in Ohio.  After the tax commissioners assessed the value of the pipeline, they imposed a $233 million tax.  The increased tax resulted in this matter going to court.  The dispute over the taxes has been tied up in court for almost four years now with no end in sight.  Currently, Energy Transfer is paying $104 million in tax in Ohio, more than 50% below the imposed $233 million.  It's our understanding that the tax commissioner has lowered their initial $233 million estimated tax to $214 million.  The lower amount is still more than $75 million above Energy Transfer's original tax estimate.  Mr. Grubbs also reported that some school districts are negatively affected by this due to the increased assessed value of the property in their districts.  The increase in the assessed value of the property causes the state foundation funding to be lowered.  Resulting in lower funding per ADM.  Mr. Grubbs and Mrs. Robin Klenk said they would update the Board on any new information.

Mrs. Oliver pointed out that Crestview lunch prices are one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the entire area.  She showed comparisons to school districts similar to Crestview, according to ODE.  ODE uses demographic data and can provide us with Ohio's top 20 comparable schools.  From the list she provided, Crestview Middle and High School lunch prices are $0.58 less than the average lunch prices of our comparable schools, and the Elementary lunch prices are $0.47 less.  Mrs. Oliver also informed the Board that items she has been able to purchase through the commodities process will no longer be available, resulting in much higher food costs.  Mr. Grubbs pointed out that many people must know that a school district's food service department must be self-funded.  This means they must make enough revenue to pay the salaries and benefits of all the employees within the department, along with purchasing all supplies, food, and the majority of equipment.  Mrs. Oliver pointed out that although our current Food Service Department balance is in good shape, this is mainly due to the government's reimbursement for a couple of years during COVID.  The Board asked that this would be brought back at the March 2024 regular board meeting for discussion of raising lunch prices for the 2024-2025 school year.  Mr. Bolin asked that a list be provided for evaluation regarding any big projects or equipment needs for the Food Service Dept.

The Board approved paying $115 of the $215 per student who attends 6th Grade Outdoor Education 2024. 

The Board held little discussion on open enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year, but did ask Mr. Grubbs to bring open enrollment data to the next board meeting in February for review.

The Board set three (3) Special Board Meeting dates and indicated they would determine the topics before each.  The Special Board Meeting dates are as follows:

• February 5, 2024
• February 26, 2024 
• March 25, 2024

The Board entered into executive session for the purpose of:  Employment

Time:  7:06 PM

Time entered into Executive Session:  7:06 PM

Time returned from Executive Session 

8:13 PM