Interim superintendent gives updates on busing, district projects

by Laura Bednar

July 31 board of education meeting

Interim Superintendent Tom Dreiling gave an update on ongoing projects within the Independence school district and the status of busing.

Two Independence residents have expressed interest in driving school bus routes in the afternoon. One person is taking classes to become a bus driver and the other is in the training process. Yet another candidate has accepted a driver position.

Dreiling said the district had 10 drivers but three left through retirement or resignation. Independence now has seven full-time drivers and nine routes. The district has contacted two private transportation companies to cover one route. Private transportation will take out-of-district students to Saint Ignatius High School and Menlo Park Academy. These are two of several private schools that are included in the bus routes.

Board member Carrie Sears asked if routes could be adjusted during the school year and if the district could get out of the contract with the private transportation company at any time. Dreiling said yes, and that routes could be added during the school year.

Buses have 25 seats, each able to seat two people, and Dreiling said more buses will be filled with 50 students than in the past.

“The buses are going to be more full,” he said. “We will get them [students] to school on time because we will pick them up earlier and we will get them home, but it will be later. Our kids will be on the bus longer times than they’re used to.”

District projects

Finding space to build a wrestling room has been a longtime discussion among school leaders. In response, the district is converting the middle school shop room into the wrestling room. Dreiling said electrical work is in progress and will be followed by HVAC. Mats have to be ordered, and Dreiling said he wants to bid out window installation.

New bleachers at the high school football stadium will soon be installed. Dreiling said the goal is to have the bleachers ready for use by Aug. 16. The football team’s season opener was moved from a home game to an away game due to the bleacher project, but with the new timeline, Dreiling said the game may be moved back home.

The district is in the process of converting a storage facility at the stadium into a locker room for all girls teams. A separate storage facility will be built elsewhere to house athletic and landscaping equipment. Dreiling said this move is in process.

Fieldhouse agreement

The board approved an amendment for the shared-use facility agreement with the city of Independence, which requires the city and school district to share the cost of Fieldhouse parking lot repairs 50-50.

“We feel it’s an extremely fair approach,” said Dreiling.

The city has offered a one-time payment of $350,000 to repair the lot and the western driveway this summer. Independence Schools are responsible for the eastern drive.

In return, the district will forfeit the “partnership commitment payments” it would receive from the city’s Topgolf tax increment financing agreement. These payments were to be distributed for the last 20 years of the TIF and paid out of city funds in addition to the tax revenue the district receives.

Dreiling explained that money for future lot repairs will come from the district’s permanent improvement fund. Board member Lynne Laski asked what would happen if the district didn’t have enough money for its share. Dreiling said the district would have to pay out of the general fund.

Finances

Treasurer Eric Koehler said at the end of the fiscal year, the district had deficit-spent $648,000, which was slightly above the $636,000 projected in the five-year forecast.

Cuyahoga County has reappraised hundreds of thousands of properties in the county, with most seeing a significant increase in value. Koehler said the district could see an increase of $320,000 up to $900,000 of revenue based on the new values of residential and commercial properties. ∞