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School administrative staff approved for upcoming year<br>

Students leave at the end of the day at the Williams Elemen-tary-Middle School. Students in the seventh- and eighth-grades may be relocated to the Williams High School campus for the 2005-2006 school year. The students will be housed in a modular building that will sit where the former vocational education building now exists on South Ninth Street.

The meeting was held in conjunction with a work session facilitated by Cindy Daniels of School House Solutions and Mike Ford, superintendent of the Kingman Unified School District.

Ford noted that during his 31-year career in education, the April 10 meeting was the first time he has ever attended a school board meeting on a Sunday.

“This (WUSD) board meets more than any board I’ve ever seen,” Ford later commented.

The board approved the positions of superintendent, a second administrator at the district level that will be responsible for curriculum instruction and assessment, two building principals and a special services director. The official title and the definition of the role of the second district administrator is yet to be determined. The title of the position has previously been listed as assistant superintendent.

Ron Stilwell, board member, questioned the necessity of an “assistant superintendent.”

Daniels stressed the position was necessary since the district is out of compliance with state standards in curriculum mapping.

“You can’t afford to be out of compliance any longer. This district is two years away from the state taking over,” Daniels said.

She maintained that whoever fills the position should be certified as a school superintendent. Daniels added that $58,000 has been eliminated from the administrative budget for the upcoming school year.

The additional position will be advertised, according to WUSD Superintendent Susan Scherz. The two principals — Dave Bowling and Bob Kuhn — will remain in their current positions. Both will have the option of applying for the position. However, there is no guarantee that either would be selected.

Increases in Arizona State retirement contributions and health insurance combined with a declining enrollment has created the budget shortfall. The original amount of the shortfall was between $332,000-$400,000. The amount changes often and has been labeled as “a moving target” by Scherz. With budget adjustments and cuts in personnel, the budget shortfall is now down to approximately $180,000. It was unknown at press time which staff members and how many would receive letters advising them of a reduction in force for the 2005-2006 school year. A special meeting addressing proposed changes for the upcoming school year was held yesterday. A regular school board meeting begins today at 6 p.m. in the WHS cafeteria. A full story on those meetings will appear in the April 20 edition of the News.

In the meantime, the board continues to move ahead on the district-wide reconfiguration plan that includes relocating seventh- and eighth-grade students to the high school campus. The former vocational education building located on South Ninth Street will be demolished and a modular building would replace it, housing the seventh- and eighth-grade students. Forest fees and existing capital will be used to fund the demolition and the lease of the modular building.

The cost of the site demolition, preparation, transport and setup fees for the modular building is estimated to be $70,000 for Fiscal Year 2006. Over the next five years, the annual lease on the modular building will be $50,000 annually. No other costs — such as utilities — have been mentioned in reference to the modular building.

The current Williams Elementary-Middle School building would be converted to a preschool- through sixth-grade campus. The technology department, now housed in the old vocational building, will be moved to the current district office. The district office staff, along with the special education department and 21st Century Grant staff, will be moved to the elementary building. The maintenance office would also relocate to the current district office.

Demolition of the vocational education building is scheduled to begin when school ends in May. The demolition of the building is perhaps the largest obstacle to overcome in the reconfiguration plan since it is not known at this time if and how much asbestos is located in the building.

“There’s a 50/50 chance of asbestos being present in the building,” Scherz said.


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