The Pine Bluff Lighthouse Charter School board of directors discussed roof repair options at its regular monthly meeting Thursday night.
Lighthouse Finance Manager Chris Bell said workers making repairs to the roof that was damaged during a storm discovered that the roof needed more significant work.
“The approval for the initial work to patch the roof came with instructions on the purchase order not to exceed $1,500,” Bell said. “The estimate we received for the additional work said that repairing the roof on the west wing will cost $18,000 while the cost to fix all three wings would be just over $55,000.”
“Obviously the more permanent repair would have to come out of next year’s budget,” Bell said. “There are two things to keep in mind here. First, we’re a public school in the business of educating children. Second, we need to realize that our funding is based on the number of students we have. Normally, I try to steer away from fixed costs such as this but at the same time we realize that it is a necessary expense.”
The $18,000 repair will be needed and will directly impact the academic program, according to Bell.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“The $55,000 it will cost to do the roof work on all three wings is the cost of a little more than a new teacher. The question we are constantly asking is what are we going to have to give up to pay for this expense?”
Board member and vice president of the Southern Region for Lighthouse Academies Inc., Phillis Nichols Anderson, said that a vote would not be taken on the issue until the January meeting in order to give the board time to consider the issue in more depth.
“We will continue to make repairs as needed until we take a vote on the issue,” Nichols Anderson said.
In other business, the board approved the financial report from Bell.
“I want to give you the numbers on the total facility cost up to this point,” Bell said. “The total renovation cost for the school came to $124,818. Total repairs and maintenance cost up to now came to $7,475, which is 75 percent of the year’s total repairs and maintenance budget. In November, we received the second piece of the federal implementation grant, which came to $200,000 out of the $610,000 grant. The funds are being used to reimburse Lighthouse for technology and furniture purchases as well as marketing.”
Federal reimbursements are coming in with just over $20,000 in Title I funding received in November, Bell said.
Principal Brad Burl presented the operations report to the board.
“We had 95 percent attendance last month with 158 scholars enrolled,” Burl said. “We had three withdrawals last month, with one due to family relocation and two due to personal family issues that we worked hard to try to address to allow the scholars to stay here.”
“We had a musical ensemble today with between 40 and 50 parents in attendance,” Burl said. “We are working to set up a chess club, a debate team, a choir, a basketball team as well as a dance and step team in the spring. Our booster club is collecting money to replace items on the playground and they decorated the campus including putting up a Christmas tree.”
“We plan to pick up the pace of recruiting and will be placing door hangers around town over the Christmas break,” Burl said.
The board approved a recommendation from Nichols Anderson to hire architect Fred Reed to begin preparing a feasibility study related to the expansion plans of the school.
“The school needs at least two classes for grade five by the end of July and we need to look at the feasibility of installing modular classroom units across the street on church property next to the parking lot in addition to at least one other option,” Nichols Anderson said.
“We will need to have at least two classes for grade six the next year and we need to have a comprehensive plan for grades 5 through 12 by the start of the 2014-2015 school year,” Nichols Anderson said.