Columbiana schools seek federal funds

By D.A. WILKINSON

wilkinson@vindy.com

COLUMBIANA

The Columbiana School District will try to get funds from the massive federal House Bill 1 designed to improve education.

Superintendent Don Mook said at the school board meeting Tuesday the district may apply for $25,000 in each of four categories. The district will ask for funds under the second round of the bill.

Mook said the applications must be submitted by Friday.

If the district does receive funding, the money would go toward various projects, he said.

The board is working on a plan to improve Joshua Dixon Elementary School at an estimated cost of $4 million to $5 million. The plan calls for much of the work to done in the 2010-2011 school year.

The board also voted to have the Gardiner Trane Co. apply to the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission to take part in an energy-conservation program for the district.

In other business, Lori Posey, the district’s treasurer, told the board, “We’re pushing our bottom line” in terms of revenue. District funding is about $200,000 less than anticipated, she said.

For the school year starting next fall, projections call for revenue to grow by 1 to 3 percent. Real estate taxes were up about $20,000. “That’s pretty miniscule,” she said.

New general construction has come to a halt and is not expected to change in the new two years, she added.

One good point was that insurance costs since 2005 have only grown by 4 percent, Posey added.